I have a number of services I’d like to host, and an old laptop with some of them set up and working on my network.
But I currently have a Google router, and the Google home app doesn’t seem to let you port forward. The “Port Management” option in Advanced Settings redirects to privacy settings.
There’s one port I forwarded before the app broke a few years ago, but I don’t suppose it’s viable to run multiple services through a single port.
Is there a workaround, or am I stuck until I can get a new router?
Update: After more troubleshooting it seems like this is caused by the more fundamental issue of the app not communicating with the network at all. If anyone has ideas for troubleshooting that problem, advice would be very appreciated.
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Port management works on mine for creating forwarded ports. Could it be that you don’t have the proper access to edit these settings?
If it matters, my home app is version 3.2.1.7 (Found under Settings -> Support)
I have the same app version and my account has “Manager” permissions, which seems like it should be enough by the description.
Are there other types of permission?
Manager is the highest. (I think there are only two tiers anyway.)
There is something uniquely wrong with your setup; this is not a general google router issue. Which is good news, you don’t need a new router. The next obvious step (for me) would be to wipe the data for the Home app on the phone and re-set it up. If that doesn’t resolve it, you might consider resetting the router itself to factory, though that could be more annoying.
I’ve tried factory resetting the router, and have reinstalled the app several times. I think I’ve gotten, if not to the source, than further down the chain.
- Port Management requires cloud services, which is why it redirects me to the place where I can enable that.
- However when I try enabling it, it is “Unable to save settings.”
- I tried to “Restart entire network” which revealed that it is “Unable to communicate with your network at this time.”
And that’s the core thing I don’t know how to get around. The app can’t actually interact with the network. That explains why restarting the network hasn’t fixed it in the past. I don’t understand how it could be an issue only I have though, since it happens regardless of reinstalling the app.
It’s a shot in the dark, but are you running a vpn on your phone? That might mess things up.
Nah, that would have been a good thing to check though.
Port management redirects to privacy settings? That’s not right. I’ve had google routers for like 5 years now and multiple family members also have them. Most reliable routers I’ve owned to date, haven’t had a need to upgrade
Also you can host multiple services through the same port. This is typically done through port 443, using a reverse proxy
The app is saying that it can’t communicated with the device, and the Wifi is working fine, so It seems to be an app issue rather than a device issue. Do you have any insights?
While you should probably fix your router, there are some workarounds that can work. If you have your own domain, cloudflare tunnels are really great. Similar option that doesn’t need a domain but requires a VPS or other hosting with a public IP is just a WireGuard tunnel to your service.
Contact Google support, I have no trouble port forwarding using the home app, other than their app is a bit cumbersome.
I haven’t had a Google router in a while so I don’t remember if it’s possible, but can you access the router settings via a browser using the router’s IP address (maybe something like 192.168.0.1)?
