Wake On LAN Configuration

Question

I am trying to configure my laptop to be able to Wake On LAN via Magic Packets. I have a magic packet sniffer and it alerts me when a magic packet has been recieved(runs on target machine). The trouble is when I try to use the external ip address instead of the internal address. I have port forwarded port 9 to my internal ip(10.0.0.x, NOTE: x is only one digit). If I use the internal ip address, it tells me that a magic packet has been received. If I try the external ip address and sending from the target machine(to itself) it receives the magic packet. If I send it through a different machine or a website, it does not work. I am connected via ethernet cable(CAT 5). I also have the "Wake on LAN" setting in my BIOS set to "ENABLED". Also, my computer is set to "Allow this device to wake the computer". Am I doing something wrong?

P.S. The solution to the previous problem was to start the Simple TCP/IP Service in Windows.

Answer 1

I did some more research and it turns out that unless the router itself has a built in management and can be accessed publicly, WoL will not work behind a router. WoL will work however if you have a device already inside the network send the magic packet to the target machine. THat completely destroys the point of WoL!

Answer 2

To use Wake on LAN across the internet (=> wake on WAN), you must do one of these things :

1. Edit your router's ARP table so it can forward the magic pack to the target computer with its MAC address
2. Port forward to LAN broadcast address so the target computer will always receive any magic packet sent to your router until it is plugged to the router
3. Buy a router with a built-in wake on lan feature (like DD-WRT open source firmware)
4. Use a magic packet repeater to forward magic packets to the broadcast address. This one should be always powered on

I'm using the fourth option to wake my home computer from my work. I bought an Arduino Uno + Ethernet shield and wrote a little program to do the job (forward magic packet). I set a port forward rule into my router (Netgear DG834G) to forward UDP 9 to the Arduino IP address.

I wrote a tutorial about this on my personal website, it's in French but code is universal ^^ : http://www.finalclap.com/tuto/arduino-wake-on-lan-repeater-80/