[cram_it_2000]

Ok, so I'm new to using VLC player and so far I am very impressed with its capabilities for streaming content to my phone, although I'm disappointed with the lack of support or tutorials as to how one is supposed to go about setting it up to do it. Here's the gist of it, after my brother and I have wrestled with both the player on my PC (win7ultimate) and the app on my phone we managed to get it to stream no problem while connected locally via WiFi. Actually, I had troubles with my Internet Security's (Total Defense) firewall as it kept blocking my phone regardless of the fact that I created a rule that was supposed to open the appropriate ports to allow access to my PC.

Anyways, the real issue I'm having now is the fact that when I turn WiFi "off" on my phone, and try to connect to VLC using my router's internet IP address (with appropriate ports being forwarded to my PC) and the appropriate port, my phone still appears to be blocked. I even try to access the web interface using the phone's internet browser, which I can access if I'm connected locally to the network, but I get the following "ERROR: HTTP 403 Forbidden" page. The phone seems to be blocked either by the router's firewall or the PC's firewall. Also note, apps like "Connect Me" used for remote desktop connections are fully functional and working without a problem both via local WiFi connection and remote 4G connection, albeit using a different port...

I have posted on VideoLan's forum about this, and the topic had quite a few views but no replies... I'm hoping someone has had some experience with this app and the VLC player as well on their PC to lend a hand.

Thanks to anyone who has some tips for me in advance!

[bradbamford]

403 means you reached the server, but it is refusing to serve the page to you. Are your server settings set to only serve to local IPs?
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

[cram_it_2000]

I'm not sure how to check that on my PC. Would it be a firewall setting on my PC or something related to the .hosts file for VLC Player?

****EDIT UPDATE*****

This is how the .hosts file is configured as was shown in some of the few tutorials that I did find about VLC Player:

#
# Access-list for VLC HTTP interface
# $Id$
#

# localhost
::1
127.0.0.1

# link-local addresses
#fe80::/64

# private addresses
fc00::/7
fec0::/10
10.0.0.0/8
172.16.0.0/12
192.168.0.0/16
169.254.0.0/16

# The world (uncommenting these 2 lines is not quite safe)
#::/0
#0.0.0.0/0

******
Was told in the tutorial to remove the hash tags (#) from the addresses listed under # private addresses in order to make it available to all my remote devices and I was under the impression this also included connections via the internet.

Here's a link to one of the tutorials...
<--- Part 1
<--- Part 2

[bradbamford]

Private IPs, is just your local network, you would need to open it to the "world" to access it outside your local network. I hope you have the ability to force credentials if your going to do this.

[cram_it_2000]

Is there a way to simply add my windows phone's mac address to the host file I posted so that only my phone can be recognized when it is connecting through the world? Or can you suggest a better approach to providing a secure connection that will still allow my phone to connect remotely but not leave my PC and network completely vulnerable to anyone on the web?

[bradbamford]

If you can filter by mac address, that's a good idea... Check in their forums to see if that's possible.

You can go to ipchicken.com from your cellphone and enter that into the host file to allow your cellphone to have access. I would do that anyway just to test the connection. Of course, that IP address on your phone will eventually change. I'm not sure how long your carrier assigns IP addresses for, but I can't imagine it being very long.

[cram_it_2000]

You're probably right about the IP address changing on my phone. I tried adding the phone's mac address to the host file as well as its current internet IP address but it still wasn't working. What I ended up doing was deleting the hash tags for everything listed under the world and the I created a "connection security rule" under advanced security for windows firewall.

I chose "tunnel" as the rule type and then chose "gateway-to-client" option. It also asked if I want to exempt IPsec-protected connections from this tunnel? Kept the default answer to "no". I clicked next and then selected the option "require authentication for inbound connections. Do not establish tunnels for outbound connections". Clicked "next" again and left everything blank but I checked the box for "apply IPsec tunnel authorization as specified on the IPsec Settings tab of the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Properties dialog box." on the next screen it asks you to choose your authentication method. I chose "Advanced" and then clicked on the "Customize" button. In this window I clicked "Add" under First authentication methods and chose "Computer (Kerberos V5)". I left 2nd authentication methods blank and hit "Ok". Clicked "Next" left all 3 options selected and clicked "Next" again. Last window asks you to name the rule so I did.

After creating the rule I right-clicked on it and selected "properties". I selected the Computers tab and added my phone's IP address under "Endpoint 2". Then I selected the Advanced tab and selected the "customize" button for "Interface types"; clicked the radio button for "These interface types:" and checked the box next to "Remote access". I also went under "customize" for IPsec tunneling and checked all the boxes and left the rest of the options set to "Any". Hopefully this keeps everything secure from the internet. I'm enjoying the app on my phone now and I've been testing quite a few different media formats. I've only found 1 video clip that it doesn't really want to play properly. The file is 720p HD and encoded using ".wmv". Tested some similar files but they seem to play (albeit with some buffering issues). Could be due to the fact my system is aging with an Intel core 2 quad and only 4gb of ram. However I have a new i7 chip sitting on my desk waiting for me to build it onto some new parts.

[cram_it_2000]

I hope this thread is useful to future users of vlc player and I hope it simplifies the setup process for future users of this software. Current tutorials lack a great deal of detail about how to set it up.

Now I'm just wondering if what I've done will still keep my PC secure. Lol