UM3 app - can it work outside of wifi range?

[Tiger91 1]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if the UM3 app that allows you to view your ultimaker in action worked when you were outside of wifi range.  For me, I'm unable to view it when too far away.  Is there a way to remedy that?

 

Thanks

[Shadowman 53]

Howdy

 

Yes you can and rather than tell you how please use the search feature as I was encouraged to use when I first began participating within the forum.

 

Then if you have additional questions I will be glad to help.

 

The process is easy.

 

This forum has a tremendous amount of information posted within.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

3 hours ago, Shadowman said:

This forum has a tremendous amount of information posted within.

That being said, a lot of it can be contradictory. For instance, this topic: For a gazillion years, it has been the wisdom of those who came before to use VPN. However, I just read a thread from someone who found a workaround that made sense. And, for the life of me, I cannot find that.

[Shadowman 53]

Understood

 

The fact that you took the time to read what was previously posted I willl gladly share the steps. 

 

Because of personal time constraints I am unable to do so until later in this day.

 

I will update this thread.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

47 minutes ago, Shadowman said:

The fact that you took the time to read what was previously posted I willl gladly share the steps. 

Was that you? Awesome :) Thanks! ?

[Shadowman 53]

Alright; I share the following with the caveat and understanding that "anytime" to create access to your network for outside no matter how secure you think it is one can "always" find the front door if they want to.

 

Having shared this.

 

We set up remote camera access expecting it be of great value however, because the camera is static and IMO oddly placed and does not move with the build plate about all you can discern is if the printer is printing. Yes it will show if there is a gross issue however, you can not see the quality of the print. With regards to the remote management; we have never used it however, I suspect that if we saw a gross print failure we could remotely abort the print. I certainly would not use it to start a print.

 

Moving forward.

 

There are two primary ways to access the printer. To be clear, the Ultimaker app such as the phone app will not work as it is not configurable.

 

1.Into Ultimaker Remote Management UI however, the camera is not visible through this UI.

2. Into and "only" into the camera; this is by far the least vulnerable situation.

 

With this being said; yes you can VPN into your network and for many folks this their only option be cause they do not have a public IP.

 

Google "whats my IP" if you do "not" have a public IP then your only reasonable choice is to access your printer via VPN. If you don't understand the difference Google it. The fundamental difference is whether you are being assigned an IP by your internet provider behind their firewall effectively a Private IP and your first NAT. If you have a Public and or Static IP then no VPN is required to access your printer and you assume "all" of the risk associated with opening your network door because as I said; "if" you can get in so can someone else.

 

In any case;

 

In my case I have static IP's however; my first layer of security is to use a DDNS provider such as "NO IP" but there are many. Effectively using this service allows you to convert your public IP to a name or whatever rather than the actual public IP address. By doing this it allows you to change at will, the primary access to your system.

 

Here you go;

 

The first this you need to do is MAC assignments within your router; this will effectively make the IP address of your printer static; even though the printer uses DHCP login it will check the MAC address first and since it has been assigned to an IP address it will always use this same IP address. Keep in mind that if you connect via WiFi and LAN you will have to do this twice as the MAC addresses are different for each. For all of the examples below I am going to assume that you use one or the other. 

 

The next thing you need to do within your router is port mapping and forwarding.

 

For the camera "only" you need to port map 8080. You want to map this port because 8080 is a common port. Select a port number between 3000-9999 and map it to port 8080 and associate it with the MAC assigned IP address created above; for this example I will use external port 6000 = 8080

 

For the remote management UI you will need to port map 80. You want to map this port because 80 is a common port. Select a port number between 3000-9999 and map it to port 80 and associated with the MAC assigned IP address created above; for this example I will use external port 7000 = 80

 

Next; decide whether you are going to use a DDNS service; many are free.

 

If yes then create an account and then decide what you want to call your external access name; akin to the name on your mailbox. For this example I will use "myultimaker". You will assign this name to your Public IP address that was found using "whats my IP"

 

Once you have completed these steps using a DDNS service you will access your printer as follows

 

For Camera "ONLY" Access

myultimaker.ddns.net:6000/?action=stream 

 

For remote management services

myultimaker.ddns.net:9095

 

"IF" you opt not to use a DDNS service then your access will be as follows

 

For Camera "ONLY" Access

http://(your public IP address):6000/?action=stream 

 

For the Remote Management Services UI

http://(you public IP address):9095

 

I hope this gets you where you want to be.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by Shadowman
Spelling

[Smithy 1,135]

I do not recommend to do just a port forwarding, it is highly insecure and your printer is open for the world, therefore everyone could play with the API and watch your printer printing. Ok for API PUT requests you need additional authentication, but in my opinion it is not worth the risk that there is maybe a unknown bug/hole in your UM.

 

Most consumer router can do VPN out of the box with minimal configuration and it is safer without the risk to invite all the script kiddies all over the world.

[Shadowman 53]

11 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I do not recommend to do just a port forwarding, it is highly insecure and your printer is open for the world, therefore everyone could play with the API and watch your printer printing. Ok for API PUT requests you need additional authentication, but in my opinion it is not worth the risk that there is maybe a unknown bug/hole in your UM.

 

Most consumer router can do VPN out of the box with minimal configuration and it is safer without the risk to invite all the script kiddies all over the world.

 

Agreed and yet knowledge is power and with the caveat I answered the question.

 

IMO; port forwarding for the camera has extremely low risk as it is not directly associated with the printers remote management UI so for all intensive purposes it is a one way street.

 

Furthermore, I see no reason why Ultimaker does not allow password creation on the camera and the remote management UI; if for no other reason to insure that someone does not unintentionally disrupt and or change a print in progress.

[ultiarjan 1,220]

the other option @kmanstudios was referring to (and I can also not find it back) was leaving your pc on, and connect to the pc remotely. a user suggested "chrome remote desktop" but there are many options.

 

I personally like VPN, easy and apparently safe. Also, as the build in camera's of UM3 and S5 are indeed in a odd position I use a raspberry pi ,  a few webcams and "motionEye" to remotely monitor my printers. On top I have my S5 on a "Wemo" networked powerplug so should anything go really wrong I can cut the power remotely (never had to use it though...)

[Smithy 1,135]

55 minutes ago, ultiarjan said:

a "Wemo" networked powerplug so should anything go really wrong

 

Thats a very good idea and I will do something similar to it. My problem is, that Cura Connect is a little bit buggy and hangs after a few print jobs. (only a "Reset Cura Connect" helps) And without Cura Connect you are not able to abort a print in case of "emergency".