Debugging access to local FTP server from beyond router

Question

I am trying to set up an ftp server attached to the router, it isn't working for external access only local access so I am trying to debug the cause.

Currently I can ping my router's LAN and WAN address from within the local address.

Pinging my WAN address from another network times out, I don't believe it's caused by the router, I can see a Ignore Ping Packet From WAN Port setting which is unchecked.

If I try to do a traceroute from another network, it seems to hop forever and never manages to find a route to the WAN address.

I am at a complete loss on what to check next.

Answer 1

It seems as though your configuration is a router attached externally to the internet and an internal or local network. This is a common configuration. Most routers have a built in feature to prevent external access to the internal network, i.e. simple firewall. Many allow a configuration change to allow incoming traffic to access the internal network. Another option is to move the ftp server external and have it route traffic to router. I have no experience with the first and do not understand how the one to many mapping would work. It is conceivable you need external ip addresses for the internal network. I have been running the second successfully for over 10 years. It requires some care to protect against external hacking.