Cannot reach domain hosted within same private network

Question

I have a website hosted on a home server, accessible from the outside by a domain name I purchased and mapped to my router's IP with help from a dynamic DNS service.

The problem is that I cannot access the site using the public web address from within my home network, i.e. no device on my home WiFi can connect; the requests all time out. For it to work I have to add a host mapping to the internal IP of the server in question, on each individual device.

Why is this happening and what is the right solution?

I am using an ASUS RT-AC68R router. It has port forwarding from port 80 to the internal IP of the server in question.

Answer 1

Your router isn't doing Hairpin NAT correctly.

Possible Solutions:

• Switch it on via the admin UI if you can.
• Make sure you're running the latest firmware from the manufacturer in case they fixed this in a later release.
• See if your router has shell access and set it up yourself via Linux commands.
• Upgrade to a third party aftermarket firmware distro (such as DD-WRT) that supports this, if you can find a distro that supports your router.
• Upgrade to a different router make/model that supports this. I know Apple's AirPort (including Time Capsule) line have always been great at supporting this, but I can't vouch for anyone else. Apple's 2013 802.11ac tower models are excellent performers and very reliable in my experience.