Can I control a receiver over my phone or tablet's 3G / 4G / Wireless carrier's Internet connection (as opposed to my local WiFi connection)?

Administrator
2013-11-06 23:23

Yes, you can control one of your receivers using your wireless carrier's Internet connection.  However, since a single port (8080) is used to control the DirecTV receivers, only one receiver can be controlled this way and you will need to forward this port in your router.  If you own a Genie system with mini-clients, you can control ALL of your receivers over the internet since clients are all controlled through the main Genie itself!  You would simply follow the directions below using your Genie's IP address.

Also note that most home ISPs do not provide static IP addresses to consumers without paying extra money per month.  What this means is that at some point you will likely need to manually add your home network's public (WAN) IP address again when it changes.  This can be avoided though if you use a DDNS service.  If that is the case, then see this FAQ to find out how you can enter your DDNS domain name into the app rather than your WAN IP address.

To control a receiver over your device's wireless carrier Internet connection, follow the steps below.  It is recommended that you use a static IP address for the receiver you wish to control remotely over the Internet.  Whenever you manually forward a port in a router it should always point to a static IP address otherwise the forwarding will eventually break when the destination IP address changes.  Alternatively you can use DHCP reservation rather than a static IP address.  For specific information on forwarding ports in your router, see PortForward.com.

This is an advanced option and is not necessary for normal local operation of the app.

 

  1. Obtain the local network IP address of the receiver you wish to control over the Internet.  If you are not sure how to get this information, see this question for steps to follow.
  2. Log in to your router and forward TCP port 8080 to the network IP address of the receiver you wish to control then save the changes.
  3. Obtain the public (WAN) IP address of your home network.  This can usually be found in the router settings but a very easy way to do this is to go to the following web site:  http://www.whatismyip.com
  4. From this step on, be sure your Android device is NOT connected to your local WiFi (but IS connected to 3G, 4G, etc).  This will help ensure that you are properly communicating with the receiver without using your local WiFi connection.
  5. Start the app and go to the setup screen and press the 'Manual Setup' button to manually add a receiver.
  6. Enter the public (WAN) IP address of your home network and press the 'Add' button.  The app should state that it found the receiver.  If you happen to use a DDNS service, follow the steps here to enter your DDNS domain name instead.
  7. The receiver can now be controlled remotely over the Internet without your Android device having to be connected to your home WiFi network.
  8. Note that the app will retrieve the name of the receiver automatically.  Assuming you have already added this receiver in an automatic scan or manually, it will likely result in a duplicate name in the receiver list.  The pro version allows you to rename your receivers so you can change this to something different if you would like to.
  9. When your Android device is connected to the Internet with your wireless carrier's connection (3G, 4G, etc), the app may warn you about not being connected via WiFi.  Normally this is important but when remotely controlling this single receiver that you have set up in these steps you can disregard the warning.


* IMPORTANT NOTE: Many routers use port 8080 by default for remote management.  If you use remote management (have it enabled in your router) then you will need to choose a different port other than 8080 for remote management of your router.  The reason is because the DirecTV receivers use port 8080 for remote access and there is no option to change it.  If remote management is enabled on your router and it is set up to use port 8080 then you will be unable to remotely control your DirecTV receiver through the Internet even if you have correctly forwarded that port to the receiver.

Tags: Controlling receiver without WiFi
Average rating: 3 (4 Votes)

You cannot comment on this entry