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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Networking > How to setup OSX as FTP server- Want to access from PC notebook while at school

How to setup OSX as FTP server- Want to access from PC notebook while at school
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typerlover
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Feb 11, 2006, 06:26 PM
 
I am having difficulty figuring out a way to setup and access through OSX on my iMac Core duo as a FTP server. I would like to be able to log in with my PC notebook while I am connected online at school, to get to files here on my computer. Is this possible? And how difficult is this to do?

With the 250gb hard drive it would save me space on the notebook if I could access all of my pictures, movies, and music on the go.

Even better would be if I could connect somehow through iTunes on my PC laptop and just play the songs right from the computer at home.

If this is possible I would appreciate some fairly detailed instructions as to how to set it up. Thanks
     
ghporter
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Feb 11, 2006, 07:18 PM
 
You've posed an interesting question, but you haven't given enough information for an answer. First, how do you connect to the Internet from home-both what kind of Internet connection (cable vs DSL vs whatever) AND what kind of networking equipment you use at home. Second, who's your ISP (I know it's related to the first question, but asking for just the ISP often gets me a name I've never heard of...).

It IS possible, but instructions will depend on the answers to the above.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 11, 2006, 11:32 PM
 
Cable modem at home connected to Linksys WRT54G router. iMac connected to the router through wireless. ISP is Sunflower Broadband.

Laptop is IBM Thinkpad z60t and will be accessing the wireless connection at the University. The university server is found automatically wirelessly, and when opening up firefox or internet explorer it brings to a login page where we enter in our student login information. After that everything works perfectly. I would just like to be able to access from that connection, or from any other wireless broadband connection files from my iMac at home
     
John Strung
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Feb 11, 2006, 11:44 PM
 
Turn on Windows file sharing on the Mac (in the file sharing prefs file.) In Mac's TCP/IP prefs for ethernet, set it as follows:

Configure Manually
IP address = 192.168.1.2
Gateway or router = 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Domain Name Server = 192.168.1.1

Then go to the LinkSys admin program at http://192.168.1.1 and go to the port forwarding tab. Forward TCP port 139 to 192.168.1.1

Back on the Mac, go to http://www.whatismyip.com. This will give you the WAN IP address of your router. From school you will be able to file share from your portable to the Mac by connect to that WAN IP address from Network Neighbourhood on the PC.

Beware of two things. If your DSL service is PPPoE, your WAN IP address will likely change every time you log off and log on again. If that is the case you may need to use a dynamic DSL service like http://www.dyndns.org.

Secondly, file sharing over the internet causes real security risks. Make sure your Mac is protected by a STRONG PASSWORD (at least 8 characters with a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation.)
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 11, 2006, 11:53 PM
 
Do I change the tcp/ip preferences for ethernet or for Airport, since that is what I am using. I don't believe my IP address changes so that is not a problem.
     
John Strung
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Feb 12, 2006, 10:18 AM
 
Change them for Airport if that is what you are using.

Also, before you try to connect remotely over the internet, make sure you can file share over your LAN. Plug the PC into the LinkSys router and see if it can file share with your Mac, but instead of using the external WAN IP, you will have to try to share to 192.168.1.2 since you are inside the LAN.

See also: http://www.joelshoemaker.com/computer/mac/mxpfs.html for help setting up file sharing.

Just remember if the PC is connected directly to the LAN, use 1092.168.1.2 as the address of the Mac, but over the internet, use the WAN IP address which the router will then re-route to 192.168.1.2 because of the port forwarding settings.
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 14, 2006, 09:26 PM
 
Well, this did not work for some reason. I try to log in and it says user name, password incorrect. Where can I go to access what user name, password I can allow?
     
John Strung
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Feb 14, 2006, 09:50 PM
 
As per the Joelshoemaker.com link in my earlier post:

"Next we need specify which users setup on your Mac can connect from a Windows computer. While still within System Preferences, switch to the Accounts control panel. Choose the Users tab, select one of the users you would like to be able login with, then click the Edit User button. At the bottom of the window that appears check the box to "Allow user to log in from Windows," then click OK. Perform the same steps for any other users you would like. (Note: Be sure to use the "Short Name" specified for this user - that is shown within this same window - when you actually attempt to connect to your Mac from Windows.)"
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 15, 2006, 12:02 AM
 
There is no option on 10.4.4. accounts tab for a check box to allow user to log in from windows.
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 15, 2006, 12:13 AM
 
Alright, I may be getting somewhere. Now that I am trying to add the network place, it brings up a login screen, but it is for my brothers computer. His is connected into the router as well, but through an ethernet port. Somehow I think the forwarding is not working and not sending it to my iMac. The following are the settings I have:

IP address = 192.168.1.2
Gateway or router = 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Domain Name Server = 192.168.1.1

Forward TCP port 139 to 192.168.1.2 (I tried to 192.168.1.1. also, didn't work)
     
ghporter
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Feb 15, 2006, 09:32 AM
 
Can you see the wired computer from your wireless computer? I.e. can you use "connect to server" on your Mac to connect to the wired computer?

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
John Strung
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Feb 15, 2006, 10:35 AM
 
Are you trying to connect from outside your LAN? Port forwarding works only from outside your LAN. To connect from inside your LAN you have to connect directly to 192.168.1.2, not to the WAN IP address.

Also, what are your brother's TCP/IP settings? If his IP address is already 192.168.1.2, you will have to change yours to 192.168.1.3 as you can't have two computers on the same LAN with the same IP address. If you change your IP to .3, change the port forwarding accordingly.
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 16, 2006, 12:46 AM
 
Alright I finally got it working. Thanks John Strung. It is rather slow, however. Is there a way to speed it up?

I was thinking that if I could connect to the iMac as if it were an FTP server, I would be able to login from a FTP client and get better speeds downloading. How would I go about doing that? Thanks again John.
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 16, 2006, 12:53 AM
 
Wow, excellent. Got the FTP working by just clicking to enable FTP server. This is faster than the other method, but still only download at around 55k a second. If I were to try and get some large files this would take a while. Is this the average I can expecT?
     
SirCastor
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Feb 16, 2006, 02:49 AM
 
55k or 55K? (Kilobits vs Kilobytes) 55K is pretty good if you're downloading. Many ISPs set your upload cap much lower than your download cap. So moving things from your iMac is going to be relatively slow compared to downloading things onto it.

Also, I recommend you swing by dyndns.org. You can assign a su-domain name to your IP for free. Something like Typelover.dyndns.org. I was going off my IP address until the cable company changed mine. This makes it easier, if not for you, then for friends. Cheers, and good luck!
2008 iMac 3.06 Ghz, 2GB Memory, GeForce 8800, 500GB HD, SuperDrive
8gb iPhone on Tmobile
     
John Strung
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Feb 16, 2006, 10:56 AM
 
Try one of the speed tests at http://www.dslreports.com/stest to see what your upload and download speeds are.
     
typerlover  (op)
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Feb 16, 2006, 12:53 PM
 
Your download speed : 3331 kbps or 416.4 KB/sec.

Your upload speed : 470 kbps or 58.7 KB/sec.

I guess thats right about what I was uploading at.
     
ghporter
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Feb 16, 2006, 10:05 PM
 
That's also a pretty respectable speed for DSL.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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