Remote Web Access by port forwarding

[marktheknife]

@darthy_sanchez

Yeah right..simple coincidence, they just happened at the same time.

I suppose it depends on your definition of same time, but remote admin was rolled out in March.

Introducing Remote Admin

We are pleased to introduce a new service for administering your Hubitat Elevation hubs from other locations, via our secure cloud: [image] Secure access to all of your hubs Create or edit apps, manage devices, and adjust settings from anywhere Easy remote administration Remote Admin expands your ability to access your hub beyond your Local Area Network (LAN). By adding Remote Admin, you can access all of your hubs, including your rules, apps, device info and settings from anywhere with inte…

And the port forwarding restriction was included in a platform update last month.

Release 2.2.9 available

Hubitat Elevation Platform update 2.2.9 is now available: Note: This release includes enhanced security measures that disable insecure access to the hub from outside local network using port forwarding or similar means. No IOT device is meant to be accessed publicly, and our hub is no exception. Use Hubitat Remote Admin, a private VPN, or other secure means of access instead. Please note, the process takes about a minute to download (depending on your Internet connection) and extract the hub u…

Six months apart, in my opinion, isn’t the same time.

They also tried to warn users about the risks of port forwarding for years (in multiple threads) prior to enacting that restriction. Because there were still hubs wide open to the internet (easily findable through sites likes Shodan).

@darthy_sanchez

Have their rights been considered?

I’m not sure if that’s an accurate term to use. I don’t think anyone’s rights have been violated here. FWIW they added some workarounds based on user feedback; I know that was to allow for some home network setups that were affected by the change and broke as a result. I’m not sure if that also allows more advanced users to enable port forwarding in a responsible way. Search through the forum for some relevant keywords in recent threads and you might be able to find what you’re looking for.

@darthy_sanchez

I wonder what router are you using at home and if you would rely on it to run a vpn server?

In my old home I used the OpenVPN server built into my ASUS router and it worked just fine. In my current home I have used the L2TP server built into my unifi security gateway, which also worked ok. Currently I run Wireguard on a Raspberry Pi because I like how fast it is.