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Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

ngrok.com

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Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#3

Hiya there folks - I'm the creator of ngrok, happy to answer any questions

So how exactly does the tunneling service work? Is it something like LogMeIn Hamachi? From what I understand, you need an intermediary server between two nodes in the network to create a connection like this. So do you have to pay hosting costs to create this pipeline?

Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#5
post #3

Hiya there folks - I'm the creator of ngrok, happy to answer any questions

So how exactly does the tunneling service work? Is it something like LogMeIn Hamachi? From what I understand, you need an intermediary server between two nodes in the network to create a connection like this. So do you have to pay hosting costs to create this pipeline?

Yes that's correct, ngrok hosts servers around the world that serve as 'relays' which accept connections on your behalf and then copy the bytes through to a persistent connection initiated by the ngrok client. It's the same principle as a reverse SSH tunnel

Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#6

Hiya there folks - I'm the creator of ngrok, happy to answer any questions

What's the advantage of using ngrok if I can just add entry to my own domain, say bla.anyofmydomain.com -> 123.123.123.123?

ngrok's value is for services that don't have public IP addresses (anything behind a NAT or firewall)

Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#7

Hiya there folks - I'm the creator of ngrok, happy to answer any questions

What's the advantage of using ngrok if I can just add entry to my own domain, say bla.anyofmydomain.com -> 123.123.123.123?

It takes care of NAT/Firewalls, so you can sit on the airport if you wish and share something you work on locally. Even if it's your own home network, you'd have to go through the process of forwarding ports, have a static local and external IP, configure either a web server or a local proxy. I'm in no way affiliated to ngrok, I just think it's an awesome piece of software and use it regularly.

Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the advantage of using ngrok if I can just add entry to my own domain, say bla.anyofmydomain.com -> 123.123.123.123?

ngrok's value is for services that don't have public IP addresses (anything behind a NAT or firewall)

Can IPv6 address help address this issue in some circumstances?

Re: Ngrok: Secure tunnels to localhost

#10
3 important questions:

1) My university blocks LogMeInHamachi which is the main tool i've tried to get around hosting behind a NAT. Will this likely be blocked too, or is it not possible to tell without trying

2) Is there any costs associated with this. Do i ever need to pay

3) Does the person connecting to my server also require a special client or does this appear to them as any standard connection would.

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