Access Time Clock Externally through the Internet (Port Forwarding) – SB-100 PRO / R/TotalPass P400

KB0075: Access Time Clock Externally through the Internet (Port Forwarding) – SB-100 PRO / R/TotalPass P400

Solution:

Icon Time Systems’ Universal Time Clocks (RTC-1000 and SB-100 PRO) are unique because they can be accessed remotely over the Internet. This feature allows managers to log into the time clock software from home, on the road or from a remote location. If you have purchased the Web Punch Time Clock upgrade, employees can also clock IN/OUT remotely when away from the office, with this feature.

Port Forwarding Service (Additional Fee) ‘

Icon Time Systems offers port forwarding setup service at an additional one-time charge, not included in the 30 Free Setup Support or support contract. Please contact our support department for pricing and additional information on the service.

Follow these instructions below to set your time clock up with remote access, using Port Forwarding.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

A Broadband Internet connection (Cable, DSL, T1, etc.) at the location of the clock.
Employee time clock connected to your network by an Ethernet (i.e. CAT5) cable.
A router with “Port Forwarding” functionality.
Static public/external IP address, although not required, is highly recommended. Contact your Internet Service Provider for a static public/external IP address.

NOTE: If your business performs PCI Security Scanning for credit card processing, we do not recommend that you set up port forwarding for remote access on your network, as setup can be complicated and may be incompatible. Some customers choose to set up a separate network for their time clock, running separately from their credit card processing system.

Recommendation

If you are not familiar with port forwarding or your Network configurations, contact your IT person for assistance. If your company does not have an IT person, consider contacting The Geek Squad or other IT service company for assistance.

Step 1: Set Up the Universal Time Clock on the Local Network

Follow the instructions on the Universal Time Clock Quick Start Guide to set up your time clock on the Local Network. Once you are able to access the Universal Time Clock software Home page from a PC inside your internal/local network, you are ready to configure the system for remote access.

Step 2: Router Configuration

You will now configure your router for port-forwarding. Port forwarding allows remote computers, for example, computers on the Internet, to connect to a specific computer or service within a private local area network (LAN).

These instructions include general guidelines for configuring a router for Port Forwarding. Actual steps required may vary with each router. For specific instructions on your particular router, please contact the router’s manufacturer.

Recommendation

For instructions on configuring your specific router, go to the website www.portforward.com and select your router brand and model.

Assign a Static IP Address to the Time Clock

Assign a static IP address to the time clock along with the subnet mask, gateway address and DNS address. Your Network Administrator should be able to provide you with this information.

Determine an available IP address to be assigned to the time clock.
Enter into Supervisor Mode at your employee time clock terminal.
1. Press the lock key on the time clock.
2. Enter in your security code – the default security code is “00 00 00”.
Scroll through the options using up or down until you find the option View IP Address – press Enter.
The current IP address of the clock will appear. Press Enter again.
Enter the desired IP address including leading zeros. Press Enter – Example: 192.168.004.155
Enter the Subnet Mask – press Enter – Example:192.168.004.155
Enter the Gateway – press Enter – Example:192.168.004.001
Enter the DNS Address – press Enter – Example:192.168.004.001
Press Clear to exit out of Supervisor Mode.
Open a Web browser on a computer in the same local network, in the address bar type in the IP address of the clock to log into the time clock.

Set Up Port Forwarding On the Router

These instructions are general guidelines for configuring a router for port-forwarding. Actual steps required may vary with each router. For instructions on configuring your specific router, go to the website www.portforward.com and select your router brand and model, or contact your router’s manufacturer.

If you are using both a router and a cable modem router/DSL modem router, port forwarding must be configured on both the router and cable modem router/DSL modem router. Alternatively you may contact your ISP to disable the router function on your cable modem router/DSL modem router.

Open a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox.
Enter the internal/local IP address of your router in the address bar of your browser. If you do not know your routers internal/local IP address, refer to How To Find Your Routers IP Address guide.Examples: 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.0.1
HINT: It should be the same as the Default Gateway number entered in step 7 of the “Assign a Static IP Address to the Time Clock” section above.
The router will ask for a username and password. Below are some default router logins
- Linksys Router – “admin” for both username and password
- Netgear Router – “admin” for username and “password” for password
- D-Link Router – “admin” for username and (leave blank) for the password
- 3Com Router – “admin” for both username and password
- Microsoft Broadband – “admin” for both username and password
Look for a tab with a name like, “Port Forwarding” or “Applications and Gaming”
Next, enter port 80 as the desired port. If port 80 is unavailable, you may enter port 9844 as an alternative.
- If your router asks you whether to open ports for TCP or UDP select TCP or both.
- Some routers offer port range option, such as; from port ___ to port ___. Enter the same number into both blank fields.
Next, enter the static IP address assigned to the clock.
If there is a checkbox to “enable” the port forwarding rule, be sure to check the box.
Make sure you click on the Save Settings button, or your changes will not take effect.NOTE: The router may need to be reset to activate the rule. To reset the router, unplug it from the power and plug it back in.

Step 3: Connect to Your Universal Time Clock over the Internet

After configuring your router to forward your time clock’s IP address to port 80 or port 9844, follow the steps below to connect to the clock through the Internet.

Look up your external/public IP address in one of the following ways;(skip to step 2 if you already know the external/public IP address provided by your ISP)
- On a computer on the same network as your clock go to www.ipchicken.com. Your external/public IP address will be displayed on the page.
- Log into your router and look at your router’s settings for the WAN (Wide Area Network) address.
From the remote location, type the external/public IP address into a browser’s address bar.If you are forwarding to port 9844, log onto the time clock using your external/public IP address followed by :9844 and preceded by http:// .
Example:

http://68.213.205.154:9844

68.213.205.154 is the external IP Address.

9844 is the port forwarded to the clock.

Troubleshooting Port Forwarding Connection