Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

G

George Ortega

Freshman
Apr 24, 2015
2
0
0
52
I want to create an connection from our office to control a X32 at a client location, does anyone have experience with this mater?

I think this could work with port forwarding in my clients router but i ca not find wich port is used for the x32 control? What do i forget here?

Thanks in advance for thinking and sharing about this mater.


George
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

Hello

You should be able to do it by using an internet computer at the desk. Connect the computer via cable or wifi as you see fit. Use remote desktop option to control system remotely over internet. Instructions of how to establish remote desktop control on Windows and Apple support sites.
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

The standard approach here is to create a VPN tunnel between your remote control machine and either the console directly, or a control computer connected to the console. Other methods could work if you don't mind putting the console directly onto the public internet, with all the security risks that entails.
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

Rob Timmerman said:
The standard approach here is to create a VPN tunnel between your remote control machine and either the console directly, or a control computer connected to the console. Other methods could work if you don't mind putting the console directly onto the public internet, with all the security risks that entails.
Click to expand...

The only downside is a little latency, as in control lag, not audio latency of course.
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

The latency is no problem this is a beach club where during daytimes we want to conrol the volume in differnt areas on the beach.

But as i know we have to have a server running a vpn don't I? Not possible here.

Isn't it possible true a port forwarding in the router at the beachclub?
like in example the mixer in on 192.168.1.32 and uses port 3350
we make a rule like incoming port 3350 on main ip is forwarded to 192.168.1.32:3350

If some coud tell me if this could be wright and wich port is used to comunicate with the X32

Or am i totaly wrong and forgetting somethings?

Thanks Again

George
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

George Ortega said:
The latency is no problem this is a beach club where during daytimes we want to conrol the volume in differnt areas on the beach.

But as i know we have to have a server running a vpn don't I? Not possible here.

Isn't it possible true a port forwarding in the router at the beachclub?
like in example the mixer in on 192.168.1.32 and uses port 3350
we make a rule like incoming port 3350 on main ip is forwarded to 192.168.1.32:3350

If some coud tell me if this could be wright and wich port is used to comunicate with the X32

Or am i totaly wrong and forgetting somethings?

Thanks Again

George
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. A server doesn't have to mean an actual server box; you could easily use a VPN program to connect to a computer with which the X32 is connected.

It's been a while since I did this, but back when I was a more avid gamer we used LogMeIn Hamachi to do all sorts of VPN stuff. Not that I'm a qualified expert in the field of computer networking, but VPNs are not as difficult to do as you think.


Here's a question, though - do the changes in volume happen everyday at the same times? If so, you could probably write some scenes to do the job for you... or maybe I'm asking too much from the X32 scene system. I know I can timecode things like this on most lighting control solutions, but I don't know if the X32 supports that.
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

Port forwarding would probably work but it's also a terrible idea. Terrible. It puts your console on the internet. There are actual websites that log the various equipment types connected directly to the internet - lots of good stuff like industrial control, hvac, etc out there with terrible security wide open for hackers to... hack. Honestly the fact that you're asking and continuing to ask the question means you've got no business doing it because you don't properly appreciate what you're doing. If you did you'd know how to figure out the ports on your own already. Your best option is either a PC with secure remote access (logmein etc) or replace your internet router with one that supports incoming VPN connections and then VPN into the network like has already been suggested. The PC thing would be easy, just get something small, get the remote access setup, then run it headless (no kbd, mouse, display). Just make sure it's set to power on after a power failure and at a specific time of day (I usually do 4AM). The VPN router is probably cheaper and easier even after you pay someone who knows what they are doing to set it up.
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

Hey George,

I'm a long time lurker and network engineer, registered just to post this and hope to save you some grief. Realtime control protocols such as the ones between a surface and a mixer, or app and a mixer, etc were written with the expectation they would be used on a LAN -- that is, relatively high bandwidth, and low latency. Because of that, we don't know what assumptions the programmers made, or where error checking is lacking. Thus, it's a really terrible idea to try to route it directly across a WAN, because we don't know how the device would react if a timeout was exceeded in a spot it usually isn't, or if a packet was dropped, etc. Some really weird things could happen, and weird things don't go well with live sound. Also, like Erik said -- the computer security community (hackers) makes a concerted effort to scan for new remote devices, identify them, exploit them, then post all about it so others can learn. There's even automated sites that find interesting things in advance (eg, shodanhq.com). Given the rapid popularity of the X32, it is not far fetched to consider that exploits may already exist, or will soon.

Save yourself a lot of trouble. Get a cheap PC, leave it connected and powered on, and install one of the many remote control options (LogMeIn, Teamviewer, GoToMyPC, etc -- whichever one you like). Then remote control the PC to control the mixer. This way you avoid the severe security implications, as well as the unknown protocol goofiness. Besides, this is something you can probably figure out yourself and won't need to budget for a network engineer to help set up a static IP or dynamic DNS, the VPN endpoint, etc.

Good luck!
 
Re: Control Behringer X32 over an internet conection (not a lan)

This is part of my regular job products but have a look at Secomea http://www.secomea.com/
Even if you're on a clients network their IT guy won't mind and it's more secure than having a PC on site.
 
Save yourself a lot of trouble. Get a cheap PC, leave it connected and powered on, and install one of the many remote control options (LogMeIn, Teamviewer, GoToMyPC, etc -- whichever one you like). Then remote control the PC to control the mixer. This way you avoid the severe security implications, as well as the unknown protocol goofiness. Besides, this is something you can probably figure out yourself and won't need to budget for a network engineer to help set up a static IP or dynamic DNS, the VPN endpoint, etc.
Click to expand...

That sounds like what I was going to do via TeamShare but my biggest concern is being able to cue up audio as in use Solo etc to listen to the room (via reference mic) and or individual monitor mixes. I'm not sure if those features transfer to the local laptop, and then remotely to my remote laptop. Ideally I would have an X32 at the shop to have the same control surface and reference PA to as accurately as possible reproduce what is going on at the venue. Any help would be awesome.
Big thanks!
 
Top Bottom