my iphone is on my wifi network but my pc is on a wired network. they can talk ( i can move files between them. However the companion app only functions if the iphone and pc are on the same network/subnet. I"d like to see an expert setting on both companion app and pc app which would allow me to set the ip address of the iphone on the pc and or the pc ip on the iphone (companion app ) so they could talk across networks.
I have my PC wired and my iPhone wireless and have no issues connecting the ZCA on the iPhone to Zwift on my PC. You might want to check your rules between the 2 networks to make sure all ports are open and allow traffic both ways.
typically wifi routers use NAT so if your wifi router is connected to your wired network via its WAN connection all your wifi devices would appear to be coming from the WAN connection of your wifi router. this causes a problem because ( assuming the pc initiates all connections and i’m not sure it does ) the pc only sees the WAN address of the wifi router not the iphone ip. on the other hand if the connection is initiated from the iphone, it will ( and this is a guess ) do a port scan of its subnet and never “see” the WAN ip.
so if this is working for you I’d like to know more about your network setup. Support has already told me the app will not work unless the PC and the app are on the same subnet so i’d love to hear how you have worked around this issue.
John,
Let me make a couple points.
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I am a Network Administrator with 14 years of experience
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Your understanding of networks and the way that NAT and subnets work is flawed to say the least.
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Either you are confused by what Zwift support told you or they were incorrect in what they said.
There is no work around, it just knowing how to configure networks. As long as you allow either the Zwift ports or all ports between the 2 subnets (VLANs) communication between the 2 is possible. I have done this at home (wired is on 192.168.1.x and wireless is on 10.0.4.x using a Netgear Nighthawk) I can connect the 2 without issue. I allow all traffic between the 2 VLANs so nothing gets blocked. I have also tested this at work using a Sonicwall without issue.
I would guess that even if you could specify the IP address of the PC running Zwift on the ZCA that it still would not work on your network because you do not have the required ports open between the 2 VLANs.
Item 1 ) 14 years experience means what you can’t be wrong? I didn’t presume you didn’t know what you were talking about. too bad you were not able/willing to show the same curtsy.
item2 ) Nope, I know exactly how NAT works.
item 3) I can’t speak to zwift support not knowing their own product. Though they seemed canted with me and their response was pretty straight forward.
I do not understand why people have to be so negative. Really, would it have been so hard to simply say "hey i got this work and here is how i did it " rather than insulting people you don’t know (me ) or an entire group of people who support an app you seem to use ( zwift ) ?
John,
I did tell you how to resolve the issue TWICE. You need to open ports between the wired and wireless network (both ways) so they can communicate with each other.
Some on Zwift support don’t know all the ins and outs of their product and I and a few others have corrected them on a few thing over the last couple of years. Again, the ZCA (iPhone) and the Zwift App (PC) DO NOT need to be on the same subnet in-order to communicate, they just need to be on the same router/firewall. I have and many others have had this type of setup working for a long time.
Without knowing your setup all I can tell you is to open ports between the 2 subnets (wireless and wired). You could also bridge the wireless to the wired network so they are both on the same subnet and that would also resolve your issue.
BTW, from your description of how you think the ZCA and Zwift App communicated and other info you have posted you don’t have a full understanding of NAT, subnets, VLANS, routing, and firewalls.