Exposing a NAS to the internet

Overview

To connect your local NAS system (e.g. Synology, QNAP) as a storage source with footage.one, it must be reachable over the internet. Three steps are required:

1. Enable WebDAV on the NAS — the service must be running and a port must be set
2. Set up port forwarding on the router — the router forwards external requests to your NAS
3. Dynamic DNS (optional) — a fixed address for your internet connection if you don't have a static IP

Security note: When you expose a device to the internet, it is potentially vulnerable. Always use HTTPS (SSL/TLS), strong passwords and keep the firmware up to date. Alternatively, you can set up a VPN so that the NAS is only reachable via an encrypted tunnel.

Step 1: Enable WebDAV on the NAS

Enabling WebDAV differs depending on the NAS manufacturer. Detailed instructions can be found here:

• Synology
• QNAP

General procedure

1. Log in to the web interface of your NAS
2. Search the settings for WebDAV or WebDAV Server
3. Enable the service and note the port (default: 5005 for HTTP, 5006 for HTTPS)
4. Where possible, enable HTTPS and disable HTTP
5. Create a user with access to the desired folders

Recommended ports

Protocol	Default port	Recommendation
HTTP	5005	Do not use (insecure)
HTTPS	5006	Recommended

You can freely choose the external port on the router — it does not need to match the internal port.

Step 2: Set up port forwarding on the router

Your router blocks incoming connections from the internet by default. To allow footage.one to reach your NAS, you need to set up port forwarding.

What you need

• Internal IP address of the NAS — e.g. 192.168.1.100 (find it in the NAS interface or in the router under connected devices)
• Internal port — the port on which WebDAV is running (e.g. 5006)
• External port — the port on which the NAS should be reachable from outside (e.g. 5006 or any other port)

General procedure

1. Open the web interface of your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.178.1)
2. Navigate to Port forwarding, Port forward or NAT
3. Create a new rule:
   • Name/description: e.g. "NAS WebDAV"
   • Protocol: TCP
   • External port: e.g. 5006
   • Internal IP: IP address of your NAS
   • Internal port: e.g. 5006
4. Save the rule

Router-specific instructions

FRITZ!Box (AVM)

1. Open http://fritz.box or http://192.168.178.1
2. Go to Internet → Shares → Port shares
3. Click Add device for shares
4. Select your NAS from the device list
5. Click New share and choose Port share
6. Configure:
   • Application: Other application
   • Label: "NAS WebDAV"
   • Protocol: TCP
   • Port on device: 5006
   • External port: 5006
7. Confirm with OK

FRITZ!Box documentation: Setting up port shares

Telekom Speedport

1. Open http://speedport.ip or http://192.168.2.1
2. Go to Internet → Port release
3. Enable port release
4. Create a new rule with the relevant ports and the IP of your NAS

Telekom documentation: Port release in Speedport router

TP-Link

1. Open http://tplinkwifi.net or http://192.168.0.1
2. Go to Advanced → NAT Forwarding → Port Forwarding
3. Click Add
4. Enter the ports and the internal IP of the NAS
5. Save the rule

TP-Link documentation: How to configure Port Forwarding

Netgear

1. Open http://routerlogin.net or http://192.168.1.1
2. Go to Advanced → Advanced Setup → Port Forwarding
3. Click Add Custom Service
4. Configure service name, protocol (TCP), external and internal port, and the IP address
5. Click Apply

Netgear documentation: Setting up port forwarding

Vodafone Station / EasyBox

1. Open http://192.168.0.1 or http://easy.box
2. Navigate to Internet → Port share or Firewall → Port Forwarding
3. Create a new rule analogous to the other routers

Note: On some Vodafone routers (particularly cable connections with DS-Lite), port forwarding is restricted. In this case you need a public IPv4 address or use IPv6.

Testing whether the share works

After setting up, you can test the share:

1. Find your public IP address at whatismyip.com
2. Try to access https://your-ip:5006 from an external network (e.g. mobile data)
3. If the WebDAV server responds, the share is correctly configured

Step 3: Set up dynamic DNS

Most internet connections do not have a fixed IP address — it changes regularly (e.g. every 24 hours). A DynDNS service assigns your connection a fixed hostname, e.g. my-nas.dyndns.org.

Recommended DynDNS providers

Provider	Cost	Notes
MyFRITZ!	Free	Integrated directly into FRITZ!Box
No-IP	Free (basic)	Widely used, many NAS systems support it
DuckDNS	Free	Open source, simple
Synology DDNS	Free	Integrated into Synology NAS

Setup

1. Register with a DynDNS provider and create a hostname
2. Configure the DynDNS service either:
   • In the router — most routers have a DynDNS setting under Internet → DynDNS
   • On the NAS — Synology and QNAP offer built-in DynDNS clients

With FRITZ!Box (MyFRITZ!)

1. Go to Internet → MyFRITZ! account
2. Create a MyFRITZ! account or sign in
3. The FRITZ!Box automatically updates the address yourname.myfritz.net

Step 4: Connect in footage.one

Once your NAS is reachable from outside, you can add it in footage.one as a storage source:

1. Go to Settings → Storage in footage.one
2. Select WebDAV as the storage type
3. Enter the connection details:
   • URL: https://your-hostname.dyndns.org:5006 or https://your-ip:5006
   • Username and password of the WebDAV user on the NAS
4. Test the connection

Security recommendations

• Use HTTPS — enable SSL/TLS on the NAS and use only HTTPS
• Let's Encrypt certificate — many NAS systems support free Let's Encrypt certificates directly in the interface
• Strong passwords — use long, unique passwords for WebDAV access
• Keep firmware up to date — update both the NAS and router regularly
• Only open necessary ports — only forward the WebDAV port, not the entire NAS administration
• Two-factor authentication — enable 2FA for NAS administration if available
• VPN as an alternative — for maximum security, you can set up a VPN tunnel (e.g. WireGuard) instead of port forwarding and make the NAS accessible only through the tunnel

Common issues

DS-Lite / Dual-Stack Lite

Some internet providers (especially cable providers such as Vodafone/Unitymedia) use DS-Lite. Multiple customers share a public IPv4 address — port forwarding is then not possible.

Solutions:

• Request a public IPv4 address from your provider (often available for a fee or on request)
• Use IPv6 if your NAS and footage.one support it
• Use a VPN service or reverse proxy

Connection works internally but not externally

• Check that port forwarding is correctly configured on the router
• Test from an external network (not your own Wi-Fi)
• Check the firewall settings on the NAS
• Make sure the ISP is not blocking the port

Certificate warnings in the browser

If you are using a self-signed certificate, browsers will show a warning. This is normal but not ideal. Use a Let's Encrypt certificate via your DynDNS hostname instead.