UPnP/DLNA is designed mainly for use over a local network, but it can be used over the internet if configured appropriately in one of two ways:

1. By using a VPN to simulate a local network
2. By configuring port forwarding to the Server and manually configuring the client with the server’s IP address and port.

Using a VPN

VPNs have the advantage of securing traffic between the DLNA client and server and allowing DLNA to function without additional configuration. The downside is that it can be complex to configure a VPN (beyond the scope of this article) and can incur a performance penalty.

The main thing to keep in mind when using a VPN is that the VPN must be configured to allow the server to be visible on the network so that the UPnP server is discoverable. If you’ve done so and the MediaMonkey Server isn’t discoverable try testing the server with a local UPnP client.

Unencrypted access using Port Forwarding

If you don’t have a VPN, you can configure UPnP/DLNA to be used over the internet. You’ll need to:

1. Set up your MediaMonkey UPnP Server to connect to the internet: with port forwarding through the router you can make the Server accessible outside of the local network. Be aware that there is no security preventing anyone else from connecting to the Server that’s made accessible through port forwarding. See your router’s online documentation as to how to setup port forwarding for your specific Router model. The port that MediaMonkey uses for its DLNA Server is visible via Tools > Options > Media Sharing from the Main Menu per server. You’ll want to configure port forwarding for that port for both UDP and TCP protocols to the server’s IP address.
2. Set up your MediaMonkey UPnP client by manually adding the DLNA Server (since remote DLNA Servers are not auto-detected):
   1. In MediaMonkey 5 go to the Devices & Services node in the Media Tree and use the + icon next to the Media Servers section to manually add a DLNA Server.
   2. In MediaMonkey 4 right click on the Media Servers node in the Media Tree and use Add Media Server
   3. You’ll need:
      1. Know if you can connect via https or only via http (MediaMonkey only supports http)
      2. the IP of the network the DLNA Server is on, as your going outside the network this generally is the public IP of the network, not the IP of the DLNA Server (or PC it runs on)
      3. the port used for port forwarding in the Router, in MediaMonkey this is set under Tools > Options > Media Sharing from the Main Menu per server.
      4. the device description document filename, MediaMonkey uses DeviceDescription.xml for this.
   4. You can use this in any browser to confirm that the DLNA Server is accessible (eg. http://192.168.1.2:4000/DeviceDescription.xml).

If you have trouble accessing the MediaMonkey Media Server please see: MediaMonkey UPnP/DLNA Server inaccessible