 |
DESCRIPTION
Lighthouse is a dynamic port forwarding utility, allowing you to enable and disable port forwardings with just a single click. Both NAT/PMP (Apple Airport base stations) and UPnP (D-Link, Linksys, Netgear) protocols are supported.
Port forwardings are frequently necessary for tools such as instant messengers, file-sharing utilities and other networked applications that are run from behind a NAT gateway (read: a home network router). Being able to dynamically manage your port forwardings saves you from all the hassles of having to deal with cumbersome static forwardings.
- Start and stop port forwardings with a single click
- Lives in your menu bar - always easily accessible
- Automatically start port forwardings when applications are launched
- Automatically start Lighthouse when you log into MacOS X
- Supports NAT/PMP routers (such as Apple Airport base stations)
- Supports UPnP routers (such as D-Link, Linksys or Netgear branded routers)
- Support for Growl notifications
- Import and export profiles to share them
- Download more profiles from our website
- Comes with pre-made port mapping profiles for popular applications
- Localized in English, French and German
WHAT'S NEW
Version 1.27:
- Due to a failure of our storage system, some users were accidentally served an old pre-release build instead of proper 1.2.6 yesterday. 1.2.7 is released to make sure that everyone indeed downloaded the correct version.
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.4 or later (compatible with Leopard, Snow Leopard); A NAT/PMP or UPnP compatible router
| SCREENSHOT
|
|
 |
|  |
 | |  |
| Lighthouse User Reviews (13 posts) | Write A Review |
 | Feb 5 2008 |
SVOOP I hoped Lighthouse could help as my router (Billion Bipac 7500g) is not recognized by iChat. However, Lighthouse has crashed heavily on Leo 10.5.1 :-) A problem might be that Lighthouse sets one rule per port, so if your port range contains 100 ports in both TCP and UDP, Lighthouse tries to set 200 rules on the router. That might have blown it.
(Version 1.2.3) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
 | Feb 8 2008 |
CODELAIDE.COM Sending one request per forwarding is the only way it can be done (it's a limitation of the underlying protocols). It shouldn't be crashing, though, so you might want to contact the support (There's a "feedback" link in Lighthouse's main menu). It's possible that the router has a broken UPnP suppport, sending back some unexpected garbage that is currently not handled properly (there haven't been any crash logs in quite a while, so contacting support about this might be worth it!)
(Version 1.2.3) | |
 | Aug 2 2007 |
OCULI A software for everyone who needs an easy solution for port forwarding. Very well done!
(Version 1.2.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Oct 24 2009 |
ILGAZ If you think about it, it also provides a great security for free. No need to keep multiple ports open while the application needing them is not in use. Also, ability to manually enable/disable the ports like SSH to outside World.
(Version 1.2.7) | |
| Jul 25 2007 |
NHESSON Waht about the apple airport extreme? :(
(Version 1.2.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Jul 25 2007 |
CODELAIDE.COM It works fine with the Airport Extreme (both the older "UFO"-shaped one and the new 802.11n one). If you don't get it to work out of the box, it's either because 'NAT port mapping protocol' is not enabled or because you've set up a very restrictive firewall that prevents communication with your Airport. Please have a look at the 'Troubleshooting' section of the built-in help file for tips concerning the firewall. If you search the Help file for 'Airport', you'll also find a step-by-step guide on how to enable the NAT port mapping protocol on your Airport Extreme. Lighthouse should work fine then.
(Version 1.2.1) | |
| Apr 2 2007 |
NONEOFYOURBIZ Lighthouse unfortunately is useless for 99% of users because most applications have the UPnP functionality built in. iChat, LimeWire, Azureus, Xtorrent, and many many more do the port mapping for you via built in UPnP. That's really what UPnP was made for. To be built into the code so you, the user, dont have to think about it. I really do like the software though. If Applications didnt do this on their own I would use Lighthouse for sure.
(Version 1.2) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Apr 2 2007 |
CODELAIDE.COM While it is true that some applications come with their own UPnP support built-in, this doesn't render Lighthouse "useless for 99% of the people". First, there are still lots of applications without UPnP support, such as every VNC server, every unix server application such as ssh or ftp, but also some BitTorrent clients or instant messenger clients (such as Adium), etc... Second, Lighthouse also supports NAT/PMP, the port mapping protocol supported by Apple routers. Those do not understand UPnP. While many applications have UPnP support, this is often not the case for NAT/PMP, making Lighthouse a valuable tool for people with Apple-branded routers. Third, some users have reported success with Lighthouse whereas the built-in UPnP support of other applications doesn't work.
(Version 1.2) | |
| Feb 19 2007 |
CURARE Even though I had trouble, it's most likely my router as it seems, not the app. I give it a 5 star rating, since the app is stable and does what it says. The developer is friendly and responsive. I like that combination regarding support ;)
(Version 1.1.1) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
 | Feb 18 2007 |
CURARE Hm, I bought this software without reading any reviews, comments or something. Making Lighthouse work with Linksys routers requires to turn on RIP-Support within the router (this enables Lighthouse to successfully connect to the router). But any profile I tried to apply just fails (UPnP and NAT are enabled, besides RIP. I did not mail the developer about this, so it's maybe unfair, but it seems to me that it's (a lot) easier to set up a static port forwarding, than making Lighthouse work with your router. It's a pitty, since I really love the idea of the app.
(Version 1.1.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Feb 19 2007 |
CODELAIDE.COM The ease of setup is bounded by the quality of the UPnP or NAT-PMP implementation of your router. Some Linksys models have extraordinarily bad implementations of UPnP. However, you may get better results by switching to the opensource firmware DD-WRT () if it is compatible with your router, or at least install the latest official firmware from the Linksys support website. As an example, RIP (Routing Information Protocol) has nothing to do at all with what Lighthouse does, hence the need to enable it in your router to get Lighthouse to associate is clearly a bug in the firmware. Lighthouse works out-of-the-box with all Apple-branded routers and many third-party routers. Additionally, there's a 14-day full-featured trial period so that you can evaluate Lighthouse and make sure that your router supports it. Also, feel free to contact our support whenever you need assistance!
(Version 1.1.1) | |
| Jan 20 2007 |
ABILSTEIN Works great for me! Now I can easily provide technical support via VNC for people using wireless routers. The developer was very helpful and friendly, and even sent me a specific configuration file to help me out.
(Version 1.1) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Dec 28 2006 |
GRUMPYTICO It did not associate with my Linksys router. I could really use this application, please make it work!! (I am giving you great reviews to make up for the unfair 1-star rating you received below)
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Dec 28 2006 |
Please ensure that your router model is indeed UPnP compatible and that you have the latest firmware upgrade installed for it. A link to the Linksys support page is available here: http://codelaide.com/blog/support/lighthouse Also, have you already tried all the tips from the "Troubleshooting" section of the built-in help file?
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| Dec 14 2006 |
DAVID ETTER I really want to give Lighthouse a try, but for several weeks, the developer's website has been inaccessible from my neck of the woods. Is there a mirror??
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Dec 14 2006 |
CODELAIDE.COM Inaccessible? Actually, we didn't have any downtime during the last weeks and the links on this page work fine for me. Are you maybe on a network that prohibits access to some websites? Anyways, you can email us at sales@codelaide.com and I'll send you the disk image as an email attachment.
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| Dec 13 2006 |
NON_PC Where do you get off calling this Shareware? It's commercial with a 14 week demo.
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Dec 14 2006 |
CODELAIDE.COM It really depends on your definition of Shareware, and by my definition (and Wikipedia's as well), Lighthouse is Shareware with a 14-day trial period. It is fully functional during this period. Calling this a demo version would imply that it was functionally crippled during demo use which it is not. For example, a game demo is usually crippled in a way that it only has the first few levels of a game. Lighthouse, on the other hand, is fully functional in trial mode, It only expires after 14 days. Is there another reason why you were only giving 1 star in every category in your review? Maybe I can help you?
(Version 1.0.4) | |
|
| View all 13 posts >> |
|
