router blocking ftp server?

hi dudes, i have a 500GB NAS device with a ftp file server built in, normally this is just seen on the lan as a pc and then you just mount the network drive just like accessing a drive on another pc, this isnt the problem, the ftp server function when enabled i can type ftp:// followed by its ip into the browser and access it as an ftp server, i can download files to my pda over wifi with this, i had a friend years back who somehow did this with his pc and i could access it over the internet and browse his hdd from an internet cafe, i dont know how he did this, i should be able to do the same thing with this device, if i enter the ftp://000.000.000.000 into my browser in a remote location, i.e a friends house or inet cafe, i cant access it, i think the nat in my router is preventing this from working, i have a linksys wag354g v2, and the 500GB linkstation, i have a static ip from my isp too, any ideas or links are appreaciated, :major i-CONICA :major

 

the ftp address needs to be, ftp://wan.ip and you need to forward both 20-21 to your nas via your router interface, usually 21 is it, but 20 is a ftp control data thing and probably needs to be forwarded as well.

 

you mean open port 20 and 21 in the routers firewall?
and what does ftp://wan.ip mean? i enter my ip from my isp then enter the ip for my nas device? thanks for the response anyway, :major i-CONICA :major

 

By wanip he means the IP you'd get from http://whatsmyip.org/ or external ip
And in the router goto port forwarding and set those two ports to forward to the internal ip of the NAS.. which most likely is in the 192.168.x.x range?

 

once this is done, i have my external ip, and ive forwarded those ports, then what would be typed into my browser in the remote location to access this nas ftp server? assuming my external ip is 81.81.12.12, and my nas devices ip is 194.170.4.103? thanks for the responses guys, :major i-CONICA :major

 

From a remote location you would type ftp://81.81.12.12 and if your router is setup properly it will froward your request to 194.170.4.103 on your internal network.

 

thanks guys , its set up now, i now type ftp://wanip, and i get remote access to the shares, now my last question is security, are there any risks of having those ports forwarded? having my nas open to the net? i have it set to read only for the ftp protocol, so it cant be modified, or deleted, but are there any other security risks i should know of? :major i-CONICA :major

 

As long as its marked readonly then you should be fine. Do keep an eye on it so if anything does start abusing it you catch it quick, but thats about it.