WOL only works from pfSense
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I have a media center pc that I've been trying to WOL. I have tried 3 or 4 different applications but none of them seem to work, except the built in pfSense WOL. What makes the pfSense WOL different than the average magic packet program?
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is your PC where you initiat the WOL on a different subnet than your media center PC ?
Any router between ? -
no routers in between, no changing subnets, no vlans, just a flat home network
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it worked because it broadcasts the magic packet on the subnet, not just to a specific address
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You can give this a try - Trobleshooting Magic Packet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN(...) Also, it is not always clear what kind of magic packet a NIC expects to see. In that case, software tools like a packet analyzer can help with Wake-on-LAN troubleshooting as they allow confirming (while the PC is still on) that the magic packet is indeed visible to a particular computer's NIC. The same magic packet can then be used to find out if the computer powers up from an offline state. This allows networking issues to be isolated from other hardware issues. In some cases they also confirm that the packet was destined for a specific PC or sent to a broadcast address and they can additionally show the packet's internals. (...)Perhaps this can help you to analyze what packet type pfsense is using and whar your destination PC needs.
It is new for me, too, that there are difference. I thought WOL is just WOL with Magic Packet ;)
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I'm interested in this as well. I'm able to successfully WOL my Win7 htpc using two separate iPhone apps, and even use one to route across different subnets because it allows a port to be assigned to the packet. Neither are able to WOL a Mac mini, however, even on the same subnet. pfSense WOL works in both cases. I wasn't too motivated to investigate the Mac mini problem further since the pfSense solution fit the bill.