Thanks Bjorn.
I was aware of the ticket, but as far as I can tell, nothing has been done on it for a while now.
I pulled the akka 2.1.1 source code and thought of integrating it myself, but there are too many changes that it is non-trivial, and I don't trust myself to do it correctly.
This is a gray area. The right solution is to have the appropriate HW so that the machines are on the same network. Roland, in a prior post goes into some depth on the network setup; but, for me at least, NATFriendly is an essential stepping stone to getting there.
Best Regards.