Static IP Address.
how to get one..
This page describes how to assign a "Static IP" to your local computer. If you are looking to get an external static IP, that is; a static IP for your whole internet connexion; see the notes at the foot of the article for more details, and also this post.
What is an IP address?
An IP address is like a telephone number that any computer can use to find any other computer in a network. All networked computers have IP addresses. Most have a static ip, that is, they don't change (for instance, at the time of writing, Google is 74.125.45.100, and typing http://74.125.45.100/ into your browser will take you straight to Google. That is Google's "public IP", aka. "external IP" (one of them), behind their NAT are probably thousands of separate machines, each with different "private" IP's (probably static, or more likely a mix of dynamic and static IP's), 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, etc., we don't see those. But some IP's do change..For general (beginner's) use, dhcp is just fine, because it's easier; generally works "out of the box", requiring no configuration at all. But if you want to do more; run servers, p2p applications, interesting communication devices, etc, you'll be creating port forwarding/NAT rules on your router, to direct incoming traffic to a particular computer (the one running the server), and if you want those rules to be effective past your next reboot, you will need to get a static IP on your computer, so that the incoming data packets can still find you. Imagine the fun your friends and family would have contacting you if your telephone number changed every day!
okay, let's do it!
Okay, so you understand why you need to get a static IP, (apart from the obvious "cuz I want to forward my ports!") it's time to move on to the how part."Private" IP addresses usually begin with 192.168** and must be on the same "subnet" that the router is on, in other words, 192.168.1.something, and NOT 192.168.4.something. Only the last number will be different from the address of your router which by default (at least for Voyager routers), lives at 192.168.1.1. 192.168.0.1 is also common.
** There are other private ranges, too, but most people don't need to know about those, 192.168.1.something is what most folk use, and though thousands of millions of machines in the world have 192.168.1.something as their private IP address, they don't interfere with each other because they are behind NATs and other gateways; from the outside, we only see the public IP address, aka. "external IP".
HOWEVER, if your router uses 192.168.0.something, or 10.0.0.something, or something else from the private IP ranges..
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
..then don't hesitate to use THAT instead of the 192.168.1.something addresses I use in my examples, that's what most routers use, but not all. Do check.
The best way to know what subnet your router uses, and thereby which IP to use, is to look and see what IP it has currently assigned to your computer. In Windows, it's in the Support tab of the connexion's Status dialog. A netstat command will get you the same information (and more) on most platforms, perhaps netstat -n. Your router's web interface will likely have all this information, too.
Remember to disable dhcp in your router before you start assigning static IP's.
Alternatively, somewhere away from your regular static IP's, handy for guests and what-not, perhaps 192.168.1.50 - 192.168.1.99
Fortunately, assigning a static IP is very easy to achieve, and the same principle applies to every computing platform, the only real difference being where to apply the settings. I'll start with the trickiest..
Windows®..
The dialog you are looking for is here..Control Panel >> Network Connections >>
Local Area Connection >> Properties >> TCP/IP >> Properties*phew*
In other words, open the control panel, open Network Connections, right-click the "Local Area Connection" (unless you've renamed it to something else) and chose "Properties", then (in the "general" tab) select "Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)" and click the "Properties" button. Check the "Use the Following IP address" checkbox and enter your desired IP address. If you use 192.168.1.3 as your IP address, the dialog will look something like this..
..which is a clever screencap, showing you just how to get there. When you're done, okay everything to close all the dialogs. It's smart to use 192.168.1.3 as your address, especially if you plan to use any of the ready-made script kicking around here.
I you are plugging your computers into a network switch (Good Idea!), it's also smart to plug each machine into its corresponding CAT-5 socket, router (192.168.1.1) into the first, 192.168.1.3 into the third, and so on, so you can see which is which at-a-glance.
Mac OS X..
What you need is in the "Network" dialog of the System Preferences, and will look something like this..
Simply click the drop-down menu for "Show", and choose "Built-in Ethernet" to get that screen, enter all the details as above. Click "Apply Now", and you're done!
Did you notice that on the Mac, you enter the Router's address into a space labelled as "Router", whereas, on Windows, you enter it into a space labelled "Default Gateway"? But then, the space for DNS servers is clearer in the Windows box. Seems we all still have a lot to learn from each other.
Linux..
This probably isn't necessary, most Linux users know how to alter this stuff, but I suspect one or two may not. Usually you need to edit some plain text file (as root). On some Linux systems, the settings will be in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 (or whatever interface you are using), or possibly /etc/network/interfaces. I guess it might look something like this..
Usually, your distro will have a utility for setting up your network, and one of the first things it will ask you, after you tell it you want "manual" and not "automatic" configuration, is what IP address to assign to the machine. It's usually called something like "Network Configuration", or "inet configurator" or whatever. you'll find it! In a shell you can probably do "netconfig", "netcfg", "Ifconfig", "neat", or "netset" (depending on your distro). Same story for UNIX, Solaris, BSD, etc..
The Router..
Firstly, you don't have to mess with ANY of your computer's network settings, ever. Because the router is always going to dole out the exact same address to that computer, the usual DHCP settings will work fine. Your computer asks for any address, and always gets given the exact same one.
It's not possible to give many specifics, because each router is different, but I can tell you that if you use IPCop as your gateway (A Very Good Idea), it's as simple as clicking one of connexions in the "Current dynamic leases" list, and pressing "Create fixed lease", in the DHCP server page. Two clicks, and you're set for life!
You even can reinstall your computer's operating system, reboot, and there's your static IP again!
That's it!
From now on, your machine will always be reachable at your chosen address. NAT rules will be permanent, and you can dabble in all sorts of interesting and esoteric communications devices, servers and p2p applications.If you have a few computers on your private network (LAN), you might want to consider giving them all names to go with their permanent addresses, so you can reach them by typing "workshop" or something into a telnet session/web browser/whatever. You could telnet to your router by simply doing
telnet router, for instance. If you develop web sites, this is near essential. See here for more details.If you like, you can leave feedback (I thought it was about time this page had comments of its own - folk are coming straight here from the search engines, and it's getting popular!). If this page didn't help you, tell me about it!
Have fun!
;o)
(or
notes..
- If you were actually wondering how to get a static IP for your whole internet connexion; aka. external IP, aka. "WAN IP"; perhaps to run some live web site or interesting server from your home or office, well, that's not something we mere mortals can do from our side of the router. You will need to talk to your ISP. Note: Not all ISP's offer this service, and those that do will usually charge a premium. However..
Most people do not need this!
Even those that think they do, or have been told they do. Instead, perhaps you simply need to..
- Note: DynDNS no longer offer a free service to new customers, so unless you want to pay for your DNS redirection, I recommend no-ip.com, freedns.afraid.org, or zoneedit.com, instead.
- Note, too: you can always get your current external IP address, a-la "what's my IP", except in plain text, right here. Very handy for automatic shell scripts, and more. Right now, it's 38.107.179.221.
references:
1. This is very similar to the way you get a new external IP whenever you dial-up to the internet (some folks still do that) or disconnect your ADSL for a few minutes2 (less scrupulous net citizens use this "feature" regularly!).
2. Although it's usual to get a new external IP when you reconnect your DSL, it's not guaranteed. With some ISP's it happens rarely, with others you need to disconnect for a few minutes or more, with some ISP's, you always get a fresh IP with each connect, no matter how quickly you do it. One thing is certain, though; unless you are paying them for a static IP, your current external IP address will change!
3. Remember, your external IP, and your local computer's IP, are two totally separate things (well, in this context). Almost no one needs a static IP for their external connexion, but almost everyone who wants to run peer-to-peer applications, ftp servers, and so on, will need a static IP for their local computer. The former is supplied by your ISP, the latter is down to you.
2. Although it's usual to get a new external IP when you reconnect your DSL, it's not guaranteed. With some ISP's it happens rarely, with others you need to disconnect for a few minutes or more, with some ISP's, you always get a fresh IP with each connect, no matter how quickly you do it. One thing is certain, though; unless you are paying them for a static IP, your current external IP address will change!
3. Remember, your external IP, and your local computer's IP, are two totally separate things (well, in this context). Almost no one needs a static IP for their external connexion, but almost everyone who wants to run peer-to-peer applications, ftp servers, and so on, will need a static IP for their local computer. The former is supplied by your ISP, the latter is down to you.
Useful Links..
Your current external ip address, in plain text. Always avaliable. Handy for scripting.
What was your external IP before you reconnected your DSL? Handy.
My handy port probe - instantly check if your server or p2p app is receiving connexions.
Highly useful free IP scanner - handy for finding lost puters and routers on your LAN.
Comprehensive article about the magic of the Domain Name System.
FAQ..
What is an IP Mask? And how do they work?
The IP Mask simply describes which parts of an IP address are not going to change.IP addresses are currently 32 bit, expressed as four sets of 8-bit numbers (0-255), or "octets". Simply, 255 means none of the bits can change, 0 means all of the bits can change (it can also be any number in between). What sometimes confuses, is that IP Masks can be expressed in two different ways..
IP: 192.168.0.<some valid number here>, Mask: 255.255.255.0
and..
192.168.0/24
Are exactly the same. While the first is, if you understand what I've said so far, fairly obvious; the second needs a little explanation.
If you remember that IP addresses are 32 bits, 4 sets of 8-bit numbers, you might realize that the second number simply states how many of those bits will be masked; in this case, 24 of the 32 are masked (cannot change), which is the first three sets, i.e. 255.255.255.0.
Any address using this mask, will be 192.168.0.something
See?
What's the difference between a public and private IP Address?
We did this! Okay, in short, your GATEWAY has your Public IP address, and your desktop computer (and any other machines inside your home/organization) have private IP Addresses. Simply put; it's outside and inside. Anyone "out there" can see your public IP, but only machines inside your own network know each other's individual private IP addresses... So, let's say a packet of data from "out there", is trying to reach your machine; it could be a legitimate connexion from a client, maybe an FTP client, or some game player, or script-kiddie, or you trying to access your bedroom's WebCam, or whatever. It leaves their machine, and starts its journey, hop-to-hop, attempting to get to yours.
"Out There", is the internet. When you first connected to the internet, via your ISP's backbone, they assigned your connexion an IP address (or more than one, in some cases) from a large pool of IP Addresses they own. Any machine sending you a packet of data can reach you at this IP.
Some folk pay for a static IP, most folk get a dynamic IP; that is, whatever's currently available from the ISP's IP pool, but either way, whatever IP your ISP gives your connexion becomes your Public IP Address. Every time you access a web page, or FTP site, or game server, or announce yourself to a torrent tracker, or anything; that is the IP Address they see at the other end of the connexion, and that is the address they will send the packets back to. This is your Public IP Address.
Up until that packet reaches your gateway machine, it is in the public domain. Anything could happen to it. Once that packet hits your gateway machine, it enters the private domain and what happens next, is up to you..
If your gateway machine is a router, or better yet, a dedicated gateway appliance like IPCop, or Smoothwall is, then you have an array of possibilities. The packet may be on a port you don't know, or don't allow, and may be immediately dropped by your gateway's firewall.
Or it may be on a port your gateway machine recognizes, like the return data from a web page you requested, or your torrent port, or whatever, and the gateway device will have been programmed to forward that packet on to a Private IP Address, another machine inside your network, your desktop, or wherever. The gateway's firewall usually does most of this automatically, sorting out which machines asked for what data, but can also be programmed to forward specific traffic to specific machines, for example, when we create port-forwarding rules for P2P clients on our desktop computers.
Your Private IP Address is known only to machines inside your own network. If you have lots of machines inside your network, they will each have different private addresses, and with a secure gateway, none of these addresses can ever be seen from the outside (unless you hand it out, for example, in your email headers).
This is why if you broadcast your Private IP to a distant server, e.g. 192.168.1.3; the requested data would never return, having been sent to a machine most likely sitting in the exact same building as the distant server, if such a machine even exists.
I want to host a REAL domain! A REAL site! I NEED an external Static IP!.. Don't I?
No, so long as your hardware (computer/network/connexion/bandwidth allowance) can handle whatever kind of site you plan to host, it's easy enough to point a proper TLD* at a dynamic IP address. While not recommended for mission-critical applications (there will always be a brief spell after you are assigned a new IP, where the name still points to the old IP - these days increasingly briefer, as DNS systems improve), hosting a "real" domain from a dynamic IP is most definitely doable.Once you have purchased (registered) your domain name, you simply need a way to keep it in sync with your ever-shifting dynamic public IP address.
Check out zoneedit.com, a free service which does exactly that. Just like dnydns.org et al, you run your DUC and it keeps your domain name pointing at your IP address. And if you head along to namecheap.com, you can even register your domain, and setup dynamic DNS all at the same time. This is a fine place to add that I consider namecheap to be the best domain registrar in the world.
* okay, technically only the "com/org/net/etc." part is the actual TLD, but the acronym has dropped itself into common parlance meaning "a proper (not-sub) domain", like "corz.org" or "ampsig.com" is. Okay, I might have pushed a little. ;o)
<Insert any question here>
When troubleshooting network issues, I usually get my solutions following one simple rule.. "Think like a packet of data". As breathtakingly simple as this sounds, imagining yourself as a packet of data, traveling from A to B is the fastest way to figure out where the trouble lies. That's all there is to it! Try it; you will not be disappointed with the results.Troubleshooting..
A number of things can go wrong when trying to configure a static IP on your local machine.The most common issues are..
- A second network adapter on your computer already has that IP address assigned to it.
Note: Firewire (aka. 'IEEE 1394') adapters usually get automatically setup as network adapters in Windows. Unless required, it is generally best to disable these interfaces.
- Another computer on your local network already has the IP you are attempting to assign.
Another Very Good Reason to configure all your static IPs at your router, and leave the individual puters' default DHCP settings as-is.
- You do not have sufficient security privileges to make such a change (i.e. you are not the Administrator/admin user)
Before you ask a question..
Firstly, read this at least once in your life. I insist!
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A COMMUNITY. And I am not your free tech dude.
If you can't be bothered to read the article, I can't be bothered responding. Capiche? I do read all comments, though, and answer questions about the article. I'm also keen to discuss anything you think I've missed, or interesting related concepts in general.
Questions which having nothing to do with local Static IP addressing will be deleted, which also doubles as your answer! This also goes for questions asking for an email reply.
If you are still sure that you want to post your own, personal, tech question, then please ensure that you first, either..
a) Have read the article (above) and have tried "everything" yourself; or else..
b) Pay me. The PayPal button is at the top right of the page.
When i enter my standard gateway code it says that the gateway different connections. I didnt see something like that above!
What is DUC?
hi-your article is really good .
I have wishnet internet connection
I have no router , they only give a normal ware which connect with my 1 computer =
ip-10.10.243.179
sun-255255255192
get-10.10.243.129
dns-172.16.0.1
a.dns-202.54.1.63
and i make proxy to other my 7 computer with -
192.168.1.5 - 192.168.1.11
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.254
---------------------------
now - when i search on google that what is my ip ,it's shows 113.21.*.* , as your article 113.21.*.* is static ip i think ....
-------------------------
i am make a 3D pc game like counter_strike1.6 and it's played in lan successfully .
-------------------------
please you say how others player who are not in my lan or others internet users can connect my game -- the dedicated server located on 192.168.1.3 pc
i don't want to use any virtual lan like hamanchi.because i make my own code ..
thanks in advance :-)
You need to setup "Port Forwarding" (to the machine at 192.168.1.3) - check your router's documentation. Also, a dyndns domain would probably be handy. ;o) Cor
I understand i need to port forr..
but i don't know how to do this ..
please give a details so that i can do .
thanks .
Use the port probe to test your incoming connexions.
;o) Cor
I have a new IMAC for my medical office. It is connected with FIOS through a router with a static IP address. I also have an IMAC at home, and 2 other laptops (3) that I need to access my office computer. I have the IP address, but I cannot get the right answer to my questions....everyone has something else to say. I need to be able to access that IMAC located at work, like I share screen with other laptops on my network at same time. I want to actually use that machine while I am at other locations, outside the office. It is essentially a server, and I will have parallells program on it, so I can us windows for some medical applications only available on a Windows PC. I thought I could do this, but because it is with a FIOS router, I am getting different answers...Anyone know if this can be done, and how? I have tried remote desktop, to no avail...
thanks
I don't know much about Parallels, but this document appears to suggest that you will need to also setup a port-forward to the virtual machine. That's two now. Have fun! ;o) Cor
Very sorry, I still dont understand above info. I try to follow but still not working
I not going to use it as server but using as ip camera.
Currently my wireless modem is 192.168.1.1
my ip camera is 192.168.1.103
at my wireless modem, i had set my port foward is 5555
My wireless modem tempory gave me ip address 117.25.*.*
so if i want to view my ip camera by laptop or iphone
at anywhere i go, i just click in 117.25.130.157:5555
BUT the problem is that, when some one off the wireless modem, my ip address is re-create. How to fix my wirless modem IP?
Thank you
Then you can forget about your external IP address, stop looking at it, it will always be cool-domain.ath.cx or whatever you choose (and your cam will be http://cool-domain.ath.cx:5555). To get the IP Camera to work "from outside", all you need to do is ensure that your port-forwarding rule is pointing to the correct INTERNAL IP Address, the IP address of your IP Camera..
To ensure the router is always sending the requests to the camera, set your IP Camera to a static local address (e.g. make it ALWAYS 192.168.1.103), preferably by setting up a "fixed lease" on your router, if possible. Most routers can do it, some simply have a "Make Static" button next to devices; click and you're done.
One last thing; running a DUC client on your desktop is lame. Fortunately, some cameras have built in DUCs so they can automatically keep your dyndns.org address current with any changes in your external IP address, many routers also have this capability (perhaps under "Dynamic DNS"), probably your does. Get to know the capabilities of your equipment; it can probably handle all this for you, and once properly setup, you can forget all about it.
;o) Cor
p.s.. "My wireless modem tempory gave me ip address 117.25.*.*"
NO IT DID NOT! Your ISP gave that IP address to your modem!
Well i want to go on and play a Runescape private server and every time i try and run it it lags and says error connecting to server. can you please tell me how i can fix this and if it's a problem with my router or something? Thanks if you could help me. THe private server name is Deviouspk.
I want to access at an unattended location a temperature monitor (mfg. is temperaturealert) that communicates wirelessly through a router to a broadband modem, from anywhere I have internet access via a pc. The vendor tells me at that location I must have a public ip address to be able do this, or use their proprietary 'cloud' service. I have read your posts and believe setting up the router to assign a static address within the network would be sufficient.
Questions: is that sufficient and reliable, or must I use dyndns or similar,and finally will assigning a static address cause problems for other devices that will need at some time to acces the internet at that location...
Best regards, and compliments on a great ifo site!
.../cws
Yes, you will need dyndns (or similar - I recently discovered dyndns no longer offer a free service to new customers. Check out no-ip.com, instead) to make your external IP address "static" (in that it will always resolve to the exact same host name).
As for the temperature monitoring device, a local static IP is definitely preferable. Providing it's setup correctly (preferably by use of a "static lease" at your router, ensuring the assigned IP address doesn't overlap any dynamic IP (DHCP) blocks you have set), it should in no way interfere with anything.
You will also need to enable port-forwarding for the device. Again, do this at your router.
;o) Cor
OK, so here is the deal: about 6 months ago I purchased a brand new laptop and connected it to my DLink router that has been working on our PC for about 3 years now. I also have 2 Playstations and 2 other laptops connected to the D Link (all of which are working fine and NEVER have any problems whatsoever). About 3 weeks ago, I turned my laptop on and tried going online, but much to my surprise, it couldnt connect. Its supposed to automatically connect, but this time it didnt. I figured I would manually connect it. I opened up the window that displays all the routers that the laptop is picking up and i saw my D Link so I try to connect. It attempts, then says "connected" and the after 3 seconds or so, it says "Limited Access". I thought it was a problem with the internet so I checked the other laptops in the house and the Playstation and they are all working fine. I figured it was my laptop so I shut it off and restarted it but it did not work. Next, I tried unplugging the router and waited for 2 minutes or so and plugged it back in. Yay! It worked! I solved the problem! I began surfing the internet for a couple hours when, BAM! It suddenly went out again. I figured I would unplug the router once again to see if it was just some kind of glitch and would work fine this time. I unplug it and repeat the process over again. after 2 hours, it goes out. Everything else in this house seems to be working just fine on the router with no problems whatsoever, except mine. I have not messed with any of the configurations because I have not idea where to even begin so I know it cant be with the configurations. My laptop is new with windows 7, I'm using xfinity as a provider.
Side note- I did a test and when I cant connect to the internet with my laptop it fails a "PING" test (no idea what that is), but when I unplug and plug up the router and the internet is fine on the laptop, it will pass the "PING" test.
I'm completely clueless about all this, I really hope you can help. If you have any questions, any at all that might help you diagnose the problem, please ask and I'll try to answer as quickly as possible, I really need this problem fixed. Its horrible having to reset the router every 2 to 4 hours.
Recap: New laptop with windows 7, all other laptops and PS3's work just fine even when MY laptop isnt, fails "PING" test when it cant connect to internet, passes "PING" test when it can connect to internet, unplugging the router and plugging it back in will give me internet for a few hours, when laptop cant connect it says "LIMITED ACCESS".
any ideas? Thanks for any help.
P.S. Like I have mentioned before, I'm a complete newb and dont really understand too much of the lingo, please break it down barney style for me. Thanks again.
I can't seem to follow your instructions
hi,
i have 16MBps Broadband connection and i apply static IP to ISP(bsnl), they told IP was alloted and the same was active.
How to check my Static IP.
Thanks in advnce
It is a great way to explain.
Pain in the bum networking. I have a public ip address but cannot ping it from the web. It's ok on my internal network on my side of the router but not the other side. Router is Thomson TG585v7. All was ok until I replaced the computer recently. I have made the computer static (192.168.1.66) and set the router for VNC on that IP address but although I can use VNC on the public ip number from my local network, nothing works externally. It's simple but just eludes me at the moment. Any pointers would be appreciated..
Best Regards,
tim
Secondly, I assume you don't mean an actual "ping", which most routers/firewalls will not allow on the external interface. If you are attempting an actual "ping", then that is your problem. If you really need to ping your external interface, you will need to enable ICMP connexions for that interface (which are on port 7).
Finally, I assume you have setup port-forwarding for whatever port your VNC server is using. If not, that is your problem.
;o) Cor
ps. get a no-ip.com address.
Hi,
Firstly, I assume you are trying to connect, from outside, to your external address (currently 217.207.*.*) and not your internal address (192.168.1.66). If not, that's your problem.
The Computer and network in question is my home setup. I write this from my work location. Incidentally, we have 6 public ip addresses here and I have set them all for various tasks including the ability to sort out network problems while on holiday using VNC. All works 100%. I was trying to use my VNC connection from here to home. Something that I do quite often without any problems till the recent Computer change. The ip address always used to respond to a ping so I presume this has been allowed in the router setup.
Second dealt with in above..
Finally, I assume you have setup port-forwarding for whatever port your VNC server is using. If not, that is your problem.
The router setup allows (and has been set) to forward requests using typical VNC ports to the chosen computer name / ip address (192.168.1.66).
Stumped me so far. I have to remember to save the current router .ini file and reboot the router for any changes to take place.
Thanks for you help..
Regards,
Tim
By the way, if possible, setup your local static IP addresses from the router (with fixed DHCP leases), saves work and headaches later on.
;o) Cor
Hi cor,
Thanks again, I like quiet mornings but they tend to end abruptly. The calm before the storm. I shut down the firewall and anything else I could find that might cause the problem. I have also used various sites to check the public ip address with no success. I would be better conversing with you from the home setup if only you get another quiet morning. I will try one or two more idea's including your suggestions and get back to you. I really don't want to spend too much time in front of computers at home unless it's 'relaxing'. I look after 30 + here at work and that's enough by the time I go home.
Thanks again for your help and advice, either way I will let you know the outcome.
I trust you and yours are well,
Regards,
Tim.
I have an interesting question.
I have Charter for my ISP and all of their IPs they issue are on 2 Blacklist.
SORBS
Spamhaus
Charter told me in so many words that they do this because they consider "Residential" accounts as Entertainment and they recommend I upgrade to a Business account, and of course that could cost $100 or more a month.
So my question I have, is there anyway to obtain an IP address that is static and not on a Blacklist without having to upgrade to a business ISP or change ISP's?
I found this all out when I noticed a lot of my emails I send using Thunderbird where going into spam folders and my sites IPs are clean and no blacklist. But my ISP issued IP is blacklisted.
I did try and change IPs and after 25 different IPs with Charter they all were blacklisted.
So, What can a guy do?
Thanks
awesome
Talking about getting a static IP for the whole internet,
Things like dyndns and no-ip.com only work if your provider gives you a public IP *and* they allow you to configure the public ip on one of your computers (or change the modem / router configuration to do NAT or forwarding).
Unfortunately, my provider does not allow that unless I upgrade to a business line.
<ad snipped>
Hi Cor,
Thanks for the article, and its content is getting me closer to an answer but I don't think it applies to my question just yet (and the problem is I don't really know how to ask the right question - i.e. the right google keywords - to get the answers, so am left with the only option of writing to you, so please forgive..)
I would like to know a) if the following is possible, and b) What this is called so I can search for it...
I have an old PC tower under my desk, with Ubuntu on it (semi irrelevant coz I intend on putting various Linux distros on it). I have a keyboard or monitor for it, but I don't want them permanently (too much actual desktop real-estate when added to my further equipment below). It does have a plug-in USB wifi 'stick' - (antenna?)
On my desk I have a clunky laptop running Windows 7 (writing to you on it now), internal wifi. This is my 'main' computer.
I would like to use my main computer to connect to my old computer _without_ using a router (don't have one). I'm foggily gathering the notion that to do this, I need to set-up the 'old' computer as a "bridge", which I'm guessing involves static IPs to some degree (how I got here), but I _don't_ want to connect to the Internet. I want this as direct and private as possible... is that possible? Can the PC tower 'broadcast' an IP address that my laptop can connect to?
Thanks for any help you can provide, and thanks for your time...
Kind regards,
Tom
Failing that, using WiFi, you need to get a WiFi router. You can pick up an old V1.0 BT Home hub for 50p these days, and transforming it into a LAN-only WiFi router is a piece of cake (v1.5 has better WiFi, and can be had just as cheap). Most of the (FREE) broadband routers kicking around second hand shops, car-boot sales and skips can be transformed into a local Wi-Fi "Hot-Spot" with minimal effort. Some not - Google that.
Technically, you can connect two machines directly, but these sorrts of ad-hoc networks lack the security features required to keep things "private". Get a broadband router and WPA-2.
Then you setup a permanent lease for your Linux box, when it comes "online" (locally). it gets its same IP address and Network "name", other local computers can share with it easily, but nothing outside your LAN. Inside your Samba shares config [section] you can do..
hosts deny = 0.0.0.0/0
hosts allow = 192.168.0.
..to ensure only clients from the LAN have access to the shared resources. With a current samba setup, decent block lines (above), and WPA-2, you can share root resources locally, securely over WiFi.
;o) Cor
Thank you Cor!
I'm hoping you have moderator privileges to delete this after you've read it - no point taking up extra space, just wanted to thank you for your answer
Tom
btw, I came to the conclusions also: ad hoc for the time being, but eventually gonna buy a crossover cable I think... trying to avoid as much extra hw as possible (you should SEE the mess of equipment on/under my desk! sheesh!)
;o) Cor