I installed an Apache server on my computer and used my local IP address 192.168.1.100 as my server's address. When I switched it to my global IP address I couldn't access my site. I am guessing that this is because my laptop is part of a router and so it shares its IP address with other computers. How can I use my laptop to host an Apache (or other) server that is globally accessible.

First, you need to find the EXTERNAL IP address of your router (Not sure if this is what you meant by Global). You can usually find it in the router's web based configuation. Or you can go to www.whatismyip.com. Then you need to forward Port 80 in your router's configuration to go to the INTERNAL IP address of your laptop.

Also, if your ISP gives you a DHCP IP address, you might want to consider getting a Dynamic DNS account through one of the free providers, such as no-ip.com. That way can access your server through www.yourname.no-ip.com no matter if the IP address your router is assigned changes.

Michael J

Thanks for the help, but I still have some questions.

1. How do I forward Port 80 in my router's configuration to my laptop's internal IP?

2. How to I know if my IP address is DHCP?

3. I do know that my internal IP is dynamic, so do I need a dynamic DNS account for that one as well?

1. I don't know. I don't know what router you have or how it's configuration works. Check the manual. You should have a web-based interface for configuring your router. There should be some place in there for Port Forwarding or might be called Virtual Server. You will need to specify that you want to forward External Port 80 to Internal Port 80 for the IP of your server (Laptop).

2. Again, check the web-based interface for configuring your router. There should be a page for setting up the connection to your ISP. If it is set to DHCP or Dynamic IP, then you have DHCP. If you have an IP address hard coded, then you do not have DHCP.

3. No. Dynamic DNS will only work for your External IP address (the IP address assigned to the router from your ISP). My router has a way of assigning a specific IP address to a specific machine through DHCP. If your's does not, then you will need to manually assign an IP address to that machine.

Michael J

Hi,

Still doesn't work. Here is my configuration though (also, I have a Gateway 802.11b Wireless Router). Under the Virtual Server area I have enabled Web server for my computer. My protocol is TCP and both the Internal Port No. and External Port No. are set to 80. My Apache ServerName directive in my server configuration file (httpd.conf) is set to my Internal IP Address. My dynamic IP address service's (dyndns.org) IP address is set to my External IP Address.

-If there is anything that you see wrong I would be thankful if you could inform me.

What errors do you get?

Have you tried from within your lan as well as outside your lan?

When you say Internal IP you need to specify if it is your router's internal IP or your server's internal IP.

Try using your external IP in the httpd.conf.

Michael J

I am having the same problem here. I have added the line in hosts file in windows xp.For example 127.0.0.1 http://"mynoipdns".info
then I added the 192.168.0.4 http://"mynoipdns".info just in case. Is there any trick I need to know regarding ports? I am saying this because I have a simple html page in port 81 and works fine with 127.0.0.1 . The problem is that I cannot access a bulletin board under 127.0.0.1:83/forums/index.php . But with 192.168.0.4:83/forums/index.php I can access it normaly and also all my friends from the net. It just doesn;t make sense....

Just a clarification..when I say my friends can access it I mean through the Dyn DNS address. Somehow the router is confused sending back the request.It jut doesn;t understand that the http://noipwhatever is ME!!!