Inaccessible web server behind router inspite of port forwarding

Hi:

I desperately need help with this problem. I have a Netgear MR814
Wireless Router connected to the internet via a cable modem. I have
three PCs connected to the router, two of them wirelessly and the
third by ethernet cable. All three PCs on the internal network are
assigned DHCP addresses 192.168.0.2 thru' 192.168.0.4 by the router.
The router reserves addresses based on the MAC address, so that the IP
addresses assigned to the three PCs are essentially constant. The PC
connected physically to the router (via ethernet cable) is assigned IP
address 192.168.0.2.

I am trying to host a web server on the PC with IP address
192.168.0.2. I set up port forwarding on the router so that port 80 is
forwarded to 192.168.0.2. I then set up an alias in dnsalias.org so
that hostname resolution is done. However, I was unable to access the
web server using the hostname or IP address. I read in one of the
newsgroups that my ISP (Comcast) may be blocking some of the more
well-known ports to force us to comply with their rules. So, I
configured Apache (running on 192.168.0.2) to listen on 8084 and,
later, 8085. No dice. I still can't seem to reach the web server by IP
address or hostname. Next, I wrote my own little server and client
programs in Java and ran the server on 192.168.0.2 while I tried
running the client; first from 192.168.0.2 itself and later, from my
PC at work. Still no luck. I can't seem to get the router to log more
information so that I can check if its at least getting the request
from the browser and throwing it away instead of forwarding it on to
192.168.0.2. So, I have no idea how to debug this. I would really,
really welcome any suggestions/advice/tips/hints.

Thanks in advance,
Swaroop

On 22 Dec 2003 06:48:36 -0800, (E-Mail Removed) (Swaroop Kumar)
wrote:

>
> I am trying to host a web server on the PC with IP address
>192.168.0.2. I set up port forwarding on the router so that port 80 is
>forwarded to 192.168.0.2. I then set up an alias in dnsalias.org so
>that hostname resolution is done. However, I was unable to access the
>web server using the hostname or IP address. I read in one of the
>newsgroups that my ISP (Comcast) may be blocking some of the more


Are you are trying to access your web server from another machine on
the LAN not from the outside? You can't do that using the router's
public ip address. If you want to connect internally you must use the
private ip address of the webserver.

If it's not this, maybe there's a problem with port forwarding to an
address in the dhcp pool. Try giving the webserver a static ip address
and take 192.168.0.2 out of the dhcp pool.


Jim.

(E-Mail Removed) (Swaroop Kumar) wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed) om:

> I am trying to host a web server on the PC with IP address
> 192.168.0.2. I set up port forwarding on the router so that port
> 80 is forwarded to 192.168.0.2. I then set up an alias in
> dnsalias.org so that hostname resolution is done. However, I was
> unable to access the web server using the hostname or IP address.
> I read in one of the newsgroups that my ISP (Comcast) may be
> blocking some of the more well-known ports to force us to comply
> with their rules. So, I configured Apache (running on 192.168.0.2)
> to listen on 8084 and, later, 8085. No dice. I still can't seem to
> reach the web server by IP address or hostname. Next, I wrote my
> own little server and client programs in Java and ran the server
> on 192.168.0.2 while I tried running the client; first from
> 192.168.0.2 itself and later, from my PC at work. Still no luck. I
> can't seem to get the router to log more information so that I can
> check if its at least getting the request from the browser and
> throwing it away instead of forwarding it on to 192.168.0.2. So, I
> have no idea how to debug this. I would really, really welcome any
> suggestions/advice/tips/hints.
>

First I have to question the obvious... your are trying to contact the
machine from outside using your Router's WAN IP address and not the
192.168.x.x address, right?

Given that, try configuring the router to place the machine in the DMZ
rather than trying port forwarding. If you can get it to work under
those conditions, then you can back into port forwarding.

If that doesn't work, then temporarily try removing the router and
connecting the one computer directly to the cable modem; see if that
works. With only one computer connected directly to the modem, you can
use packet-capturing tools like the freeware Ethereal to see if any of
the packets are making it to your location.
<http://www.ethereal.com/>

HTH,
John

Thanx for the reply, James. I tried connecting to the web server from
my home PC (using 192.168.0.2 to connect to the web server) and from
my PC at work using the public IP address of the router.

I will assign a static IP address to the web server PC and try again.
Thanks for the tip.

--Swaroop

James Egan <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>. ..
> On 22 Dec 2003 06:48:36 -0800, (E-Mail Removed) (Swaroop Kumar)
> wrote:
>
> >
> > I am trying to host a web server on the PC with IP address
> >192.168.0.2. I set up port forwarding on the router so that port 80 is
> >forwarded to 192.168.0.2. I then set up an alias in dnsalias.org so
> >that hostname resolution is done. However, I was unable to access the
> >web server using the hostname or IP address. I read in one of the
> >newsgroups that my ISP (Comcast) may be blocking some of the more
>
>
> Are you are trying to access your web server from another machine on
> the LAN not from the outside? You can't do that using the router's
> public ip address. If you want to connect internally you must use the
> private ip address of the webserver.
>
> If it's not this, maybe there's a problem with port forwarding to an
> address in the dhcp pool. Try giving the webserver a static ip address
> and take 192.168.0.2 out of the dhcp pool.
>
>
> Jim.