HTTP Server Through Router Question

[Tommaso]

I am having a problem that I just can't seem to figure out on my own. I hope someone here can point me in the right dirrection. I recently set up a web server running on my Macintosh. I am a PC tech, so when it comes to Macintosh I know nothing. I set it up, and found a problem that is stopping it from working. I have a router hooked up to my high speed cable connection, so that I can run my two PC's, and my Macintosh on the net with only the one ISP connection. The problem is, my router is assigning each PC/Mac an IP address. If I hook the Mac up to my internet connection and don't use the router at all, it works fine because I just use my static IP address as the domain name and up pops the webpage. But, I want to continue using my router so that all my computers can access the net. How is it possible to make the routers IP address available on the net? Thanks in advance!

[adrianxw]

Your router is acting as a DHCP server - when a machine boots, it asks the router for an IP to use, and the router assigns it an unused one. Almost all routers have the capability to allocate the same address to a machine each time - mine certainly does. Look in your routers setup for DHCP settings or similar.

To run an http server, you'll need to open port 80 on the router for that machine as well.

[Tommaso]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I'll check out the router documentation, and if I have problems I'll be back. Thank a million.

[Tommaso]

Thanks for the help above. I have now figured out what I must do. It is actually pretty simple. For my router, which is a Linksys, I just type in a web address in my browser, and it gives me access to my IP Forwarding controls in standard website format. From there I can specify which port number can be re-directed to a specific computer on my network. So, if I wanted an FTP site on port 21, I set it. If there is any activity on port 21, it goes directly to the specific computer that I have selected for FTP access. An HTTP site on port 80 can be directed to another computer on the network. This allows multiple computers on a network to be used for specific purposes. Just thought I'd let you know how it worked, in case someone else needs to know. Thanks for the help!