Help with Calibre server! Please :D

[mysticjunkee]

Originally Posted by jlutes

If you have a typical cable/dsl interface to the internet...
You will have one external-facing IP address which will be dynamic. This means that your internet service provider can change it at will...and some of them do regularly just to stop people from doing things like hosting servers on their machines. Your best bet is to use dyndns. They offer a free version at:
http://dyn.com/dns/dyndns-free/
It's been years since I set one up but it should be basically the same procedure.
1. create an account
2. choose a domain. they have lots of domain names to choose from and then you put your unique identifier at the beginning. For instance, mysticjunkee.homeftp.net may be available.
3. Configure the specialized dyndns updater in your modem or router configuration. If you don't have one (most don't) then you need to download and run a small dyndns updater software. It detects what your outward-facing IP address is and sends that information to the dyndns servers.
4. Once it's all done (and propogated - allow as long as 5 days, normally faster) then you should be able to use the address you set up plus :8080 to connect.

*whew* - now, for a shorter answer, at least to test things out, try going to whatismyip.com from the machine with Calibre running. It will tell you what your outward-facing IP address is. On your laptop, you would need to type in that address followed by ":8080" (no quotes).

Thank you so much. That's a very easy to read and hopefully implement, response... I did notice that the ip my laptop was assigned had changed this morning. I will try that and post back in a few days about my success or failure. Thanks again.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by mysticjunkee

Thank you so much. That's a very easy to read and hopefully implement, response... I did notice that the ip my laptop was assigned had changed this morning. I will try that and post back in a few days about my success or failure. Thanks again.

You have two IP addresses to worry about. The laptop internal address (it sounds like that was what changed and that's what I posted about above) and the external IP address (that's what jlutes was posting about). You have to keep both from changing. The first is controlled by assigning the laptop a static IP or telling your router to always assign the same IP to the MAC of your laptop's network card. The second is controlled by using a domain name to access the external address (or paying for a static external address).

Following jlute's instructions won't help you if your laptop's ip internal address changed. I suggest you start by getting control of your internal address. Once that's under control, then worry about the external address issue.

[jlutes]

Starson17 - most internal home routers provide DNS so it doesn't matter what IP address (internally) the laptop is at, as long as it is recognized as the same hardware by the router. It's not unusual for the laptops on my network to change IP addresses, especially if they have been away for a while, but when they come back, the router remembers what they are and what services they should get so life is good.
That said, it it's a permanent member of the network then it won't hurt anything to set it with a static IP address...

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by jlutes

Starson17 - most internal home routers provide DNS so it doesn't matter what IP address (internally) the laptop is at, as long as it is recognized as the same hardware by the router. It's not unusual for the laptops on my network to change IP addresses, especially if they have been away for a while, but when they come back, the router remembers what they are and what services they should get so life is good.

All the routers I've used require you to specify the IP address when doing port forwarding, which is what you need for external access to the Calibre content server. If the laptop IP address changes, the port forwarding breaks. Because he said his laptop address had changed (and he was using ipconfig to check the laptop address) he'll have that problem.

It's true that some routers will try to reassign the same IP to each MAC address, but because as you say "It's not unusual for the laptops on [the] network to change IP addresses, especially if they have been away for a while" - unless you ensure that this does not happen, the changed IP will break the port forwarding.

There are two good solutions for that. Either a static IP, or tell the router to always assign the same IP to the MAC of the laptop. Either way requires that the laptop's IP not change.

That said, it it's a permanent member of the network then it won't hurt anything to set it with a static IP address...

I actually prefer telling the router to identify the laptop by MAC and always assign the same IP. That way you can take your laptop to other locations without fiddling with the network settings, but the only way for that to work reliably is to set the router to recognize the laptop's MAC. It's not hard, provided the router supports that function.

[theducks]

I strongly recommend using the Router 'reserved' address method if you take your portable elsewhere.
Managing a 'Static' IP on the Portable under those conditions is a PITA

[chaley]

Originally Posted by theducks

I strongly recommend using the Router 'reserved' address method if you take your portable elsewhere.
Managing a 'Static' IP on the Portable under those conditions is a PITA

That is one reason why I always use DHCP reservations. I also use them for desktops, printers, and VoIP devices, because it is much easier to manage the IP pool in one place. The only devices that get addresses that might change are network guests.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by chaley

I also use them for desktops

I used a static IP on a desktop many years ago and a few weeks ago gave away the computer. The new owner asked AT&T to install U-verse and give the old desktop access to the internet. The installer couldn't even access the router, not realizing it was configured with a static IP. I don't think he'd ever run across one.