Topic: HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cousin-it]

I need some help. I am running SME 8 beta6. I am running it in server+gateway. It is sitting behind a comcast modem. I was doing some configs remotely and had to reboot. After I did this, I couldnt see it anymore. I went to the physical location and changed it from Static IP to DHCP (sends address). It came back up but I cant see my website from the outside anymore. I can ping the external IP, but that is all. Any suggestions, hints, etc. would be appreciated. I am a somewhat newbie, so I am learning. Thanks.

[idp_qbn]

Give more information and someone may be able to help. Specifically, show as accurately as you can
a) your systems physical and logical configuration
b) (most important) what you did just before the problem happened.
c) what you have tried since the problem happened - especially and changes you have made.

With that information, hopefully someone will pick up your plea for help and jump in to assist.
Remember, the more you can tell, the easier it will be for someone to help.

Cheers
Ian

[calisun]

Unless you purchase a business account from comcast, which gives you a static IP, your IP address will change frequently and will not match what you have put into your domain registrar A record.

One way is to change IP address with your registrar every time comcast changes your IP address.
But that is not an ideal solution since sometimes it can take hours for DNS servers to recognize the new IP address.

Or you can open an account with a dynamic DNS service company.  To learn more about how that works, search the web for "dynamic DNS" and read up on it.
SME supports couple services, which you can set up during configuration process.

Read more about it in the SME help files:
http://wiki.contribs.org/SME_Server:Documentation:Administration_Manual:Appendix

You can also search forums here for more discussion about it and what other people did.

Also remember, comcast does not allow you to host your own server on residential account, it is against their TOS. If you have a lot of traffic, they will block you. I never had them block the html access to my server, but I had them block email. Even forwarding email through their email server did not work, eventually I had to move my server to a server hosting company.

[mmccarn]

Another note specific to comcast:  They are the only ISP I've run across whose routers allow you to use either public or private IPs on the LAN side without making any changes to the router.

so, if my comcast ip is a.b.c.57, and my router is a.b.c.58, I can setup a LAN host as *either* a.b.c.57, *or* 10.1.10.x with a gateway of 10.1.10.1, which is the secondary LAN ip of the comcast router.

If I am setup as a.b.c.57, my server is accessible from the internet - the comcast router imposes no firewall rules or traffic restrictions.

If I am setup as 10.1.10.x (by using DHCP, for example), then I have to configure my SME as the DMZ on the comcast router, or at least forward the ports that I want forwarded.

[beakersloco]

Well ... all I can add to this is most cable internet companies will block ports if they see a lot of traffic on that port unless you have a business account.

I have had several friends who tried to run web servers and each time they would change the port the local cable company would block that port.

So like others said  sign up with a dns service and add in the necessary configs to your server. Then have a friend test it. Give them the ip if the dns does not work and if it still does not work then either upgrade to a business account .

Otherwise switch to a DSL .. I use it and while it may be slower I have never had an issue with blocked ports.

[Stefano]

cousin-it: please change the subject with something more usefull for future readers.

thank you