On a hosted server, what do you connect to?

[Gerblegod7]

I have an application that says:
*start of frame
-Host Server on port 1203

Then I have a second application which then connects to this hosted server. What do I connect to though? My house has a wireless internet connection.My computer returns and IP address and the modem returns an IP address, a subnet mask, a physical address, a DHCP server, a DNs server, a WINS server and a Default Gateway they all look very similar. And when I say they all look similar I mean that there are 4 numbers separated by a period. And each number has 1-3 digits. What should I use when connecting though?

[Blizna]

In your local network /if you have one/ you have to connect on your internal IP. Users from outside have to connect to your external IP. You should have also static and public IP adress (I dont know much about that, but many people with wifi connection cant host servers)

If you have a router, you have to also open ports (port forwarding or Virtual server)..You should take a look on the NAT and Firewall too.

[Gerblegod7]

So should I connect to the modem or my computer. (a one word answer is all I need) This is not intended for a local network it is for a global audiance (I'm pretty sure there is a difference (this is not sarcasm I am just saying that I think it isn't)).

[Blizna]

IMHO you cant connect to your PC directly, you have to connect to your external IP, which is assigned to modem (if you dont use router). I think we cant give you one word answer since you didnt mentioned all important things. There is difference if you have router or not /DHCP/...

[Joshtek]

Any half-decent router will have a feature called "port forwarding", which will effectively makes a port on one of your PCs (e.g. port 1203 of the private local IP of the PC hosting the server) accessible from the Internet via your public IP (the one all PC's on your network share and you can find at whatismip.org etc).

[Blizna]

Yeah, I have already mentioned port forwarding, but he just wants us to tell just "one word answer"

If he has dynamic IP he wont be able to host server anyway.

[Gerblegod7]

I wasn't asking for a one worded answer I was just trying to make it easy on you and not try to act like a jerk and say "I want a long tutorial and explanation"

I have a router.I have also unblocked the needed ports. I haven't gotten around to forwarding them yet like you said but I will do that within the next 20 minutes.

As for the dynamic IP, no I don't have it.

I also found this excerpt on the Clickwiki:

How-To connect to a server I hosted?
Well, you Host a server on port X (let's say 7777). Then, the clients connect to YourIP (give it your internet IP...not 127.0.0.1, not 192.168.x.x), and port X (here: 7777). You just have to make sure internet traffic can actually get to your PC (see your router and firewall).

I guess this is relative. But I might seem a little stubborn so I will show the exact scenario.

1)I have a hosting application
2)I have a client application but I don't know what to "connect" to.
3)when I go to sites such as whatismyip.org I get 55.55.55.555 (not actually my IP)
4)Under the control panel --> Under "Network Connections" It shows "Wireless Connection 2" (the one I use to get onto the internet)
5)Under it's "support" it shows the Modem's IP address
6)This IP address IS different from my computer's IP address
I HOPE THAT THIS IS ENOUGH INFORMATION IF NOT JUST SAY SO

*I have both a router and a modem*

[Corentin]

Port Forwarding is the key, this will tell your router that any connection on the specified port should be directed to the computer that actually hosts.

The computer that hosts definitely has to be in fixed-IP mode, otherwise your router won't know to which computer it should direct incomming connections on specified port. This Local IP address will be found in your Wireless Network Properties.

If this port-forwarding is done correctly you can access your server from both local network and internet, using Connect to "public address" on specified port. This public address is the one you'll find at my-ip.org and such...

hope this makes sense

PS : if your port-forwarding is wrong, you should anyway be able to connect to your hosting computer from the local network, using the private Ip this time (most of the time it's something like 192.168.XXX.XX

EDIT : Note that if your public IP isn't fixed you'll have to use a DNS to resolve this. Try Dyndns.com or no-ip.org, this way you'll connect to something like myhostingservice.ath.cx instead of a boring IP address

[Gerblegod7]

Thank you very much. I've completed everything and am going to forward the ports tommorow because I never got around to it *Yawn*

[Dynasoft]

1)I have a hosting application
2)I have a client application but I don't know what to "connect" to.
3)when I go to sites such as whatismyip.org I get 55.55.55.555 (not actually my IP)
4)Under the control panel --> Under "Network Connections" It shows "Wireless Connection 2" (the one I use to get onto the internet)
5)Under it's "support" it shows the Modem's IP address
6)This IP address IS different from my computer's IP address
I HOPE THAT THIS IS ENOUGH INFORMATION IF NOT JUST SAY SO

*I have both a router and a modem*

If you are using both the client and server applications in the same house (i.e. on the same network / behind the same router), then you connect to your server pc's IP address. If it has more than one network connection then use the IP of the more reliable connection, or better yet the computer's name normally works (look in system properties).

If you need to connect to the server from a different internet connection then you need to have the client connect to your _external_ IP address. This is the IP of your ROUTER, and is the one that whatismyip.org gives. This WILL be different to any IPs on your pc. You also need to set up your router to forward the port your application uses to your server pc's IP address (this is the one on the support page of the properties of the connection on the server you use to connect the server to the router/internet).

I assume by "both a router and a modem" you mean that you have a cable connection and so need to plug your router into your modem (instead of ADSL where the router normally has the modem built-in), or you have an old dial-up modem for a backup internet connection that you don't normally use. If this isn't what you mean then one of us is confused :crazy: