Routers and ports

Newbie here. I'm working on a PC G3 and wanted to set the machine up to serve but ran into problems with my DSL router provided by my local phone company. Apparently there's not a port 80, or any other port for that matter that will allow traffic. I ran a test thru Probe My Ports to find this out so am now wondering if it's possible to just change the router or if they are specific to the service.

I'm not looking to go into the server business, just to have my own web site and in the meantime to serve up some jpg's of things I'm selling on other forums I take part in.

I know a lot of ISP's prohibit you from using a non-commercial internet connection as a server, so maybe yours has actually blocked that on their side of things - although I'd imagine that would interfere with other services if they did.

But if you just want to do some light image and content hosting, you might just want to grab a .Mac or cheapo hosting plan...

Well, by default routers/firewalls will not (_should_ not I should say) allow in traffic on ports, they should all be closed. What you'd need to do is connect to whatever management interface there is on the router (most nowadays come with a website locally). Look at what your default gateway is on your computer, then type that address into the browser of your choice. Then you need to find the port forwarding section and tell port 80 to be allowed, and to be sent to your computer's local IP address.

Ok, so I've been able to get my port open, hurray, but have encountered something else. I'm using a DNS service to point to my dynamic address and when I type in the host name I get timed out. So I called support up and they didn't really have an answer noting that they were unfamiliar with the update client and to send an email which they would pass on. In the meantime a friend calls me up and tells me that he's gotten the page, but when I try to go to it nada. I'm working in Firefox. I can access the page thru the IP address but not the hostname? So do I need to change something in the proxy section of Firefox or am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Well, if you know what your outside address is on the router (the public address people are connecting to) then you should be able to ping the name you are using from the dynamic DNS service and at least see that it is resolving to the correct address.

If your friend is connecting, it sounds like you are OK though. Many firewalls/routers will not let you connect to the public IP from inside the network. For example, you may not be able to ping or FTP or connect to that public IP address. It has to do with how the firewall/router is trying to route your request from inside to outside then back in etc etc.

Again, if the outside dynamic DNS resolves properly, you know it's pointed to you. If the port is open, and your friend can connect, it sounds good. Have another friend or two try connecting, and you'll know for certain.

Well so far I've been able to find out that there is a problem about NAT routers accessing the host named page internally. It can be resolved supposedly, but as long as I can use the address I'm not going to worry. Problem is tho that another friend could not access the page as requested. This was a person using Windows and the first person who could get thru was on a Mac. I'm having another friend try as I speak.