PlaceShifter Dynamic IP Address Question

[mike1961]

I'm wondering if I have a dynamic IP address and I use the Locator ID then will Sage still be able to find my server if the IP address changes at any point in time? I have Placeshifter working but I'm just wondering technically what exactly is a Locator ID? Being that it does not change (I'm assuming) and is static then does it find the server even if the IP address changes? If so, I'm wondering how it finds it (technically speaking)?

I should mention that my server's local IP address is static but of course referring to the public IP and if it changes how placeshifter is able to find the server.

Thanks,
Mike

[rickgillyon]

From an uninformed point of view , I assume that your SageTV server "phones home" on a regular basis and tells the central Sage Locator Server where it is...so your PS contacts Sage to find the IP of its server every time.

Probably.

[Opus4]

Yes, that's what it does and it is the whole point of the Locator ID. If your IP doesn't change, you can use the IP address to connect, or there are services like DynDNS which provide an address that you can use to keep up to date with your actual IP address. But for simplicity, SageTV provides the Locator ID service which will update itself every so often.

- Andy

[mike1961]

Okay - now I fully understand the "phone home" concept. In fact, it seems relatively simple to write a simple program to tell one's file server to send information to a central website's IP address or do it other ways as well. However, there is one problem I can't seem to figure out. If one has an ActiveX control to manage TCP/IP and sockets (or maybe they do it another way) how do they get the public IP address as opposed to the computer's local IP?

Thanks,
Mike

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mike1961

However, there is one problem I can't seem to figure out. If one has an ActiveX control to manage TCP/IP and sockets (or maybe they do it another way) how do they get the public IP address as opposed to the computer's local IP?

I'm not sure how Sage does it, but they may be just logging the IP address of the client (router WAN address) sending the locator ID, instead of the client saying that "hey, here is my IP address and locator ID".

Something like http://www.whatismyipaddress.com/ would show you how the receiving server aquires the clients IP address through the TCP/IP connection, and lets you know what it is, instead of the client sending its IP address to the server to be displayed. Since, if the client sent its IP address, it would probably send its local IP address, unless it had some sort of programming designed to get the WAN address.

[mike1961]

If they have a server with a socket and a port open then when the server connects on a daily basis or however often the central server would always read the public IP. I'm just trying to find a way of doing it without setting up a server.

Thanks,
Mike

[ke6guj]

You lost me there..

Your trying to do what without setting up a server? A sage server that reports to the central locator server?

Or are you trying to find your WAN IP address for something else?

[mike1961]

I'm trying to find my WAN. I have an FTP site so my application could automatically upload my client's WAN address to my ftp. I already have an ActiveX control to access my FTP site and I know how to do all that. The problem was finding a way that my application could get the WAN address.

I searched google and found a really easy way to do it. One way is to simply have my business application (or anyone's app) go to a webpage that reports the IP. Then the app saves the webpage in a variable and scans for the IP. It's a lot easier than setting up a socket on a remote server. I could then easily put a starting and ending string to search for so as to parse the webpage data with the IP. I tried this and it worked.

Thanks,
Mike