Port forwarding not working + public ip address keeps changing=server doesn't work :(

[Apache2_Warrior]

[solved] server doesn't work

OK so I bought my first ever server yesterday, installed Ubuntu Server on it and set it up as an intranet server. Today I decided to open it up to the Internet. All did not go well.

First I tried to assign a static ip address, which worked, then I tried to set up the port forwarding.

When I visited the public ip address (2.x.x.216, concealed for security reasons), I had no success. So I tried it from a device not connected to my home network. No success. So I used This Tool to check if the port was even open. I got "Port 80 is closed on 2.x.x.216". That was the start of it. I phoned my ISP (talktalk) and they told me that they do not support static ips so port forwarding was pointing to an address that the router thought didn't exist... So I realized that although a bit of a guddle having to change the port forwarding every time the server or the router goes down it was a necessary evil. I thought I had nothing better to do than point port forwarding to the non-static address 192.168.1.5. I did so but still no luck...
I followed This and this guide if that's any help.
Also I noticed that my public ip has changed since the first check. That will probably screw up my server, so is there any way to fix that?

Sorry for the long post and obvious ignorance, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to servers

Thanks in advance,

Matthew

 

[soflanetworking]

#1 - All Servers should have an internal static ip 192.168.x.x
#2 - in order for port forwarding to work from the outside you should have a public static ip address from your ISP.

Router should be set up with an IP from your internal network (192.168.x.x typically 192.168.x.1 or 192.168.x.254) Set your router up with its external connection having the static IP from the ISP.

If you can get this far and your internet is still working, your on the right track.

Next port forward only the ports you need from the outside. Web Server? port 80, forward to the internal port of the server. FTP - 21 SMTP -25 POP3 -110

If your ISP can not supply you with a static IP, you will need DDNS but IMO this should be your last result.

 

[Apache2_Warrior]

Solved

Thanks for your help here but fortunately I have (sort of) solved my own problem. However I have another problem which I see you've replied to so I'll read that now.

Thanks,

Matthew