Noobie Port question, help appreciated

[davedillon 0]

Let me first say hi as this is my first real post after my introduction, and as is the norm its cap in hand asking for advice

I have just set up an Avtech kpd674 and all seems well so far, i have managed to set up remote viewing from Eagleeyes on my iphone and can log in without any problems.

I have created a dyndns account and am using the ddns update server that comes built in.

 

The queries i have are this... i have changed the default port from 80 to 98 and can log in without any problems but i am not sure if i have done the right thing as i have spent all night on google trying to work out if i can just use any port or wether i should be using a specific port and am struggling to find and answer, also the dhcp range on my router goes from .2 to .254 and i have set a static ip on my dvr of .14 but am not sure if i should adjust the range in the router to say .2 to .100 and then set the dvr on a static outside this range eg .101 because im not sure if i will get any conflicts if i leave it as is, as i was told this evening that all will be fine as ive set it to static my router wont assign anything else the same ip, but i have a nagging feeling of a memory to the contrary!!!

 

it is now almost 4am and my head hurts with overload... i am a noob but i am slowly taking in bits of this networking stuff but really dont understand anywhere near enough to be happy that what i have done is right or wrong.

 

Many thanks in advance for any pointers and advice to send me on the right track and i appologise if im not making any sense as my mum has always said "a little bit of information is a dangerous thing"

Cheers once again D

[Leohuangdi 0]

Hi,

 

You can just open one port for the DVR (make sure port forwarding is done well in your router), don't need to open more or to change in the future, port 98 should be ok.

 

Now you don't have a static IP connection right? so your router will keep changing IP. Using DDNS service can help your dvr adress to keep updated. You can set it in your dvr OR in your router (should upgrade faster your IP).

 

Probably you did everything well, don't worry too much

 

Leo

[davedillon 0]

Hi, and thanks for your swift reply, you are right, with my isp (virgin) my ip is not statitic although it hardly ever changes, i have input all my details into the dns updater and time will tell wether that is working ok, for now i have no reason to think it isnt (fingers crossed).

 

My question is really if i set the dvr ip to static, but that static ip is within the dhcp range of the router, is there any chance of a conflict or does the router automaticallly recognise static ip's and allocate other ip's accordingly, Many thanks in advace D

[Soundy 1]

Most routers should let you forward to any IP within their subnet, but I have seen a few that complain if you try to use an IP outside their DHCP pool.

 

What I prefer to do, if the router supports it, is to give the DVR a "reserved" or static IP in the router's setup itself - then the router will always give it the same DHCP IP.

 

If the router supports it, I also prefer to leave the DVR at its default port(s), and let the DVR do the redirecting - ie. leave the DVR on port 80 and tell the router to redirect incoming WAN requests on port 98 to port 80 on the LAN.

 

It's also good practice, BTW, if you're using custom ports for things, to go into the four- or five-digit range.