IP address

My local network consists of a wireless router to which are connected (1) a cable modem for internet access, (2) two desktop computers and a laser printer directly connected by Ethernet cables, and (3) a variety of wireless devices (laptop computer, ebook reader, MP3 player, streaming video player). In order to send incoming KOB packets to the right place, the router needs to know the KOB server platform's IP address on the local network.

Note: The server's local IP address is not the same as its IP address on the global Internet. The mapping between these distinct addresses is performed by the router.

The server's IP address can be determined by displaying its network connection details:

There are probably 17 different ways of getting to this screen, but what I usually do is click on Start > Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center (or Network and Internet | View network status and tasks) > Local Area Connection > Details.

My local network uses Internet Protocol version 4. Note that the server platform's address is 192.168.1.3. Note also that the default gateway address and the DNS server address are 192.168.1.1. Although 192.168.1.3 happens to be the server's current address, this address is assigned dynamically by the router and it can change from time to time whenever the server or the router is rebooted. What we need is a fixed IP address that KOB packets can consistently be routed to. We do this by setting the Internet Protocol version 4 properties as follows:

I get to this screen by clicking on Start > Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center (or Network and Internet | View network status and tasks) > Local Area Connection > Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4 (because my local network uses IPv4) > Properties.

Here I've manually set the IP address to 192.168.1.101, a somewhat arbitrary address but one which I know won't conflict with any other addresses on my local network. (In a later section, where we configure the router, we'll see which addresses are safe to use.) I've also set the default gateway and DNS server addresses to match the ones noted earlier in the network connection details screen.

Testing

Assuming you've been able to do something similar to the above on your own computer, it's time to make sure everything is working right so far.

  1. Launch a copy of MorseKOB 2.5 on the same computer that you're using for your KOB server.
  2. From the Tools > Debug menu, change the server name from mtc-kob.dyndns.org to your server's local IP address (in my case, 192.168.1.101).
  3. Connect to one of the KOB wires.
  4. Using your web browser, go to http://192.168.1.101, or whatever your server's IP address is (you can probably omit the http:// part).
  5. The server activity page should appear in the browser window, and you should see yourself connected to one of the KOB wires. Since this is an isolated server at this point, you won't see anyone else connected.
  6. Disconnect from the wire and close the MorseKOB program.

Once you've got this much working, the next step is to configure your firewall.