Get current external IP

  • Thread starter Thread starter JP Bless
  • Start date Start date
J

JP Bless

I need to connect remotely using WinXp remote desktop. Currently the
computer I wish to connect to is connected to a router that obtains dynamic
"external IP" from the ISP. So the eternal IP address changes any time the
router connects to the ISP.

I am wondering if there is any paid or free website that could enable me
check the current IP address before connecting. I tried some thing like this
a few years ago; then there was a free website one could register at and be
able to obtain the current IP of the local machine. I lost info on that site
when my machine crashed. I would appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.
 
JP said:
I need to connect remotely using WinXp remote desktop. Currently the
computer I wish to connect to is connected to a router that obtains dynamic
"external IP" from the ISP. So the eternal IP address changes any time the
router connects to the ISP.

I am wondering if there is any paid or free website that could enable me
check the current IP address before connecting. I tried some thing like this
a few years ago; then there was a free website one could register at and be
able to obtain the current IP of the local machine. I lost info on that site
when my machine crashed. I would appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
http://www.whatismyip.com/

--
Lem -- MS-MVP - Networking

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
JP said:
I need to connect remotely using WinXp remote desktop. Currently the
computer I wish to connect to is connected to a router that obtains dynamic
"external IP" from the ISP. So the eternal IP address changes any time the
router connects to the ISP.

I am wondering if there is any paid or free website that could enable me
check the current IP address before connecting. I tried some thing like this
a few years ago; then there was a free website one could register at and be
able to obtain the current IP of the local machine. I lost info on that site
when my machine crashed. I would appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Or, if you meant that you wanted to access machine 1 while you're at
machine 2 without having a user at machine 1 find out its IP address and
communicate it to you, subscribe to DynDNS or TZO from machine 1
(several routers, including Linksys, will work with DynDNS and TZO).

http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/
https://www.tzo.com/cgi-bin/Orders.cgi?sku=DNS

--
Lem -- MS-MVP - Networking

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
Thanks Lem, Jack for your help.

I am checking the links and suggestions. Probably I did not describe my
situation very well. What I need to be able is to do is... I have two XP
computers in location A (Store); both are behind a router that obtains IP
address dynamically. Right now I could connect to either of of the computers
at locationA from anywhere as long as I know what the router's WAN IP is.

I have had occasions where the router was turned off and on, then the
router's WAN IP address changed (as might happen when IP is dynamic) and I
could not connect to loaction A (remote desktop) from location B (Home)
because I did not know what the current router WAN IP is. So my "quest" is
to find a way to know what WAN IP of the router is at Location A from
anywhere via the web. Could this be done using the router's MAC address?
Still looking for a solution.... Thanks again.
 
Lem gave you the best answer in his second reply. Let me
rephrase it.

There are companies such as www.dyndns.com who offer
a free domain name registration service. You could, for example,
register the name bless.homedns.org. This is part one.

You could now instruct the router in Store A to communicate
with the name server at www.dyndns.com and to tell it its
current external IP address (which it knows). This is part two.

From now on it would be sufficient for you to ask for a
connection to bless.homedns.org. The dyndns server would
translate your request into the current external IP address
assigned to Store A.

If your router does not have an inbuilt facility for talking to
the dyndns server then you can download & install a free
service from the same site. After installing and activating
this service on the Store computer, it will manage the
dialog with the dyndns name server.

Ingenious, isn't it?
 
You simplified this so well that I feel like asking Nobel folks to consider
you for the price of "translating a simple concept from an expert's point of
view" to a simple concept from a layman's point of view. Thanks Pegasus,
Lem, Jack.
 
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