static IP address

[#1]

Hi
I'm working on a new project where I need a static IP address in order to connect to a database.
I don't understand exactly what I need to do. I have read this from help:
Most of our broadband products are given a dynamic address and have the option to switch to a static address if required.
The exceptions to this are:
   * Plusnet Value and Broadband Plus accounts cannot switch to a static IP
   * Broadband Premier, Broadband PAYG and business accounts sold prior to July 30th 2009 have a static IP and cannot switch to a dynamic IP
All other account types can switch between static and dynamic IP addresses, see the next question to find out how.
I have broadband extra but i can't find any option in connection settings to switch to a static IP address. Does this mean I have to upgrade or pay a charge or what?
Can anyone help?    I also need to know what happens if there are various machines on my network. Which IP address gets assigned to which machine and how?
thanks
Angus

[#2]

I am on Extra and have the facility to enable a static IP as shown below. However things may have changed

[#3]

In most cases a viable alternative is a service such as DynDNS, this allows a fixed url to be routed to a dynamic IP using a software updater, see http://www.dyndns.com for details (I'm sure there are other similar services available, this is just the one I know).

[#4]

DynDNS will not solve the problem the OP has. The OP is accessing a database which require a static IP address as I assume the system restrict users by IP address.

[#5]

Hi
yes I'm not going mad, I don't have the static IP icon in my settings.

[#6]

Have you raised a ticket requesting one?

[#7]

yes, just done it thanks!

[#8]

Hi angusbeare,
Did you get your ticket reply?
Jojo

[#9]

Before you rush to pay for fixed IP address, I think a little more explantion about your problem would serve well.
I just have my doubts that it is your ADSL's public IP that needs to be fixed, as opposed to your local PC or some host system.

[#10]

Hi
yes I did get a reply but I have just been too busy to respond..
"Dear Mr Beare,
Thanks for getting in touch.
In order to add a Static IP address to your account, you will need to go to the Add On section of our Member Centre. A Static IP address has a one off set-up fee of £5.00.
Before adding the Static IP address, please ensure a valid credit or debit card is present on your account. This can be done by clicking here.
Please do not hesitate to get back in touch online at http://contactus.plus.net or by phone on 0845 140 0200 if we can be of further assistance.
Kind regards,
<removed>

In response to the last post my requirements are these.  I have to do some coding for a web site and the application am working on must connect to a database on a remote server. For security reasons only known IP addresses are allowed. A machine without a recognised IP address cannot connect to the database server.  So, I need a fixed IP address for my machine otherwise I will have to ask the server admin to add my new IP address to the list every time I restart my PC.
If i can achieve this by configuring my PC then great, please tell me how. Otherwise I assume I have to pay the £5 to get one from Plus Net?
Also I need to know how it works for all the computers using my broadband. i.e. if I have two PCs running and my wife has another how does it work?  
thanks
Angus
[Moderator's note by Jim (Oldjim): CSA name removed as per the forum rules.]

[#11]

As it looks like the DB security is done by IP and not name, then you will indeed need to connect from a known IP address.
You can achieve this in two ways... one is to get a static IP for your broadband account (and connect direct), while the second would be to tunnel your connection to the DB via an intermediate machine that already has a fixed IP, and give that machine the access rights.
I've done the latter using a tool called "MyEnTunnel", which is used to setup an SSL connection to a remote machine (it builds on standard SSL connections made by PuTTY). To this I have added tunnels, that listen on local ports (in my case the MySQL and Oracle ports) and then make the connection happen at the remote end of the SSL link.
If SSL tunnels aren't an option, then spending the £5 will probably be easiest.
Once you have your own static IP value, then this usually applies to the WAN side of your router - all the internal PCs will still have one of the private LAN IP Addresses (such as 192.168.0.*). The router will then apply NAT so that all outgoing connections appear to come from the new static IP address - which will include connections from both your PCs, and your wife's laptop - indeed any machine on your LAN.

[#12]

thanks WWWombat
I've gone ahead and added the static IP feature and now have a static IP (i hope).
Just one more question.  If all the PCs on my network appear to share the same external IP address how than can I connect to my PC from outside if I need to?
thanks
Gus
dick:quote

[#13]

Port forwarding springs to mind where you would configure your router to forward inbound traffic on a specific port to a specific computer on your network.