Static IP setup for self-hosted webserver

you should be able to assign your Comcast-provided static IP/default gateway/DNS to the internet/WAN interface of your Netgear R6300v2, and plug the WAN ethernet jack on the R6300 to 1 of the 4 ethernet ports on the Comcast CG3000DCR gateway. The Comcast gateway is already configured to pass traffic to/from any device with your static IP, and the Comcast gateway will not be doing any kind of firewalling for the static IP. Once your R6300v2 has that static IP address assigned, you can then port forward to whichever devices inside the local LAN, and traffic should be passed through.

hope this makes sense for you.

Hello ethorson and welcome,

Please see my comments/responses below.  Thanks.

I got the Comcast Business Internet service installed on 9/9/14.  The reason I got it was because I want to host my own webservice, so I needed a static IP that is visible through the gateway.  I explained this need to the installer and he said that Comcast's responsibility ends at the gateway. 

So, here is what I tried to do.

1.  I set my Netgear R6300V2 router as an access point only.

     Reason:  No interference with the gateway. I reasoned that the gateway would assign addresses for the internal LAN.

I do not see any issue with this, however, to avoid DHCP Server conflicts you should consider disabling your inherent R6300V2 DHCP server. This will allow you to cleanly use the NetGear3000 (NG3K) internal DHCP server. 

2.  The Comcast Netgear CG3000DCR gateway is connected to the R6300 using an ethernet connection from the gateway port to the Internet port on the router.

     Results:  The gateway assigned addresses starting from 10.1.10.2 to the equipment attached to the router.  The computer that has the webserver installed was given the internal LAN address of 10.1.10.12, just as I had suspected.

Again, I see no issues with this but if you are using your R6300 internet port connected to one of the NG3K Lanports in intrinsic router mode,you MUST disable the R6300 DHCP Server to let your wifi devices obtain their dynamicIP addresses from the NG3K DHCP Server.

3.  On the Comcast Business Gateway, I can see all the devices connected to the router as connected devices on the gateway

     Comment:  This is expected behavior.  So far so good.

This makes perfect sense because I have not yet seen what device will be programmed with the StaticIP. I thought you mentioned that you would be using your staticIP for your webserver(s), which is also networking fine.

4.  My next test was to open a command window and try to access the static IP that was intended to be used for the webserver. Here I was immediately presented with the problem that the static IP was not visible.  

What I tried to do.....

I first tried to "ping" the internet address intended for the webserver and was timed out.

Then I tried to "ping" the Comcast gateway and it worked fine

Okay, now you MUST go back into you webserver network configuration and make positively sure that the following parameters have been accurately entered within the TCP/StaticIP configuration:
0. verify on a definitive basis that you have the correct StaticIP nomenclature from Comcast. You can log into the NG3K, using computer connected to one of the NG3K LanPorts 1-4, bring up a browser, type 10.1.10.1, username=cusadmin, password=highspeed, then click Gateway Summary and confirm your gateway.static.ip.address and the subnet-mask.static.ip.address.

 
1. the routable.static.ip.adress

2. the gateway.static.ip.address

3. the subnet-mask.static.ip.address

4. the pri-DNS = 75.75.75.75

5. the sec-DNS = 75.75.76.76

It is imperative that there are no typos in this configuration AND you MUST connect your webserver(s) directly to one of the NG3K LanPorts 1-4 Enet interconnects. If you adhere to this then you should have no issues pinging your webserver's routable.static.ip.address from the internet. 

Now, there are a number of things that I might try to do on the gateway, such as port forwarding (set port 80 to the address of the webserver) or NAT 1to1 and expose all the ports by trying to relate the internal LAN address to the external static IP.  There is no clear way that I can proceed.  So before I start blindly trying things, I thought that a request to the group might be in order.

I always stay away from over complex networking NATTing structures fir the intuitively obvious reasons. I mean that sometimes it is required but in your case I do not see it.

Hope this helps you out and keep us posted on your progress.

So, my question remains - How do I expose the static IP through the gateway.

If I can do that, then I can set my computers TCP/IP address to that static IP and it should get HTPP requests through port 80.  That is my assumption.  What have I missed?

Please see my comments/responses below.  Thanks.

I got the Comcast Business Internet service installed on 9/9/14.  The reason I got it was because I want to host my own webservice, so I needed a static IP that is visible through the gateway.  I explained this need to the installer and he said that Comcast's responsibility ends at the gateway. 

So, here is what I tried to do.

1.  I set my Netgear R6300V2 router as an access point only.

     Reason:  No interference with the gateway. I reasoned that the gateway would assign addresses for the internal LAN.

I do not see any issue with this, however, to avoid DHCP Server conflicts you should consider disabling your inherent R6300V2 DHCP server. This will allow you to cleanly use the NetGear3000 (NG3K) internal DHCP server. 

The LAN Port on the router shows the following:

MAC Address  04:A1:XX:XX:XX:XX

DHCP              ON

IP Address       10.1.10.14  (This is the address assigned to it by the Comcast gateway)

IP Subnet         255.255.255.0

Gateway IP      10.1.10.1  (This is the address assigned to it on the Comcast gateway)

Domain Name  75.75.75.75

Domain Name  75.75.76.76

The IPv4 Setup screen on the gateway shows the following:

IP Address      10.1.10.1

Subnet Mask   255.255.255.0

Domain Suff    wp.comcast.net

Enable LAN DHCP is checked ON

Lease Time    1 Week

DHCP Start    10.1.10.10

DHCP End     10.1.10.199

Assign DNS Manually is checked ON
Primary          75.75.75.75

Secondary     75.75.76.76

PPTP/L2TP over IPSec VPN Address Scope

VPN Start IP  10.1.10.200

VPN End IP    10.1.10.249

I see no way to disable DHCP on the router.  Is it important to disable the DHCP on the router when it is using the addresses given to it by the gateway.  I thought that the Access Point Mode on the router was designed to turn the router into merely a collection point that looked to the gateway for all DHCP activities.  If DHCP has to be turned off on the router then I don't know how to do that.

2.  The Comcast Netgear CG3000DCR gateway is connected to the R6300 using an ethernet connection from the gateway port to the Internet port on the router.

     Results:  The gateway assigned addresses starting from 10.1.10.2 to the equipment attached to the router.  The computer that has the webserver installed was given the internal LAN address of 10.1.10.12, just as I had suspected.

Again, I see no issues with this but if you are using your R6300 internet port connected to one of the NG3K Lanports in intrinsic router mode,you MUST disable the R6300 DHCP Server to let your wifi devices obtain their dynamicIP addresses from the NG3K DHCP Server.

The Router reports the following connected devices

#1  10.1.10.1   (This is the address of the gateway)

#2  10.1.10.12 (This is the address assigned to my web server)

#3  10.1.10.15

#4  10.1.10.17

#5  10.1.10.18

#6  10.1.10.20

The connected computers dialog box on the Comcast Gateway shows the following:

Webserver   10.1.10.12   Ethernet 2 (That is the port I am using to connect the gateway to the router)

R6300v2      10.1.10.14   Ethernet 2 (This is the connected Netgear R6300v2 Router)

Printer1        10.1.10.15

Printer2        10.1.10.16

Device1        10.1.10.17 

Device2        10.1.10.18

Device3        10.1.10.19

Device4        10.1.10.20

I see no case in which the device attached to the router has an address not assigned by the gateway.  Isn't this what we want to have happen.  In the gateway, my webserver address is 10.1.10.12.  The router also shows this same address so this part is working isn't it.

3.  On the Comcast Business Gateway, I can see all the devices connected to the router as connected devices on the gateway

     Comment:  This is expected behavior.  So far so good.

This makes perfect sense because I have not yet seen what device will be programmed with the StaticIP. I thought you mentioned that you would be using your staticIP for your webserver(s), which is also networking fine.

Yes, I am trying to translate the internal address of 10.1.10.12 to my external static IP which is 50.250.248.55 and have that address receive HTTP messages from the Internet.

4.  My next test was to open a command window and try to access the static IP that was intended to be used for the webserver. Here I was immediately presented with the problem that the static IP was not visible.  

What I tried to do.....

I first tried to "ping" the internet address intended for the webserver and was timed out.

Then I tried to "ping" the Comcast gateway and it worked fine

Okay, now you MUST go back into you webserver network configuration and make positively sure that the following parameters have been accurately entered within the TCP/StaticIP configuration:
0. verify on a definitive basis that you have the correct StaticIP nomenclature from Comcast. You can log into the NG3K, using computer connected to one of the NG3K LanPorts 1-4, bring up a browser, type 10.1.10.1, username=cusadmin, password=highspeed, then click Gateway Summary and confirm your gateway.static.ip.address and the subnet-mask.static.ip.address.

 
1. the routable.static.ip.adress

2. the gateway.static.ip.address

3. the subnet-mask.static.ip.address

4. the pri-DNS = 75.75.75.75

5. the sec-DNS = 75.75.76.76

The Gateway Summary Network Tab shows the following:

INTERNET SETTINGS

Cable MAC Address: 20:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

WAN MAC Address: 20:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

WAN DHCP IP Address   107.3.170.22

WAN DHCP Subnet Mask   255.255.255.0

WAN DHCP Default Gateway  107.3.168.1

WAN Internet IP Address  50.250.248.66

DNS Primary 75.75.75.75

DNS Secondary 75.75.76.76

DHCP Time Remaining 00h:44m:59s

Date  09 - 10 - 2014

Static IP Block  50.250.248.64/30

LOCAL SETTINGS

Gateway IP Address    10.1.10.1

Subnet Mask                255.255.255.0

DHCP Server               enabled

IP Range(start)            10.1.10.10

IP Range(end)             10.1.10.199

It is imperative that there are no typos in this configuration AND you MUST connect your webserver(s) directly to one of the NG3K LanPorts 1-4 Enet interconnects. If you adhere to this then you should have no issues pinging your webserver's routable.static.ip.address from the internet. 

Ok, I did what you suggested.

1. I plugged the webserver directly into an open port on the gateway.

2. On the TCP/IP connection of the computer, I entered the following.  These numbers were given to me by Comcast.

     a.  routable static ip address = 50.250.248.65

     b.  gateway static ip address = 50.250.248.66

     c.  subnet mask = 255.255.255.252

     d.  Primary DNS = 75.75.75.75

     e.  Sec DNS = 75.75.76.76

When I tried to get the computer to accept these settings it immediately went to an error condition.  It reported that the DHCP was not allocated to Internet use.  It then reset itself back to its original setting.

Next I went back and tried it again, double checking my numbers and this time I forced it to accept the numbers I gave it.  I immediately lost all internet connectivity on the connection,  so I had to put it back to auto and reboot to get connection established again.

Should I be using a different set of numbers?

Do you have any other suggestions?Should I look into buying a better gateway?

Now, there are a number of things that I might try to do on the gateway, such as port forwarding (set port 80 to the address of the webserver) or NAT 1to1 and expose all the ports by trying to relate the internal LAN address to the external static IP.  There is no clear way that I can proceed.  So before I start blindly trying things, I thought that a request to the group might be in order.

I always stay away from over complex networking NATTing structures fir the intuitively obvious reasons. I mean that sometimes it is required but in your case I do not see it.

Hope this helps you out and keep us posted on your progress.

So, my question remains - How do I expose the static IP through the gateway.

If I can do that, then I can set my computers TCP/IP address to that static IP and it should get HTPP requests through port 80.  That is my assumption.  What have I missed?

Please see my comments/responses below...Thanks

 see no way to disable DHCP on the router.  Is it important to disable the DHCP on the router when it is using the addresses given to it by the gateway.  I thought that the Access Point Mode on the router was designed to turn the router into merely a collection point that looked to the gateway for all DHCP activities.  If DHCP has to be turned off on the router then I don't know how to do that.

I have never seen a router, firwall, etc. where the internal DHCP could not be internally disabled. You must be logged into the Router's administrator port to perform these functions. If all else fails you should contact R6300V2 technical support and they should be able to assist you with this.

 see no case in which the device attached to the router has an address not assigned by the gateway.  Isn't this what we want to have happen.  In the gateway, my webserver address is 10.1.10.12.  The router also shows this same address so this part is working isn't it.

Okay on this but again I thought you wanted your webserver to use the staticIP address for IP address consistency.

Yes, I am trying to translate the internal address of 10.1.10.12 to my external static IP which is 50.250.248.55 and have that address receive HTTP messages from the Internet.

There should be no translation required for your webserver to handle email input and output messages. Perhaps I am missing something about this business requirement.

Ok, I did what you suggested.

1. I plugged the webserver directly into an open port on the gateway.

2. On the TCP/IP connection of the computer, I entered the following.  These numbers were given to me by Comcast.

     a.  routable static ip address = 50.250.248.65

     b.  gateway static ip address = 50.250.248.66

     c.  subnet mask = 255.255.255.252

     d.  Primary DNS = 75.75.75.75

     e.  Sec DNS = 75.75.76.76

When I tried to get the computer to accept these settings it immediately went to an error condition.  It reported that the DHCP was not allocated to Internet use.  It then reset itself back to its original setting.

If you are using a Windows based webserver, then you should be configuring your StaticIP information within the specific STATIC IP NETWORK COBNFIGURATION AREA. There is typically two netwrok settings 1.) Always Accesss IP Address , which you should not be using,, and 2.) Static IP setting and this is the one you should be populating your staticIP information which looks valid to me. You really need to find the webserver's STATIC IP Network configuration settings and procede accordingly.

Next I went back and tried it again, double checking my numbers and this time I forced it to accept the numbers I gave it.  I immediately lost all internet connectivity on the connection,  so I had to put it back to auto and reboot to get connection established again.

Again, you must find the StaticIP network configuration on you webserver to setup it up to use a staticIP. 

Should I be using a different set of numbers?

No, you should be using the StaticIP address information that was provided to you from Comcast.

Do you have any other suggestions?Should I look into buying a better gateway?

This is not a Gateway issue, it is disabling your R6300 DHCP and finding your webserver StaticIP network configuration an populating with the information Comcast provided to you.