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sonjasway@yahoo 0 Newbie Poster

I have an airport base station (snow) administered wirelessly by my Powerbook G3 (Firewire) running Panther. This basestation distributes ip addresses, and client computers share a single ip address using
DHCP and NAT. This allows 3 computers to share a single PPPoE phone line high speed internet connection. The other computers are
pc laptop, also connected wirelessly, and pc desktop, connected by ethernet cable. The desktop which I will be dealing with is running Windows 98 Second Edition. Hopefully, that's all the info you need on the network. Cause I just copied details from the preference panes and don't know what it means. I just count myself lucky that all computers can connect to the internet - Mac's make everything so easy (usually).

Now I am told because I want to get my Tivo to connect to the PC desktop via serial port and have it connect to a program running on that computer (real service not available in Canada) that I have to......(the next bit is a quote from someone else):

"What I did, was direct my router (similar to your
Airport) to re-direct all requests to the real TiVO
server on the net () to my PC
(). I don't have an Airport myself, but
I'm guessing it has some basic network routing
controls built in there somewhere. (or perhaps these
are on your Mac?)."

From what I can figure out this is creating a static route - can I do this? How do I do this? I need very simple instructions and know nothing of UNIX. But I can follow directions. Maybe it can be done just on the PC - I just don't understand this stuff enough.
Also how do I find out the private ip address of the PC desktop?

Do I need to change my setup configurations? Because when I change the airport preferences to share a range of ip addresses using DHCP only it tells me that it requires the base station to be configured using ethernet and static ip addresses. I don't know how to do that if it is necessary.

Please if anyone could advise me I would really appreciate it. Sorry this is so long. Sonja

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Dani AI

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For : the quoted suggestion is not a simple static route. It’s trying to make your router rewrite traffic destined for an external IP so a TiVo request goes to a local PC instead. That requires destination NAT (packet rewriting) or a transparent proxy, not a basic route. Most consumer base stations only do simple NAT/port‑mapping for inbound WAN traffic and won’t let you silently rewrite outbound destination addresses.

How to find the desktop’s private IP (Windows 98 SE): run winipcfg (Start → Run → winipcfg) and pick the network adapter; the “IP Address” shown is the machine’s private address. If ipconfig is available, ipconfig /all at a command prompt also shows it. On the PowerBook, open the AirPort Admin Utility (or System Preferences → Network → AirPort → TCP/IP) to see the base station’s LAN address and the DHCP range it hands out.

Practical options given the typical AirPort setup:

  • If the TiVo connects to a hostname (not a raw IP), a local DNS override (or running a tiny DNS server that returns the PC’s LAN IP for that name) is the simplest fix.
  • If the TiVo connects to a literal public IP, the only reliable fixes are (a) a router that supports destination NAT/redirection, or (b) make a machine on the LAN (PowerBook or a small Linux/Windows box) act as the gateway and perform the DNAT/port forwarding for that IP. Both are more advanced than simple DHCP changes.
  • Do NOT switch the AirPort to “DHCP only” unless the base station will be connected to another router on Ethernet; that mode expects an upstream DHCP service. Keep the base station in NAT+DHCP mode (the configuration that lets all machines share your PPPoE link) and back up its configuration before making changes.

Checklist to proceed: note the desktop IP with winipcfg, check the AirPort’s NAT vs DHCP‑only setting, and determine whether the TiVo contacts the service by name or by numeric IP. Those three facts determine which fix is feasible.

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