Tips and Tricks setting up PopNote on LAN's with WiFi Access
         Copyright 2009 by G.Mike Raymond

Lets start at the beginning. If you are obtaining your
access to the Internet vi a DSL Modem, its imperative
you turn off (disable) the modems built in firewall
(yes, newer DSL Modems now come with rudamentary
internal firewalls that block almost all INCOMING
ports). You bypass these port blocks by either enabling
a process called "DMZ" or set the Modems Firewall to
"Port Follow through" in the Modem's setup.  You gain
access to the modems setup through your Browser;
typically by using the IP address of 192.169.1.254 If
this standard DSL Modem address is not correct, check
the modems manual for any proprietary address. Once in
the Modem's setup, look for a Firewall or Advanced menu
option.

Now, having eliminated that possible port block I next
strongly recommend you disable XP's built in firewall
and opt for something both easier to manage as well as
more capable.  My choice is the FREE version of
ZoneAlarm.  There are various reasons not to use XP's
internal firewall. To begin, XP's firewall wont detect
or block adware or malware from attempting to phone
home and report where you have been surfing or report
your keystrokes. ZoneAlarm will. Next, ZA makes a
record of a client or servers CRC32 the first time it
is approved to use the Internet and then rechecks the
same file against its original crc record for changes
whenever its rerun.  No virus or trojan can alter an
executable without also changing its CRC32 calculation.

Once XP's firewall is off and ZoneAlarm is installed,
you can continue. Oh, set ZoneAlarm's Security level to
Medium rather than High. This in no way imperils your
actual security but greatly improves performance.

Your PC has an internal NIC or Network Interface Card
that by default is generally setup to use TCP/IP. It is
also setup by default to Obtain an IP automatically
once it detects a connection to the internet. If the
NIC is plugged directly into the Modem (typically by a
double ended male CAT5 cable), the NIC will acquire the
WAN (or Wide Aera Network) IP assigned by your
provider. This is all well and good when a Router is
not involved.

Now enter the Router. A typical router acts as a
gateway between multiple PCs and the Internet. The
Router gets the WAN IP from the modem and then issues
LAN (Local Area Network) IPs to each of the nodes
(PC's) connected to it.  These LAN IP's are private or
not routable (usable over or across the Internet) thus
provide some isolation between your private network and
the Internet.

Here is where problems can occur. Typically the first
PC to power up gets the first LAN IP assigned by the
DHCP server built into the router. Say its
192.168.1.100  Now lets say you port forward your
Router to use PopNote's ports to that node.  But, you
have TWO or more PC's in your LAN. Suddenly if PC
number two powers up first, it gets the 192.168.1.100
IP and PC number one wont! PROBLEMS!

This is easily preventable by setting up the NIC in
each PC to Use the following STATIC LAN IP's. The PC
NIC will then tell the Router what IP it wants and will
get it. When setting up the NIC TCP/IP properties to
use a static IP you must also give it extra information
not needed when it grabs any available IP
automatically. The Net Mask is almost always
255.255.255.0 and the Gateway IP is that of the Router,
typically 192.168.1.1 The next item is the two DNS
addresses (get those from your ISP).

Now, when you forward ports to particular PC's you know
their node addresses on your LAN will never change.

I would recommend you take this a step furthur and DMZ
the node on the Router to your primary PC and let
ZoneAlarm do all the heavy lifting. This is optional.

Finally, if you own a Router with WiFi and have a WiFi
Laptop, this same scheme works equally well except for
the times you want to take your Laptop away from home
and connect to some Hotel or Coffee House HotSpot, etc.
Now you must re enter your LapTop's NIC and reset it to
"Obtain IP Automatically" or acquire whatever LAN IP
the HotSpot has available. Of course you could luck out
and find the static IP setup in your Laptop has not yet
been assigned by the HotSpot and is also in the IP
range used by the HotSpot.  But, this is very unlikely.

From the information I presented here you should
be able to now reason out any other configuration
possibilities.

Good Luck!