I recently purchased a Linksys wireless router (WRT54G) to accompany my laptop's
built in wireless adapter.
I set it up and everything went smoothly (Thank you Windows XP) as far as the
internal network, the wireless access etc. Now I need to extend my router's
current configuration to allow me to use the web server I have setup on my primary
desktop computer.
So, I go to Linksys' website and start reading their KB articles about setting
up the router to allow outside access to my web server. I followed the steps
to the letter and hit a brick wall after rebooting the laptop.
Allow me to backup a bit so I can explain the physical architecture of my network
and the server.
4 Computers on the network
3 Desktop computers and 1 laptop (The only computer using the wireless aspect
of the router)
As per the web server and it's components
I have the Apache Server, PHP, and MySQL installed on both the primary desktop
and the laptop. I would only have them installed on the desktop but decided
to add them to the laptop so I can work on the development of my site away from
home. (In case you have figured it out, I don't use a hosting company for my
site. I build and test it locally.)
Okay, back to where I was. (Sorry for jumping around, it's really late and
I should be sleeping.)
After reading the Linksys KB article I learned that I have to setup a static
IP address within WinXP and then configure the router to forward all outside
requests on port 
to the aforementioned static IP address. I did that as per
the KB instructions and when I rebooted I had no access to the internal network,
the internet, or my web server. So basically, the changes specified in the article
killed my network. I reset everything to the way it was prior and I can access
my network and the net but not my web server.
Whenever I type my public IP address or the IP of the host computers (Remember,
I have the server on both computers, but do not run them simultaneously.) it
take me to the router configuration page.
I'm so confused, and stuck...I have no idea how to set this up properly. Networking,
as you can see, is not my specialty.
Lost in the web of networking...
~Melchiah