Radio-SkyPipe Help
If you have a router between your computer and the internet, you will probably have to configure the router to allow any special application that uses non-standard port numbers to pass network traffic. Radio-SkyPipe is such an application and you must tell the router which computer(s) on your home network will be running Radio-SkyPipe and what ports Radio-SkyPipe will be using. This help page contains general information about how this is done. A good example is provided for the LinksysŪ router. If your particular router type does not appear look through any other router configurations we might have and try to understand the general techniques involved.
Your specific router number may have a somewhat different configuration utility, however, the same principles should apply. On your router's website support page or on the CDROM supplied with your router look for the specifics of your router's configuration.
What is a Router?
An IP address is simply a numerical code which tells computers how to reach
other computers over a network. There are only so many IP Addresses to go
around and a heck of a lot of computers that need them so not everyone gets
their own... exactly. Your local Internet Service Provider (ISP)
temporarily supplies you with an IP address. On broadband networks this address
usually doesn't change too often but with dial up connections it changes a lot.
You might have several computers that you want to connect through this ISP
connection so you need a box to help you share the connection (and the single IP
address your ISP loans to you) between all of the computers in your home or
business. That box is a router. A PC can act as a router, see Microsoft
Internet Connection Sharing, but more often these days a special piece of
hardware is used.
The router does a lot of neat things and one of them is to help keep uninvited guests out of your local network. By default, most all routers let browser traffic through, but they can be picky about passing data from non-universal programs that they are uninformed about. SkyPipe is one of those not so universal programs.
What is a Port?
Every program that uses the network on your computer uses its Local IP Address
(this is usually different from the Internet IP address supplied by the ISP) and
a PORT number. Think of the local network as a highway system leading to several
towns (or computers). The Local IP Address is the name of the highway
leading to the particular computer and the port number is the name of the
special on/off ramp that leads to the program.
Routers use a system of Network Address Translation (NAT) to take information from the superhighway of the internet and make sure it gets sent to the right computer and the right program in that computer (remember the port number?). You set up special rules in the router for special programs. This is often done in a configuration area dedicated to Port Forwarding, Forwarding, or something similar.
Most Routers have a browser interface that you use to configure their special features. Consult your manual about the browser address you must use. You may also need a password so look for that too. Generally, you will log into the router interface, find the area dealing with port forwarding or special applications and set up the rules so that they match with the IP address and SkyPipe port numbers of your SkyPipe server. Below are links to specific router configurations. They will probably be somewhat similar to yours.
Configuring Network Everywhere Routers