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I want to be able to use download a torrent file. I also want to be able to connect from my laptop to my desktop using SSH.

Here is my situation: I have a DSL connection which connects directly to my firewall (running SmoothWall Express 3.0). This is set up as a DHCP server. This is connected to a wireless access point that distributes the connection to my house. The wireless access point has DHCP turned off, as it is meant merely to allow my different computers to connect to it. (It is a linksys with DD-WRT installed). This access point is at 192.168.17.1

One of the things connected to that is another linksys router, this one provided by my company which is set up also with DD-WRT to run the VPN so I can connect to our companies internal services. This also has DHCP turned off. This router is at 192.168.250.1

My desktop usually gets an address similar to 192.168.250.100.

So, how do I need to have these set up so that I can connect to torrent files, and use SSH internally. (I was told that to run SSH I should set up my desktop to have a static IP address).

I have access to the settings of all of them but don't know how it needs to be set up. I'm sorry this isn't nearly as concise a question as I like to post, but in this case, I don't know enough about networking to cull my details down to the essentials.

2 Answers 2

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Yes on the static IP address...either a static IP or a set DHCP to MAC lease.

The more devices you pipe through, the more forwarding you have to do and the more static IP to MAC mappings you need. From what you've said, it looks like you need one mapping for DSL to forward to the AP, and another in the AP to your PC. So that you know where your DSL router is, you can use something like DynDNS. Then you can find your home and if all the port forwarding is set up correctly you can hit SSH from anywhere.

As far as torrents go...that should just work our of the box. If you don't have a problem with people being able to hit your box from outside it's simpler to just DMZ host your torrent/ssh box and make sure your firewall is configured properly.

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  • Statis IP vs set DHCP to MAC lease: which is preferable? (And why, if you don't mind?) Nov 18, 2010 at 23:13
  • I prefer DHCP to MAC mapping. It scales and lets me control a network from the head-end without needing access to a PC. Nov 24, 2010 at 15:13
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The difference of course between DHCP and static is that DHCP is the router handing out IP addresses when a computer queries for an address and static is when a computer prompts the router with the address it is set with. If you need to run services behind a router (whether NAT is enabled or not), static IPs are of course the best option as any port forwards you set up will always point to the right device. In most routers you can set the router to always assign the same IP to a specific MAC address when a DHCP request comes from that MAC address, which will have the same effect as a static setup. Keep in mind that static setups require that you program an IP into every device, so depending on the complexity of your network, it may be a pain to do. You should only ever have one DHCP server on any network. You will only need to forward ports once, you shouldn't need to from your router to your AP and then your AP to your computers as you should not be NATing twice.

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