Connecting BBA via PC

[BlueCrab]

Seems logical. Then you probably have to configure the Dreamcast with an IP address (PSO requires a static IP within your network), and it should work. Make sure to pick an IP that is outside of the range that your wireless router uses for DHCP (but still within the netmask).

Assuming that option does what it sounds like it should do.

For instance, at home, I have my router set up to do DHCP requests from 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.199. My two dreamcasts are configured (statically) as 192.168.1.210 and 192.168.1.211. I also set that mapping up on the router, but that was mainly for my development work, and shouldn't actually be necessary in your case).

[Alec1382]

Seems logical. Then you probably have to configure the Dreamcast with an IP address (PSO requires a static IP within your network), and it should work. Make sure to pick an IP that is outside of the range that your wireless router uses for DHCP (but still within the netmask).

You lost me. Can you translate to layman, please?

[BlueCrab]

Your router will assign most machines on the network an address automatically. it does this over what is called the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (or DHCP). Usually your router will have a range of addresses that it picks from when a new computer comes on and requests an address. You should be able to find it somewhere in the router's configuration (unfortunately, it differs from router to router, so I can't really point you to it).

You will need to configure your Dreamcast to use an address that is not in that range, since PSO for Dreamcast does not support DHCP. Otherwise, there is a chance that your Dreamcast would interfere with another computer on the network (by claiming it has the same network address).

[Alec1382]

And it would still connect properly? Doesn't it need a proper IP to configure properly?

One more thing. Do you happen to know if the web browser supports DCHP? When I try to connect, I get an error message, with the only English characters reading "DCHP".

[BlueCrab]

And it would still connect properly? Doesn't it need a proper IP to configure properly?

You can have statically configured machines on the same network as ones configured with DHCP. As long as the static machines don't try to take any of the DHCP machines' IP addresses (and vice-versa).

One more thing. Do you happen to know if the web browser supports DCHP? When I try to connect, I get an error message, with the only English characters reading "DCHP".

No idea, sorry.

[Alec1382]

[You can have statically configured machines on the same network as ones configured with DHCP. As long as the static machines don't try to take any of the DHCP machines' IP addresses (and vice-versa).

So I suppose the static machine would be the Dreamcast, and the DHCP unit would be my PC, and the reason we're giving the Dreamcast a non-DCHP address is to prevent conflict. Even with a non-DCHP address, the router will still connect to the Dreamcast. Do I understand this correctly?

[Aleron Ives]

The point of DHCP is to make things easier for people who don't know much about networking. DHCP is what allows you to take a laptop and instantly connect to the wireless network at say, Starbucks, without having to "do" anything.

When you use DHCP, your computer automatically searches for a router, and then it asks the router for an identity to use, which is an IP address. Once the router assigns your computer its own IPA, it's able to send and receive network traffic, and the router makes a note in its own logs that it has assigned your computer that IPA and that it needs to direct traffic intended for your computer to that IPA. Every time you shut off your computer and turn it on again, it goes through the process again and can potentially end up with a different address each time, depending on how many other people asked the same router for an address before your computer did.

Static IP configuration is for machines that don't know how to search for a router and configure themselves automatically (or for people who have specific networking needs that require each machine to have its own address all the time). The Dreamcast is one such computer that can't configure itself automatically, so you have to do it by hand. The reason you have to give the Dreamcast an IPA outside of the DHCP range is because the router automatically hands out unused addresses from that "pool" to computers that request addresses. If the DC is statically using an address that the router happens to assign to another computer over DHCP, two computers will have the same address, and then the router won't know which computer is supposed to receive which network traffic. It's the same principle as if two houses have the same street address, the post office doesn't know who's supposed to receive specific pieces of mail.

Static IP configuration consists of four fields, in general:

Local IP: the static address given to the machine you're configuring
Subnet mask: almost always 255.255.255.0
Gateway: the static address of the router
DNS 1: the static address of the nameserver, which is either the same as the router or a server assigned by your ISP (that you can check in the router's configuration pages)

In your case, the gateway would be the PC you're trying to use as a bridge, and DNS 1 would be the IPA of sylverant.net. The problem is that if your computer is connecting to your main router using DHCP itself, the IPA of your computer is possibly going to change. If that happens, the gateway setting on your DC will become invalid, and you won't be able to go online anymore until you change it. That's why people with complicated home networks don't use DHCP at all; it's much simpler to keep all your electronics "talking" to each other when each machine has the same address all the time. DHCP is designed for networks where many different computers all need to use the same Internet connection, but none of the computers need to be able to communicate with each other over the local network. I hope this clarifies things to some degree.

[Alec1382]

Local IP: the static address given to the machine you're configuring
Subnet mask: almost always 255.255.255.0
Gateway: the static address of the router
DNS 1: the static address of the nameserver, which is either the same as the router or a server assigned by your ISP (that you can check in the router's configuration pages)

So if I understand correctly...

Local IP: anything out of the router's range
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: PC's IP
DNS 1: Either the PC's IP or an IP assigned by the ISP.

You mention the router's configuration pages, by the way. Where do I find these? I don't have my router installed; I just thought it was plug'n'play.

In your case, the gateway would be the PC you're trying to use as a bridge, and DNS 1 would be the IPA of sylverant.net. The problem is that if your computer is connecting to your main router using DHCP itself, the IPA of your computer is possibly going to change. If that happens, the gateway setting on your DC will become invalid, and you won't be able to go online anymore until you change it.

Yes, my computer connects to a wireless network. I assume this would mean that it uses DHCP. I suppose, then, that I would have to set up a static address on my PC as well.

[Aleron Ives]

If you're using an external wireless network provided by your landlord, you may not be able to access all the configuration information necessary to set up your DC in a convenient fashion. If you can't get the network administrator's permission to use static IP on your computer and its DHCP allocation changes frequently, you may have to change your DC's BBA settings every time you want to go online. In such a situation, it could be more convenient to just use a dial-up connection.

[Alec1382]

...you may have to change your DC's BBA settings every time you want to go online.

Hm. I don't suppose there's any other way to go about this... Oh well, it could at least serve as a temporary solution, which I'd love to test, but my copy of PSO still hasn't arrived. It's been a while, too.

In such a situation, it could be more convenient to just use a dial-up connection.

My set up really sucks. I don't even have a damn phone jack in my room, which means that I'd have to trail a phone cord from mine to my brother's. Getting his permission to do that would be difficult enough, but it's made worse by the fact that his rabbit would chew through the line the moment he noticed it. Either that or I'd have to get a voice modem and set up a PC-DC connection, which I've tried at and failed at. Not to mention the tied-up phone lines as a result. I've already paid for my BBA anyways.