Hello all,

I have a comcast cable modem broadband network in my house. I don't think this assigns static IP addresses but I want to share out a few folders on my machines.

What do I need to do to accomplish this? Is there a way to map a network drive by name vs ip address?

Thanks,
annerj

Do you want to share them inside the lan or to people outside the lan?

Although Comcast doesn't advertise a static IP, as long as the MAC of the cable modem doesn't change you should have the same IP for many years. I'm on Comcast and before I changed my cable modem I had the same IP for 3 years. Had I done a mac change in the new modem I probably could have kept that IP for longer.

The best way to share a folder to the outside world is to setup a simple VPN connection to your XP box. In the XP connection wizard you can set things up to accept incoming connections from the outside world. You'd need to open up some ports on your router, but it'll be much more secure than most other options.

You could also consider a simple FTP server on the machine to do the same.

Eventually I'll share it outside but first I just want to share inside.

The first problem is I have several different computers that may or may not be hooked into the router at any given time. Is there any way to resolve by name and not ip?

Actually, the modem IP has very little to do with anything - it's the CPE (PC or router) IP address that needs to be fairly static in order for you to do this. I can tell you this:
1) Do NOT assign yourself a static IP. Comcast uses "cable source verify" to catch people using static IP's
2) The modem and cable interface of the CMTS have IP filters and ACLs in place to block ports 80, 21 444, and the Netbios ports. With those blocked, you will need to use a VPN client in order to allow shares.

hope this helps

Jim

More info please.