Troubles with Web Serving (Apache 2.0.50)
 

My problem is this: I cannot consistently access my website using my external IP. Sometimes I can, most times I cannot. However, I can always access it using my internal (LAN) IP address, of 192.168.1.108.

I've seen similar problems in other threads, but most (all) of them were resolved by doing something that I've already done - and nothing has worked yet for me.

I'm running RedHat 7.3 on an old P-133 box, booted into CLI-only mode. I have compiled and installed Apache 2.0.50, PHP 4.3.8, which had been running fine up until a few weeks ago. I also had installed MySQL 4.0.20, which I'm 90% certain had been running fine before any problems arose.

The box is connected to a Linksys 'NetworkEverywhere' router, which is plugged in to my cable modem with then gives me access to the internet. The router is set up to port-forward port 80 to 192.168.1.108, which is the IP of my web-serving box on the LAN. I have turned off all software firewall rules that I am aware of - running the command iptables -L returns:

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination


Which is what I want it to be doing right now. After I get this fixed, I'll put some more rules in.

At the moment, my website is down, and the ShieldsUp service on grc.com tells me that port 80 is in 'Stealth' mode, which makes no sense to me if I don't have any firewalls between me and the 'net that are blocking/hiding port 80.

Double-checking the Apache conf file, httpd.conf, confirms that Apache is set to listen on port 80. I'm running out of ideas on what to check - as far as I can tell, everything is opened up through the router, etc., to push everything on port 80 straight through to my machine, yet it doesn't respond all the time. I even called my ISP to see if they block port 80, and they told me that they did not. Even running netstat -nlp gives me a line looking like:

tcp 0 0 192.168.1.108:80 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 1083/httpd

Which tells me that something is in fact listening on port 80.

Is there any way for me to track an individual packet as it tries to make its way to my machine on port 80? Would this even be useful? Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone on what I could do next would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
- Ross

What happens if you bypass the router?

Hey knutove, and thanks for the response. Midterms and such have kept me from posting here again sooner.

I had previously tried connecting the box directly to the cable modem a while back, but with mixed results. Seeing as this means disconnecting every other machine from the internet, I had to phone someone to check on the status of the webpage. They claimed it was down, but I think that was because of an unrelated DNS error... but I digress.

I took your advice, and again plugged the box straight into my cable modem, and lo and behold, the website worked. Putting it back behind the router, and it worked for a few minutes, then stopped working, then started again, etc. There was much gnashing of teeth. I happened to be together with a few geek buddies of mine over the weekend, and so we decided to sit down for a bit and put our heads together. Eventually, thanks to the God-send that is Google, we found mention of the particular brand of router I was using (a Linksys Network Everywhere router) having the exact same problems I had experienced - flaky and random behaviour regarding port 80. One review even mentioned that he had called and complained to Linksys, only to be told that they were aware of the problem, and were not planning to fix it. Harrumph.

Google will give you what you want, but a direct link to reviews on Amazon.com is here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...724989-2586418

I hope that anyone who is going through the same headache I went through, can be helped by some of this. Moral of the story: You get what you pay for with a $14 router. :D