I have a cable connection on my computer. I read somewhere that in such a connection the IP address remains static. So then I can just tell the client what the server''s IP is, right? Or does the IP change once in a while (another thing I heard)? In that case, I''d need to somehow tell the client what the server''s IP is. If that''s the case, then what I think I''ll do is just have the server write its IP to a .txt file on some webpage each time it starts up. And whenever the client starts up, it can get the server''s IP from the webpage. Is that a good plan? So, basically, what I wanna know is if the IP ever changes in a cable connection and if it does, will my alternate plan work? BTW, I''m using Java.

So in other words, the only way I can find out is if I call my cable provider? But if it turns out that I have a dynamic IP, will my alternative plan work? If not, could you suggest something else?

Thanks, by the way.

Unless you specially paid for it, no cable provider is giving you a static IP. You may be lucky and your service is nice and stable, but if you where to ever disconnect (power outage for instance) you will get a new IP when you reconnect. What you need is a DNS service to attach some domain to your current IP address. Go to something like homeip.org (it will redirect you to another site, homeip is just one of aout 30 domains you can use) which has a free DNS option (as well as paid ones obviously). You simply create an account (i.e. yaroslavd.homeip.net) and then using their website interface or their client software you register your IP with them. When your IP changes you can automatically (with the software) or manually tell them of the change so they can change where yaroslavd.homeip.net resolves to (this is not a website redirection, it is full DNS resolution, meaning you can run any kind of service on any port, they are simply telling anyone who asks what your current IP is)