Accessing equipment in LAN thru Internet - Part 1

Hi,

In this tutorial I want to show you how to make equipment like your laptop, cctv dvr, server etc. which is in your LAN to  be accessible over the internet.

The tutorial is simply too big to be in one article and I have broken it down in multiple parts so that each step of the puzzle can be understood properly. WHY? Because in the end, if it does not work like it should, you will have to troubleshoot and the only thing that will help is the knowledge provided in this tutorial.

This is a simple tutorial with basics for beginners and novices. If you are an networking expert, you may have more solutions than have been illustrated here.

So I have a LAN. Or is it WAN. Or is it home network. SOHO maybe?

There are so many terms out there and it can be very confusing. And confusion never helped anyone. So here are some terms we will use and hopefully you will not be confused.

LAN - LOCAL Area Network. Please note the stress on the word LOCAL. This refers to ALL the equipment that you have connected to each other in your network - home, office etc.
Typical components are:
- your laptop
- your printer
- your wireless router
- your DSL/Cable modem
- your mobile
- CCTV DVR (digital video recorder)

WAN - WIDE Area Network. Yes, the stress is on WIDE. This is large network Over long distances. It can be as short as your neighbour and as far as the other side of the globe. If you think you don't access a WAN, think again. INTERNET is a one big WAN. There is only one piece in your LAN that is special the DSL/CABLE modem. It is a LAN AND a WAN equipment.

Note - your router and modem may be integrated in a single piece of equipment. It is the modern trend and I recommend such equipment where choices have to be made.

So get your LAN and WAN straight. When you encounter any other term like Home network, break it into LAN or WAN. See if you understand the following statement:

"I want to access something in my LAN over the WAN".

YIPPEE !!! Yes, the above statement describes the aim of this article. We are ready to go to the next part.