ESP8266 Community Forum

- Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:37 am #60228 Hi there,

Thank you for the reply.

1. My home ip address is some thing like 192.168.110.143. I tried the iOS app to control the led lights and it works well. But I notice that my ip changes frequently. So, say I try to do the same task the next day but it won't work because the ip changed to something like 192.168.110.50. Can I make my ip fixed? so it won't change.

What you need is a static ip address, usually a paid option that you have to take up with your ISP.

2. I notice that in order to control led light using esp8266, my computer or device has to connect to the same wifi that I connected the esp8266. In this case, I have no problem controlling led light at home(when connected to the same wifi) but when I am away from home I am connected to a different wifi and I can't control my lights.

Once you have a static ip address, you may then set your ISP modem/router to port forward to your ESP8266. This will allow you to access the ESP8266 from anywhere with Internet connection. There are a lot of tutorials out there for port forwarding. Apple Extreme routers ($$$) are the easiest, in my opinion.

Good luck.

- Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:03 am #60260 Hi there,

Thanks for you reply.
Also, I am sorry for the late reply. I thought I replied to you but for some reason it is missing so I am reposting it.

I have another question:

If ioT devices need to have static ip and port forwarding for constant connection, how does home security cameras work? Because for these products, I could just simply download the app and connect the camera to my local wifi and I can control and view from outside.

Is this because home security camera companies have their own private server (cloud)?

This problem is the most typical of those who want to develop applications that connect to the internet.
To solve it you must configure your router, in the section LAN, to associate a fixed I to your mac address. This way, whenever you connect from your mobile device, it will assign the same IP. I can not tell you how, because all the routers are different. You can read your router's documentation or call your company's customer service telephone number, and they'll tell you there.

The second problem is why you should associate with your IP publishes a DNS resolution (DDNS.org) fixed and this way you can connect to your application from anywhere.