Ok, so it turns out that all my woes were due to running the server behind a router. With the help of a friendly networking guru, I installed shorewall (www.shorewall.net) firewall on the server and hooked it directly to the net. With a bit of futzing, it seemed to clear up all the problems. Luckily, my isp provides me (unbeknownst to me til now) 2 more or less static ip's. So, off to the store for a hub - then I'll have the server going directly to the hub, to the modem and serving directly to the net. the router will continue as is but with the hub between it and the modem. Check it out tomorrow night to see if it all works out...
