William Sommerwerck wrote:

PS: I checked, and my server has DHCP, which automatically selects an

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Router ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

address. It is not generally permanent, and eventually "times out". This is
the likely explanation of why AIBO became invisible overnight.


Most routers give a fixed time 'lease' to an IP address. Typically
24 hours on the models I've used. Hard wired tend to automatically
renew their 'lease', even in standby.