Apple cinema display, IP address, Computer Name and Apache

Question

I have been working on getting Apache, php, mySql setup to do a bit of web design and playing with wview (weather station), drupal, wordPress, etc.  Right off the bat, let me make clear that I am not attempting to host sites to the big bad WAN.  LAN only!
The changes to OS X over the last several versions were a definite speed bump but with the help of Neil Gee's youTube video and this forum pointing me to a permissions problem, Apache, mySql, and php are installed.  Browsing localhost, localhost/~myname and a couple of sites I set up using vhosts in ~myname/Sites from the laptop works.  Joy!    Browsing from other computers on the network nothing worked. Half a day googling the problem before I noticed something odd about the IPv4 Address for my Mac.... when I tried switching it to a static IP I got the message that the IP was already in use. 
At this point I need to describe my setup... a MBP with Thunderbolt connection to an Apple Cinema display.  The ACD is connected via ethernet and the laptop was connected to the LAN via the Thunderbolt.  The network router is (unfortunately) an HGV-3800 whose radio is turned off.  Wireless in the household is accomplished by a Time Capsule in bridge mode.  Not my preferred setup but after killing off several good days, I capitulated to the recommended AT&T configuration.
A quick browse of devices on the router revealed that the IP being used by my MBP/ACD had an unknown device name while all the other devices in the house had their names... odd.  So I fired up the wireless on the MBP and took another look at the device list... the router listed this new connection with my correct device name.  Even better, when I browsed to http://myComputerName and http://myComputerName/~myname from another computer on the LAN the It Works! and My Site Works! came up perfectly.  However, the sites that i set up in vhosts stubbornly refuse to come up on the other devices. 
My interpretation of what is happening with the ethernet connection to the ACD is that this connection is not identified as being to my laptop... it is to the ACD and somehow the laptop is borrowing it... surfing works and I can connect for file sharing to other computers on the LAN (though it is a bit clunky)... the borrowed connection is not up to the task of hosting on the LAN.  My question about this is whether there is a setting I can make which will correct this behaviour and allow the Thunderbolt connection to function as if the ethernet was directly connected to the laptop?
The other more important question is what is needed to make the sites I have in myComputer/~myName/Sites browseable from other devices on the LAN... these same sites that are coming up perfectly when I browse to mySite1.com from the laptop?
I am not really looking for advice to go get Mavericks Server... many different issues with that scenario.

Answer 1

Your router only has a limited about of features to make it "stealthy."
Here are a few things you can try...
- Access the router's web-based administration @ http://192.168.0.1.
- Advanced > Virtual Server
-- Virtual Server: Disabled (pg. 25)
- Advanced > Applications
-- Applications: Disabled (pg. 26)
- Advanced > Firewall
-- Enabled (pg. 31)
- Advanced > DMZ
-- Disabled (pg. 33)
- Tools > Admin
-- Change the default passwords for both the admin & user accounts.
-- Remote Management: Disabled (pg. 36)
- Tools > Misc
-- Discard PING from WAN side: Enabled
-- UPNP Settings: Disabled
-- Gaming Mode: Disabled
-- VPN Pass-Through
--- PPTP: Disabled
--- IPSec: Disabled (pg. 41)