IP fallback in android

Question

I'm accessing a server for web service calls. When I'm developing on the same network as the server, I can access the web service by its internal IP address but not its external IP address. However, if I'm not on the network, I can only access it by its external IP address. What's the best way to try one of the IP addresses and then fall back on the other?

Here's a sample of my code for accessing only one or the other:

protected String retrieve() {
    Log.v(TAG, "retrieving data from url: " + getURL());

    HttpPost request = new HttpPost(getURL());
    try {
        StringEntity body = new StringEntity(getBody());
        body.setContentType(APPLICATION_XML_CONTENT_TYPE);
        request.setEntity(body);            

        HttpConnectionParams.setConnectionTimeout(client.getParams(), CONNECTION_TIMEOUT);
        HttpConnectionParams.setSoTimeout(client.getParams(), SOCKET_TIMEOUT);

        HttpResponse response = client.execute(request);
        final int statusCode = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();


        if (statusCode != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
            Log.e(TAG, "the URL " + getURL() + " returned the status code: " + statusCode + ".");
            return null;
        }

        HttpEntity getResponseEntity = response.getEntity();

        if (getResponseEntity != null) {
            return EntityUtils.toString(getResponseEntity);
        }
    } catch (IOException e) {
        Log.e(TAG, "error retrieving data.", e);
        request.abort();
    }

    return null;
}   

/*
 * @return the URL which should be called.
 */
protected String getURL() {
    return INTERNAL_SERVER_URL + WEB_APP_PATH;
}

Answer 1

Look at own IP address of your android. You can get it like stated here.

Then you can decide:

• if you are in subnet of your office (e.g. 192.168.0.0/16) - use internal address
• if you are in other subnet - use external address