Connection help for complete noob

[sroque]

I'm not currently an amateur radio operator but I am trying to help someone else. He is in the UK and I am in the US.Perhaps you can give us some ideas. I think he was able to verify his call sign but has ben unable to make a connection yet (even to echo test). Here is what I know so far:

1. He is using a Mac running El Capitan (OS X 10.11.5).
2, His ISP is Virgin Media running a Super Hub 2. It does not appear from what I read online that this ISP supports a static IP address on its residential internet accounts.
3. I sent him directions for setting up port forwarding on the Super Hub 2 but I am not sure he has been successful. The Virgin Media rep that he spoke to about this was less than helpful.
4. Since the ISP does not seem to support fixed IP addresses could I achieve the same result by switching his Mac settings from DHCP to DHCP with manual address? Assuming that I set a valid number would that also work?

BTW thanks for producing this program. I have been considering getting a license for a long time and the cost of good gear has been a sticking point. Running this on my computer looks like a good alternative. 

[support]

A static IP address is not necessary but a "public" IP is. Some of the ISP nowadays use private IP's for their customers and that makes it very difficult/impossible for old protocols such as EchoLink.

As a first step I would suggest that you need to find out the "public" IP address on the Super Hub 2, post the address here (blank out the last octet with XXX for security reasons) so we can find out it is really "public".
 

[sroque]

Sorry I did not reply sooner. It looks like my spam filter ate the notification that there had been a reply. My friend has been has been unable to work on this for several days due to other pressing issues. He probably needed a break anyway as this has become very frustrating for him.

I will pass this info on to him later today and report back as soon as we have an answer.