Dynamically assign static IP?

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Chris Shearer Cooper - 26 Jul 2005 19:53 GMT

I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and work, both
places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have it figure out on its own
how it should fit into the network.

However, I want to set it up so that when it's plugged into the home LAN, it
always has the same IP so that I can set up some port forwarding on the
routers to get some games to work.

Can this be done?

Thanks!
Chris

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Steve Winograd [MVP] - 26 Jul 2005 20:02 GMT

>I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and work, both
>places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have it figure out on its own
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>Thanks!
>Chris

Yes, it can be done:

1. Open the network connection's TCP/IP properties screen.

2. Configure it to obtain an IP address and DNS server address
automatically. When it's connected to a network that has a DHCP
server, it will get the addresses from DHCP.

3. Click the Alternate Configuration tab, select "User configured" and
enter the TCP/IP configuration data. When it's connected to a network
that doesn't have a DHCP server, it will use these values. There will
be a delay of about a minute when the computer starts while it looks
for a DHCP server.

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Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

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Chris Shearer Cooper - 26 Jul 2005 21:09 GMT

But this requires that I disable DHCP for my entire LAN?

I had the impression that UPnP was supposed to help with these kinds of
issues? But I know -zero- about UPnP, do you have a recommendation where I
can learn more about UPnP?

Thanks,
Chris

>>I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and work, both
>>places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have it figure out on its own
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> be a delay of about a minute when the computer starts while it looks
> for a DHCP server.

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Steve Winograd [MVP] - 26 Jul 2005 23:39 GMT

>>>>I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and work, both
>>>>places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have it figure out on its own
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
>But this requires that I disable DHCP for my entire LAN?

Yes, it would. If that isn't practical, here are two other
possibilities:

1. Follow the suggestion that Nepatsfan made in his reply.

2. Get one of these programs, which let you store multiple network
configurations and switch between them easily:

NetSwitcher
http://www.netswitcher.com

MultiNetwork Manager
http://www.globesoft.com/mnm_home.html

Mobile Net Switch
http://www.mobilenetswitch.com

>I had the impression that UPnP was supposed to help with these kinds of
>issues? But I know -zero- about UPnP, do you have a recommendation where I
>can learn more about UPnP?

I'm not aware of any way that UPnP that can assign an IP address to a
computer. UPnP is used for device discovery and control. See:

http://www.upnp.org
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;323713

>Thanks,
>Chris

You're welcome.

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Nepatsfan - 26 Jul 2005 21:42 GMT

> I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and
> work, both places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Thanks!
> Chris

See if your router at home supports address reservations. The
Netgear model I'm currently using allows you to setup a
specific IP that always gets assigned to the same computer
based upon its MAC address. Check the documentation that came
with your router. You will need to use the router's web
interface to set this up.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

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Chris Shearer Cooper - 27 Jul 2005 14:41 GMT

I don't see anything like this in any of the (LinkSys) router web interface
screens ... what is the feature called in your Netgear router?

Thanks!
Chris

>> I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and
>> work, both places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Nepatsfan

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Nepatsfan - 27 Jul 2005 16:07 GMT

> I don't see anything like this in any of the (LinkSys)
> router web interface screens ... what is the feature called
> in your Netgear router?
> Thanks!
> Chris

It's called Address Reservation. You simply "reserve" one of
the addresses within the DHCP assigned range for a certain
system based upon it's MAC address.

I'm using a Netgear WGR614 wireless router and I'm able to
setup address reservations within the "LAN IP Setup" section of
the router's web interface.

I did a little research and it seems that your Linksys routers
don't have this capability. You might want to contact Linksys
support to check on that.

Linksys technical support
http://tinyurl.com/cngkr

It looks as if you've got two options, use one of the programs
that Steve Winograd suggested or get a router that allows you
to setup address reservations.

Nepatsfan

>>> I carry my laptop around to various places, mostly home and
>>> work, both places it's nice to be able to plug it in & have
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>>
>> Nepatsfan

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dg1261 - 28 Jul 2005 11:00 GMT

>> See if your router at home supports address reservations. The Netgear
>> model I'm currently using allows you to setup a specific IP that always
>> gets assigned to the same computer based upon its MAC address.

> I don't see anything like this in any of the (LinkSys) router web
> interface screens ... what is the feature called in your Netgear router?

Which Linksys? I've flashed both of my WRT54G routers with a couple
third-party firmware versions that provide that feature, where it's called
"Static DHCP". The official firmware version from Linksys doesn't include
that feature.

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Chris Shearer Cooper - 29 Jul 2005 14:42 GMT

WRT54GS ... thanks!

>>> See if your router at home supports address reservations. The Netgear
>>> model I'm currently using allows you to setup a specific IP that always
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> "Static DHCP". The official firmware version from Linksys doesn't include
> that feature.

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dg1261 - 31 Jul 2005 18:49 GMT

Then take a look at www.linksysinfo.org -- start with the chart at
http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=4289.

I was frustrated with the unreliable VPN passthrough capability on my WRT54G
v1.1 using any of the official Linksys firmware versions, so decided to try
third-party. I began using the wifi-box firmware on that older WRT54G, and
use dd-wrt on the newer one. I'm using the dd-wrt.v22.prefinal5 firmware
with my WRT54G v3.1. It provides the Static DHCP feature (under
Administration->dhcpd), which I use to give my home VPN server and network
print servers unchanging IPs. It also provides other tweaks not available
in the official versions, such as adjustable antenna configuration.

> WRT54GS ... thanks!
>
>> Which Linksys? I've flashed both of my WRT54G routers with a couple
>> third-party firmware versions that provide that feature, where it's
>> called "Static DHCP". The official firmware version from Linksys doesn't
>> include that feature.

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