On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:41:59 -0800, Gene E. Bloch
<letters@someplace.invalid> wrote:
>On 2/22/10, Char Jackson posted:
>> On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:24:51 -0800, Gene E. Bloch
>> <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> The statement "they refuse to put static ip ability into their
>>> firmware" surprised me.
>>>
>>> I have a WRT54GS, originally V2.1, currently running Linksys firmware
>>> V4.7. It has always let me use static IP addresses in my network.
>>>
>>> On the setup page under DHCP, there are two entries for this. First is
>>> "Starting IP Address", where I can change only the last octet - I guess
>>> because my subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. The next field is the maximum
>>> number of DHCP users.
>>>
>>> I can - and do - manually assign any unused IP address which is less
>>> than the starting address and more than the sum of the two values (up
>>> to 255, of course).
>
>> You're describing standard DHCP functionality, and yes of course
>> Linksys includes that in every firmware release. I believe Zootal was
>> talking about 'static' DHCP (sometimes called 'reserved' DHCP), which
>> is where you configure the router to assign a specific IP address to a
>> given MAC address every time. Stock Linksys firmware doesn't provide
>> that functionality, AFAIK, but 3rd party firmware does.
>
>OK.
>
>I manually assigned the static IP addresses in the setup of each device
>or computer as I installed it. That seemed good enough for me, since it
>remains permanent - except for a Replay TV, which even when it had an
>assigned IP address would occasionally get a new one from the router.
>That was a bug, and since the company went out of business, it's not
>going to be fixed. It's moot anyway - I have retired the box.
That's also how my network is set up. All IP's are manually configured
and static.
>Anyway, I'm not too sure of the advantage of having the router assign
>it, since you still have to tell the device not to use DHCP. Might as
>well enter an IP at the same time.
No, the device is configured to use DHCP, as you described below. It's
only the router that gets configured.
>No, I see one advantage. Keep DHCP on in the device, and it will get
>the same address each time - in a given network. Carry it to a new
>network and that DHCP will give it an IP address, but if the capability
>exists there too, it will always be the same on that network, though
>not necessarily equal to the value given by the first router.
Exactly.