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Static IP by SSID

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Pandamonium

Golden Member
I'd like to my laptop to default to 192.168.1.10 or some other static IP when it's connected to my home router, but go back to dynamic IPs everywhere else. Is there a way to do this? I'm running Win7x64.

I know I can do this by making my ethernet jack use a static IP and just connecting the ethernet cable when I'm home, but I'd rather it work independent of that.
 
Thanks for the link. I'm looking at it but I can't figure out how Windows will know to use a dynamic IP when not connected to my home router though.
 
If the DHCP server in your home wireless router (or whatever other device gives you DHCP at home) supports reservations, this is what you want. Basically, you tell your wireless router that if "this particular network adapter requests and address, always give them this one." Your network adapter is identified by MAC address, which will be unique to your network. Then you just leave your laptop set to DHCP, and at home it will pick up your reserved address and elsewhere it will pick up whatever other address.

This is the only way to do this. If your router doesn't do reservations, then you're going to be stuck with changing it each time you change networks.
 
Thanks drebo! I didn't think to play with my router settings. I think I've configured the way I should, but it's not working properly. It appears that other people have the same problem, so I'm thinking my firmware needs an update. Router is a Netgear WGT624v3
 
You may have already tried this.

Under the LAN IP Setup section (in Advanced) you should see an option for Address Reservation. If that works like other Netgear routers I have used, when you click "Add", it will take you to a screen where you can assign any connected device a reserved IP.
 
The "Alternate Configuration" of IP address in Windows will let Windows respond to a DHCP server if it finds one. Otherwise, the PC will obtain a static IP address from the User Configured "Alternate Configuration". This setting is in the "Advanced" portion of the IPv4 Properties menu in Windows.
 
spidey07 said:
Honestly there is never a reason to use staticly assigned IP addresses. DHCP reservations only, no exceptions.
Click to expand...

This has to be the most rediculous thing I have ever heard. Why on earth would you want to use DHCP reservations instead of static? You ALWAYS use static IPs for servers so that they are not dependent on anything else network wise to start up. Client OSs should always get DHCP addresses though.
 
I think what he's trying to say is that you DHCP with assigned IP addresses is the way to go. It kills two birds with one stone by allowing guests easy access to the network while keeping important devices integrated. There's no need to flame.

Pandamonium, see if your router has a Wireless MAC filter. If so, it might be possible to assign IP addresses based on a computer's MAC address on that particular network. This avoids the conflict with having to switch settings every time you switch networks by making the IP assignments based on the local network, not computer.
 
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leonlee said:
Pandamonium, see if your router has a Wireless MAC filter. If so, it might be possible to assign IP addresses based on a computer's MAC address on that particular network. This avoids the conflict with having to switch settings every time you switch networks by making the IP assignments based on the local network, not computer.
Click to expand...

MAC Filtering and DHCP Reservations are two seperate and unrelated features.
MAC Filtering is a security feature that will only let devices connect to the network if they have a MAC Address in a pre-defined list.
A DHCP Reservation is a function of the DHCP server that will assign a specific (Reserved) IP to a device based on its MAC Address.
 
What about extending the DHCP lease time out to 3 days or 5 days or more. That way, unless your laptop is not connected for more than 3 days, the lease is still active so it will get the same address. The caveat here is that you could easily fill up your DHCP pool since they don't clear out as fast if you have guests over.
 
ecom said:
What about extending the DHCP lease time out to 3 days or 5 days or more. That way, unless your laptop is not connected for more than 3 days, the lease is still active so it will get the same address. The caveat here is that you could easily fill up your DHCP pool since they don't clear out as fast if you have guests over.
Click to expand...

Best practice is to adjust lease times to the clients status. For example residential ISP leases should be a few weeks as the MAC isn't going to move. If you need radical changes you can always turn down the timer. This is why you will almost always keep the same IP from your provider forever unless major changes occur.

In an environment where the clients/MACs provided are extremely variable and short duration it isn't outside the norm for a lease time of 1 hour or less. Think wireless hotspot. There is little to no penalty to having a lease time of 10 minutes. It's a 4 packet exchange, dhcp, it's not complicated.
 
^ All home devices I've come across come with DHCP lease set to 12 or 24 hours which is why I suggested it.

At our office, we have it set to 14 days. At a cafe, I've seen it at 30 min.
 
The other way to get it done, is to use a profile setting on your wireless software pack. If you have one. I know alot of notebooks come with an application to manage wireless networks. If you create a profile for each location, then you are all set.
As for there is no place for static reservations, i gotta call you out on this one. Only because there are special occasions where static ip is required as well as depended upon. I cant tell you how many times I have come across a problem where UNC is broken.
 
yinan said:
This has to be the most rediculous thing I have ever heard. Why on earth would you want to use DHCP reservations instead of static? You ALWAYS use static IPs for servers so that they are not dependent on anything else network wise to start up. Client OSs should always get DHCP addresses though.
Click to expand...

Not really, it helps for management purposes, nice to have a current and correct list of all IP addressing and not having to rely on an excel spreadsheet or sharepoint etc
 
seepy83 said:
MAC Filtering and DHCP Reservations are two seperate and unrelated features.
MAC Filtering is a security feature that will only let devices connect to the network if they have a MAC Address in a pre-defined list.
A DHCP Reservation is a function of the DHCP server that will assign a specific (Reserved) IP to a device based on its MAC Address.
Click to expand...

My Router has a MAC filtering feature that shows a table of wireless clients and their respective IP addresses in the same dialogue box. This way, you can also differentiate between wireless and wired clients. Taking this information and using it to work out DHCP reservation is what I'm talking about.
 
spidey07 said:
Honestly there is never a reason to use staticly assigned IP addresses. DHCP reservations only, no exceptions.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, with the only exception of the DHCP and DNS servers. Oh and I have been using GFI for years vs using a excel sheet or anything like that for IP tracking purposes.
 
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spidey07 said:
Honestly there is never a reason to use staticly assigned IP addresses. DHCP reservations only, no exceptions.
Click to expand...

For Client connections yes. For servers, printers, NAS devices, or various other dedicated devices Static is always the way to go for reliability. On a simple 1 subnet network I will usually always leave 1-49 out of the DHCP scope if possible to accommodate Static IP needs for the network and start my DHCP scope at 50 using DHCP reservations for all client connections. I have seen clients with a reservation end up with dynamic scope addresses many times. That would cause problems with dedicated devices.
 
NesuD said:
For Client connections yes. For servers, printers, NAS devices, or various other dedicated devices Static is always the way to go for reliability. On a simple 1 subnet network I will usually always leave 1-49 out of the DHCP scope if possible to accommodate Static IP needs for the network and start my DHCP scope at 50 using DHCP reservations for all client connections. I have seen clients with a reservation end up with dynamic scope addresses many times. That would cause problems with dedicated devices.
Click to expand...

Wrong. Printers and other devices should be on reservations. Large organizations can have litterally hundreds of printers. If you need to rescope the network (for any reason), you don't want to have to go and touch every printer, accesspoint, copier, etc. For servers, there are certain servers that need to be static, but certainly not all.
 
drebo said:
Wrong. Printers and other devices should be on reservations. Large organizations can have litterally hundreds of printers. If you need to rescope the network (for any reason), you don't want to have to go and touch every printer, accesspoint, copier, etc. For servers, there are certain servers that need to be static, but certainly not all.
Click to expand...

Ok in that sceanario reservations would be better if your equipment had no remote administration capabilities. In the scenario I described static would be better. Small business less that 100 users all in 1 single story building.
 
Even so, there's never a reason to statically assign a printer, access point, or copier, regardless of the size of the network.
 
drebo said:
Even so, there's never a reason to statically assign a printer, access point, or copier, regardless of the size of the network.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree. We lease our Copiers/MFPs, and when the Vendor comes in to install them, their technicians always insist on me giving them an IP that they can statically assign on the device. I've told them dozens of times that they just need to assemble the MFP, plug it in, and tell me the MAC address, and I can handle everything from there. Even after explaining what a Reservation is, they don't seem to grasp the fact that the device will always get the same IP. Them - "But if we set this device to DHCP and it reboots, your user's printers might not work anymore". Me - "DUUURRRRRRR do you have any clue what I just told you?"
 
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