I'd like to post an addendum to this post. If you are a die hard geek who just likes to have another service whirring in the background just to watch the wheels spin, then so be it. More power to you. I do that stuff sometimes myself, when I consider it educational. On the other hand, you could get a "Newton's Cradle", or a simple gyroscope (one of my personal favorites) and marvel at the complex wonders of gyroscopic stabilization and angular momentum, or (imho) the holy grail of desk toys, a superconductor demonstration kit for your desk to amaze security guards and get you fired (requires you to bring a thermos full of liquid nitrogen to your desk). ... http://www.can-superconductors.com/products/demonstration-kits/ Yuk it up, Tim ________________________________ From: Tim Bogart To: Main PLUG discussion list Sent: Fri, October 1, 2010 6:52:13 PM Subject: Re: Why do my local network ip addresses keep changing? The original reason for using DHCP (for the MOST part) was limited access to IP addresses. Most people (including network people) had never even heard of NATting or private IP's (10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x). Conservation of IP's was desirable. You could plan on a certain amount of absenteeism from your work force, so 100 people could get away with using 90 or 95 IP addresses. Now we don't need to do that, especially with IPv6 (two additional octets to the right of the ip). Now folks don't have to even deal with DHCP in most circumstances, but do so out of habit. Save yourself the headache of administering DHCP and just go static. I've seen offices of 5 people set up for DHCP by some MCSE (you know what that stands for don't you? Must Consult Someone Experienced!) This is what I call "The ABSOLUTE ZENITH of ABJECT ABSURDITY (running dhcp services for 5 people). It's just another thing to break. So, get rid of it. It's FUN! It's EASY! And it TASTES GOOD TOO!!! (please excuse my lame attempt at humor.) My $0.02 Tim ________________________________ From: Eric Shubert To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us Sent: Fri, October 1, 2010 6:19:26 PM Subject: Re: Why do my local network ip addresses keep changing? Stephen wrote: > you have two options either use static assignments in whatever you use > to assign DHCP so it will always give Mac address X Ip Y This is the method I prefer. I call this a 'fixed' address (as does IPCop), as DHCP is still used to obtain an address, routing and DNS information (so it's not what's commonly referred to as 'static', which is configured on each computer), but each computer ends up with a fixed, or unchanging, address. The way this is done is by modifying the DHCP server's settings. Some DHCP server's configuration settings (web pages) allow this feature to be used, and some do not allow for it. It all depends on the router (assuming here that your router is also your DHCP server) you are using. In your router's configuration (web pages), look for the DHCP Server settings. If you can find a place for specifying fixed leases (a MAC address and IP address together), this is where you'll add each computer's MAC address, along with the corresponding IP address you want assigned. If your router doesn't allow for fixed leases, you'll need to configure each computer individually, giving each one a static IP address, along with gateway and DNS addresses. The gateway address is the address of your router. Your DNS addresses will be assigned by your ISP, and should be obtainable from your router's configuration. Look at the WAN interface status/configuration for DNS addresses. These addresses will be the same for all your computers, as well as your router. If you have difficulties, please post the make/model of your router (or better yet a link to the user manual for it), and we can help you out. HTH. > or to > configure your devices with static IP's > > This is the nature of DHCP and it works they way by design. > > 3rd alternative is to set a DHCP lease so effing long that it > essentially never expires. but i am a larger fan of DHCP assignments. > > On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 5:04 PM, wrote: >> I have four computers on my local network, 3 of which access by wireless. >> While most will go along working fine for a while, occasionally the ip >> number changes on some of them. >> >> Why does that happen and is there any way to prevent that or to be able to >> reset the ip# back to what it was? >> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > > > -- -Eric 'shubes' --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss