Ran DD-WRT on mine, circa 2010 turned it into a wireless client/bridge, making an Ethernet-only Zonet 480p IP cam wireless!
DHCP or static?
- Thread starter EDCK
- Start date
That’s why DHCP Reservation based on MAC addressing was created.
This is one of the reasons why I dumped my traditional router and went with pfSense. I like to use DHCP on the device but set up a reserved ip address in the router (DHCP Static Mapping). I found that even with a high-end consumer router, they simply did not have enough 'memory' to hold all of my reservations. I ended up buying a Protectli 6-port, which has worked great for the past 4 years. I actually have (4) physical networks, no vlans (1 secure lan, 1 secure wifi, and a 'dirty' lan and 'dirty' wifi for my iot devices)
mat200
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Lol thought the dirty lan was for the kids
In case someone needs this and doesn't know about it:
www.dhcpserver.de
A portable DHCP server for windows, great for running alongside BI or whatever Windows VMS you happen to use. Saves the configuration on a plain text file. Easy to administer, configure and backup.
DHCP Server for Windows
www.dhcpserver.de
A portable DHCP server for windows, great for running alongside BI or whatever Windows VMS you happen to use. Saves the configuration on a plain text file. Easy to administer, configure and backup.
The Automation Guy
Known around here
I too use DHCP with reserved static addresses assigned. I find this to the be best of both worlds. My individual devices are set up for DHCP, so if there was ever a networking issue, or I had a need to bench test a device or other similar situations, I would be able to connect to the device without any problems even if the "local network" I used for that purpose was different than my regular network scheme. However the router will assign the same reserved IP address anytime that device comes onto the normal network. This gives me the consistency of a static IP address so that managing those devices is easier (via network GUIs) as well as insuring that my camera feeds in BI and other home automation functions/systems still work reliably even if the network gets reset (power outage, router software update, etc).
You obviously don't need to reserve addresses for every device however. There are plenty of devices (like mobile devices) that only need to be on the network but don't need to be accessed by other devices on the network and therefore don't need a reserved address. Furthermore, mobile devices likely to be replaced more frequently than any other devices, so there is no need to add "extra work" by assigning reserved addresses for them. Even still, I have over 100 reserved addresses assigned in my pfSense software spread out across multiple VLANs.
You obviously don't need to reserve addresses for every device however. There are plenty of devices (like mobile devices) that only need to be on the network but don't need to be accessed by other devices on the network and therefore don't need a reserved address. Furthermore, mobile devices likely to be replaced more frequently than any other devices, so there is no need to add "extra work" by assigning reserved addresses for them. Even still, I have over 100 reserved addresses assigned in my pfSense software spread out across multiple VLANs.
Last edited:
Binod Bhandari
n3wb
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Stick with static IPs if you're comfortable with them and already have a system to track them. If you're okay with managing by MAC addresses, DHCP could offer more flexibility.
In a small home (flat network) Static Addressing is fine so long as you have a working schema. If not, the vast majority of network related issues due to IP Address Conflicts.
Using DHCP MAC Reservation as the other member noted allows changes on the fly without conflict, impact, or on-site configuration.
In a simple home networking environment that’s not much of a problem. As you break more than fifty network devices - mistakes and conflicts will arise.
Other things to keep in mind as it relates to DHCP is to define the lease time to an appropriate interval.
As with any network appliance it’s imperative to test, validate, and document how each device behaves when the DHCP Lease is released / renewed.
You’ll be very surprised to see how many devices are none conform-ant in accepting a new IP Address due to shitty firmware!
Using DHCP MAC Reservation as the other member noted allows changes on the fly without conflict, impact, or on-site configuration.
In a simple home networking environment that’s not much of a problem. As you break more than fifty network devices - mistakes and conflicts will arise.
Other things to keep in mind as it relates to DHCP is to define the lease time to an appropriate interval.
As with any network appliance it’s imperative to test, validate, and document how each device behaves when the DHCP Lease is released / renewed.
You’ll be very surprised to see how many devices are none conform-ant in accepting a new IP Address due to shitty firmware!
herpderpdederp
n3wb
Static IP Addresses + Local DNS Server(s) for local hostname resolution