How stable are IP addresses: do I need a reserved IP?

[DrMike]

Hi all,

I want to map several drives in my home network because the Windows 10 networking always seems flakey in my hands - resources that are there don't always show up etc. I have found that mapping network drives is far more reliable and actually shows me what is connected.

So here is the question. I can go into my Ignite Modem and SEE the IP address of each of the computers on my network and I can use that to successfully map lots of network resources. How "consistent" are these IP addresses going to be? So, if one of them (the one I'm typing this on for e.g.) is 10.0.0.183, and I use that IP for mapping purposes, is the DHCP function going to change that randomly? So far the IP address connections seem consistent and stable, but I wonder if I should be assigning each of my network PCs a "reserved IP" just in case?

If I do that, can I just use the current IP (say the 10.0.0.183) and make it reserved instead of DHCP or do I need to pick from a whole other set of IP addresses that can be reserved?

*Added Labels*

[ColdGranite]

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@DrMike wrote:

Hi all,

I want to map several drives in my home network because the Windows 10 networking always seems flakey in my hands - resources that are there don't always show up etc. I have found that mapping network drives is far more reliable and actually shows me what is connected.

So here is the question. I can go into my Ignite Modem and SEE the IP address of each of the computers on my network and I can use that to successfully map lots of network resources. How "consistent" are these IP addresses going to be? So, if one of them (the one I'm typing this on for e.g.) is 10.0.0.183, and I use that IP for mapping purposes, is the DHCP function going to change that randomly? So far the IP address connections seem consistent and stable, but I wonder if I should be assigning each of my network PCs a "reserved IP" just in case?

If I do that, can I just use the current IP (say the 10.0.0.183) and make it reserved instead of DHCP or do I need to pick from a whole other set of IP addresses that can be reserved?

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My experience has been that... unless you have a lot of changes happening in your network with new devices, etc... ... the DHCP re-assignment is fairly stable: ie:   the same IPv4 address gets assigned to a device most all of the time.

Having said that, you cannot depend on it.

Note that setting static address with Ignite is weird and not so wonderful.

1.  You can't set a static address through the gateway, or through the wifi hub app.  The modem APPEARS to set it, but it really doesn't and things revert once you exit.

2.  Even if you COULD, the modem insists that you set a reserved ip WITHIN the range that is assigned for DHCP, which sort of defeats the idea of separating your static addresses from your DHCP range.

3. I have a case where the device itself thinks that it is on DHCP in "settings", but the modem says it is a "reserved" IP.  I have not figured that one out yet.

HOWEVER, you CAN set a static address on a device itself, and the modem will recognize it as such, and it CAN be outside of the DHCP range.  I have at least one of those on a network drive, working fine.

[DrMike]

@ColdGranite wrote:

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Note that setting static address with Ignite is weird and not so wonderful.

1.  You can't set a static address through the gateway, or through the wifi hub app.  The modem APPEARS to set it, but it really doesn't and things revert once you exit.

2.  Even if you COULD, the modem insists that you set a reserved ip WITHIN the range that is assigned for DHCP, which sort of defeats the idea of separating your static addresses from your DHCP range.

3. I have a case where the device itself thinks that it is on DHCP in "settings", but the modem says it is a "reserved" IP.  I have not figured that one out yet.

HOWEVER, you CAN set a static address on a device itself, and the modem will recognize it as such, and it CAN be outside of the DHCP range.  I have at least one of those on a network drive, working fine.

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Thanks for this. To be honest, I am not at all concerned if the reserved/static IP is in or out of the DHCP range - I just want it to persist over time so I don't lose all my network interconnections after painstakingly setting them up 🙂

[ColdGranite]

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@DrMike wrote:

@ColdGranite wrote:

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Note that setting static address with Ignite is weird and not so wonderful.

1.  You can't set a static address through the gateway, or through the wifi hub app.  The modem APPEARS to set it, but it really doesn't and things revert once you exit.

2.  Even if you COULD, the modem insists that you set a reserved ip WITHIN the range that is assigned for DHCP, which sort of defeats the idea of separating your static addresses from your DHCP range.

3. I have a case where the device itself thinks that it is on DHCP in "settings", but the modem says it is a "reserved" IP.  I have not figured that one out yet.

HOWEVER, you CAN set a static address on a device itself, and the modem will recognize it as such, and it CAN be outside of the DHCP range.  I have at least one of those on a network drive, working fine.

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Thanks for this. To be honest, I am not at all concerned if the reserved/static IP is in or out of the DHCP range - I just want it to persist over time so I don't lose all my network interconnections after painstakingly setting them up 🙂

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I just noticed that the XB6 gateway supports an infinite DHCP lease length... And the setting has not been taken away... you can set it by logging into your local XB6 gateway (probably http://10.0.0.1 , if you haven't changed it)..

Select connection

select Local ip Network

In the "IPv4" section, at the bottom of it, you will see: "DHCPv4 Lease Time:"  

You can select "forever" from the drop down.

I have not found anything that says there is a downside to selecting "forever".  But remember that the gateway may still renew the lease if it has to... such as, obviously, when it is rebooted.

Interestingly, this is one setting that rogers did not transfer to the "wifihub" app.  You cannot set it there, but you can set it (and it takes), by logging into the gateway itself.

[-G-]

@DrMike  If you increase the DHCP lease time, this will increase the probability that a network client will retain the assigned IP address.  However, it is not guaranteed.  You will also still have to accept the "random" address that a device gets assigned, which is not always ideal.

If a device on your network is providing services to other network clients, you are better off assigning it its own IP address.  You can use a static IP address, which really, REALLY should be outside the DHCP scope/address pool.  You can also assign it a static DHCP lease.  Each approach has its purpose and either one will provide a device with a consistent, well-known IP address.

The other problem is that the device management options in the Ignite WiFi Hub are limited and quirky, and that may also be part of the problem why accessing resources by name may not always work for some network clients.

[Biollw]

Do both. I have my static IPs with several devices (NAS, server, printers)  within the router ip range. Assign the ip at the device and reserve it in the router.

[-G-]

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@Biollw wrote:

Do both. I have my static IPs with several devices (NAS, server, printers)  within the router ip range. Assign the ip at the device and reserve it in the router.

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That is a good way of using a static IP address that is within the DHCP scope.  However, if the device itself does not use DHCP when it connects to the network and register itself with the gateway, it won't be able to take advantage of a unified DNS/DHCP implementation on the gateway, which would otherwise help to make accessing resources on that device by name more reliable.

[-G-]

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@-G- wrote:

The other problem is that the device management options in the Ignite WiFi Hub are limited and quirky, and that may also be part of the problem why accessing resources by name may not always work for some network clients.

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Which also makes the point that I was trying to make (re: the advantages of having a device connect using DHCP vs using a static address) somewhat moot.  🙂

[Biollw]

Then don't forget the DNS entries as well. Static IP address goes hand in hand with static DNS entries. Set the DNS entry to the gateway.

Like most enterprise servers.