Setting static IP

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 19:40

If I give my laptop (Win 7 Ultimate) a static IP to work with my home router, I'm assuming this will prevent it working on other connections such as friends & family unless I revert the IP settings to 'Obtain an automatic address'?

BloomerzUK · 11 Oct 2011 at 19:44

Yes and no. If the IP address you set is 'free' on your family/friends network, it should work. If it's not free, it simply won't connect.

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 19:46

I was going to choose a static address such as .10 which is unlikely to be used on the other networks I might find myself on, but would the DNS server address not be different in each location though, thus preventing me connecting anyway unless I revert to automatic addressing?

Deception · 11 Oct 2011 at 20:24

Big Chris said:
I was going to choose a static address such as .10 which is unlikely to be used on the other networks I might find myself on, but would the DNS server address not be different in each location though, thus preventing me connecting anyway unless I revert to automatic addressing?

Aslong as the Gateway is the same on other networks, you can set the DNS to the gateway or just use the google dns servers

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 20:48

Well according the an ipconfig my gateway and DNS address is 192.168.0.1 which I guess would be the same whichever broadband network I'm on? (apologies if that's glaringly stupid but this kinda stuff isn't my strong point!)

TNGL · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:01

Big Chris said:
Well according the an ipconfig my gateway and DNS address is 192.168.0.1 which I guess would be the same whichever broadband network I'm on? (apologies if that's glaringly stupid but this kinda stuff isn't my strong point!)

If you have that as your defualt gateway + DNS, then as long as you're connected to a network with the same default gateway + DNS as that, then you'll be okay, otherwise you'll have to reconfigure it each time you change network.

bremen1874 · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:03

The default IP address (and therefore gateway address) of the router depends on the manufacturer. The most common are:-

192.168.0.1
192.168.0.254
192.168.1.1
192.168.1.254

numatic.nathan · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:07

I set myself a static IP via the router, so on my network I have the same ID for when I'm hosting server software for games and when I go elsewhere I don't have to faff about changing settings

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:45

How do I find my actual DNS address? The guide I've been looking at on PortForward says to check the router status page but I can't see it on there.

numatic.nathan · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:47

in cmd type in: ipconfig /all

Pretty sure that should tell you

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:52

Yeah but it lists it as 192.168.0.1 which is just the router, do I not need to know the actual DNS server address Sky uses? I've been following this guide: PortForward

bremen1874 · 11 Oct 2011 at 21:58

The DNS IPs are normally listed somewhere in the router status pages.

A quick Google comes up with 87.86.189.16 & 87.86.189.17 for Sky.

You could also try using Google's free DNS servers at 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:02

Nice one, cheers. This stuff really goes right over my head, been trying to make sense of it all but it's frying my brain!

So I can just chuck those in as the DNS servers, gateway is the router IP, then my laptop's IP is 192.168.0.x yeah?

I'm most likely to be online at my Olds' house when I drop in to see them, they're not with Sky so it'll be easiest to just revert back to Auto-config when I'm there yeah?

bremen1874 · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:06

Why do you want a static IP in the first place?

As mentioned above you could give yourself a fixed IP by setting up an IP reservation against your MAC address in the router. You could then leave everything on automatic settings.

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:09

bremen1874 said:
Why do you want a static IP in the first place?

As mentioned above you could give yourself a fixed IP by setting up an IP reservation against your MAC address in the router. You could then leave everything on automatic settings.

It's for uTorrent, so I can forward a specific port on my router.

How easy is it to configure that in the router?

bremen1874 · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:13

Big Chris said:
It's for uTorrent, so I can forward a specific port on my router.

How easy is it to configure that in the router?

It will depend on what router you have.

I didn't think you had to open/forward any ports for torrents.

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:16

I think I've found out how to do it in LAN IP Setup > Address Reservations. It lists the devices currently connected and their current IP's & MAC's, and will allow you to reserver them. I take it this means that each time that MAC hits the router, the router will give it the reserved IP?

uTorrent can use random ports, but you can also specify a particular port, then open it in the router config. Again most of the settings in uTorrent go over my head but I've read it can improve speeds

bremen1874 · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:23

Big Chris said:
I think I've found out how to do it in LAN IP Setup > Address Reservations. It lists the devices currently connected and their current IP's & MAC's, and will allow you to reserver them. I take it this means that each time that MAC hits the router, the router will give it the reserved IP?

Yes.

Big Chris · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:35

Christ, does that mean I've actually understood some of this...?!

rexehuk · 11 Oct 2011 at 22:56

Reserve it via the router... much easier.

If you set to no DHCP you'll have to manually plod around the house and configure each machine to manual TCP/IP and enter the details. If a new machine comes onto the network then they need to do the same.

Reservation just ensures the DHCP server dishes out 192.168.0.1 to YOUR machine only.