Fixed IP Address for switch

Not at all. Although I have just because its easy to find on the network, not that I have had any cause to ever log onto it.

Can't think why you'd need to do that. I suppose you could if you wanted to.

Whether it's beneficial or not, I cannot say, but it's certainly not necessary. The only items I gave a fixed IP address are the NDS and the NS01 and TBH I can't recall why I did that now!

If its a managed switch of reasonably modern vintage you can set an IP for it. I suppose in big networks it would be essential. The netgear I have is stackable, you could imagine an issue if there were 30 in a building.

But as I say unless you are a wizard then the management side is really best left alone really. I managed to tip my network over by turning on jumbo frames, a mistake I wont make again.

Off topic I know, but can someone please explain why you would give anything a fixed IP address? I have a lot of devices on my network,  which is rock solid,  and none of them have a fixed address, should they?

If I remember right Meerkat has a Netgear GS208 & that is a simple unmanaged device

I'm surprised his Sky router actually "sees" it,  & no it does not have any IP capability

dayjay - if DHCP works for you - as it should - stay that way

I don't have static (fixed) IP on my NDX & NAS, but I also don't have full blown static IP addresses either.  On my BT HH - the device that manages DHCP & IP Addresses - I have set a new IP Address number for the NDX & NAS to be "reserved" to each of their MAC addresses. This is done on the broadband hub only & both NDX & NAS need to to be rebooted to lock into their new IP Addresses.  It makes for a more secure & unchanging connection path.  

Dayjay, one reason for using a fixed IP address would be if the device issuing DHCP numbers forgets them after a power off.  Not so common now. Fixed IPs require more management in a home environment.

Thanks guys, often wondered because mine seems to work very well without it

Hi Meerkat,  mine is HH4,  used to have a HH3 (yuk)   but its was the same I think

My understanding is .....  a puka static IP is a user selected number thats outside the ISP's  allocated IP Address numbers list & the user sets a new number at both hub/router & each LAN device. 

The "reserved" is when the router (in BT case in Advanced settings) "Always use this IP address = YES" against each device's MAC address.

I have changed the BT assigned IP's that ended with 60 & 70 something to end with 200, 201 & 202 for NDX, NAS & iPad, my new numbers are within the DHCP pre-assigned IP Addresses which in my case go up to .254.      

Then I rebooted each device & that changes each to the new BT HH "reserved" IP numbers.  

Meerkat,

It's a bit late but here goes.....

Static addresses are particularly useful in two particular scenarios (probably more) that immediately spring to mind:

1. Take your NAS box, if you want to browse to it with any standard web browser for admin then you will either need to know it's IP address or it's host name will have to be resolved by DNS or some other means before you can browse to it. If you give it a static address then you can browse to the same address everytime and not need worry about host name resolution or finding out its addrss each time.

2. If you want to have access restrictions within your network e.g. some sort of network rule that says only this IP address can talk to this IP address then again static addresses are the way to go (well at least for those devices). 

I generally give static addresses to devices that are fixed and use dynamic for mobile devices e.g. laptops/mobiles etc.

Meerkat, only managed switches have thier own IP addresses, they are called loop back addresses.. Because of the nature of switches, just giving the switch an IP address is not neccessarily straightforward.

However your switch will have network addresses, otherwise known as MAC addresses. Your Sky router might be reading from its ARP table and be reporting back on network addresses with no IP addresses, hence 'unknown'. Not very useful for the casual user.

If you do have a managed switch and you have assigned which port/VLAN it's on then you can set the IP address statically or dynamically such as with DHCP. Clearly OTT for most home users.

Simon

Mike an ISP will have allocated IP addresses that it assigns to your broadband router. These can be static, that is you have a fixed IP address, or dynamic, that is each time your broadband router is power cycled or re syncs you get a new IP address.

These addresses are public IP addresses on the Internet and in Europe are managed by RIPE.

This should not be confused with your private addresses for your home LAN or commercial enterprise intranet. These are a tiny range of special non unique addresses that can't be used on the Internet,  .. These are so called class a, b or c address ranges. 192.168.X.X / 28 is an example of a private class c IP network address range.

it is up to you how you assign addresses on your private address space, but typically at home the broadband router will take top or bottom address in the subnet range and use DHCP to assign other addresses. 

You can also fix an IP address and manage the addresses yourself. For a small network that doesn't change much this can be fine. As you say you can also mix and match by ensuring the ranges or 'scopes' don't overlap.

However I always recommend DHCP. You can tell DHCP to assign the same IP address to a specific network frame address/MAC so it is effectively a static address whilst connected to that router. This is good practice if you need a static address on a changing LAN.

Simon

Thats exactly what I have Simon & its been that way since my first forays into home networking in April/May as for reasons only known to the almighty - BT didn't have a clue - I was getting constantly changing DCHP numbers.  

It was annoying that the Naim & nStream at that time had discovery issues with these constant changes, whereas the PC & both laptop's didn't.  Although it only took a few moments to re-discover, its was annoying & my fix was simple 

Mike, glad you got it sorted.. Yep those consumer support call centres are not always the best when you go off piste.

However fixing IP addresses is only papering over some of the cracks if there are discovery issues (bugs in clients or network components).. It is best to get that sorted so you don't inadvertently run into issues when the next new 'thing' comes along.

Simon

I think the papered cracks were fixed when I had the BT engineer visit Simon

After numbers of months,  most all prior to the arrival of NDX in April,  I insisted on a man with a tool box - or I was leaving BT. 

He proclaimed my HH3 to be #### & replaced it - it had got seriously cooked when I tried to use it as a switch between NAS-NDX,  but he also found (in 5 minutes) the real problem of an intermittent connection at the exchange  - like you say the call centre's are not the best.

However I have no reason to reset the NDX & NAS back to DHCP,  it ain't broke etc 

Chris, yep I have my NAS fixed, that way Naim playlists are still playable after a power cycle. But I do have my DHCP enabled router provide it against it's MAC address.

I agree with 'Mike if it's not broke don't break it  

But I have too many expieriences over the years of changing equipment on a  LAN with locally fixed IP addresses which can become a real ball ache when I change things such as subnets or routers... And i have had to do factory resets and/or set up temporary networks before now for devices to respond back to me... DHCP or other  address assignment methods avoids this.

Simon

Same here.....fixed IP only for NAS (I seem to recall that this was a necessity for smooth UnitiServe operation), and all works fine.  Also just upgraded to HH5 (as part of getting infinity) from my Billion Bipac 7800n - with no ill effects!

Reading helpful (with detailed complexity) threads like this though, may partially explain why the 'Turntable community' finds it easy to poke fun at the 'Streaming community'!  

ATB.  George.

I do the same -- I ask my home router to reserve a 'fixed' ip address for my uServe and my nas, within the DHCP settings.  Works just fine.

Your switch shows up on PC's etc. as newer ones probably respond to uPnP/SSDP discovery protocols.

Unless it's a managed switch you can't assign an IP even if you wanted to. 

Quite a few broadband routers need uPnP enabled to in theory allow automatic configuration of port mapping through their firewall facility for some applications to work. 

There's not much you can do on an unmanaged switch to turn it off. Turning uPnP off on your router might cause some things to break, but that depends on what you use and your personal paranoia levels