Vista grabs first IP in routers range

[Guest]

We have a new laptop with Vista Premium. We used the same account and
password for the other machines. The issue is that in this peer-to-peer
network the Vista machine is taking 192.168.1.101 when there is already a
machine that has been given this IP. I temporarily solved the problem by
giving my other machines (all XP Pro) static IPs. I do not want to give the
laptop a static IP so that it can be used at local hot spots.
Does anyone know why the Vista machine would not just accept the IP given by
the router?
Its a Linksys router (b/g) about a year and a half old. I suppose I might
try updating the firmware, but I think that Vista should just take the IP its
given and play nice.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

We have a new laptop with Vista Premium. We used the same account and
password for the other machines. The issue is that in this peer-to-peer
network the Vista machine is taking 192.168.1.101 when there is already a
machine that has been given this IP. I temporarily solved the problem by
giving my other machines (all XP Pro) static IPs. I do not want to give
the
laptop a static IP so that it can be used at local hot spots.
Does anyone know why the Vista machine would not just accept the IP given
by
the router?
Its a Linksys router (b/g) about a year and a half old. I suppose I might
try updating the firmware, but I think that Vista should just take the IP
its
given and play nice.

Some routers allow you to reserve a specific DHCP assigned IP based on the
client MAC Address. Check the Linksys admin pages. Its possible a firmware
upgrade, if one is available, might add that feature. You could also use
third-party firmware like DD-WRT if your router is supported. DD-WRT calls
this "Static DHCP"...

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Vista also has an alternate address function that will do what you want.
Here is an XP article that describes this...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283676

Lastly a third-party program like NetSwitcher may work for you also...

http://www.netswitcher.com

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Some routers allow you to reserve a specific DHCP assigned IP based on the
client MAC Address. Check the Linksys admin pages. Its possible a firmware
upgrade, if one is available, might add that feature. You could also use
third-party firmware like DD-WRT if your router is supported. DD-WRT calls
this "Static DHCP"...

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Vista also has an alternate address function that will do what you want.
Here is an XP article that describes this...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283676

Lastly a third-party program like NetSwitcher may work for you also...

http://www.netswitcher.com

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

I forgot to add you would need to disable the home router DHCP server and
assign a static IP to your laptop in order to use the alternate function. Of
course this also presents problems if other guest devices want to connect to
your network.

Personally I see no issues using static IP addressing for desktops that
never move and are on a small home network environment. Its basically set it
and forget it. Just make sure the static IPs are outside the range the
routers DHCP server assigns.

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...

 

[Guest]

Thanks Al

I can do the static IP thing for the fixed machines, as you alluded to there
guest devices (WII, DS handheld, Pocket PC etc) and I was concerned that
there may be a collision with the laptop. But the bigger question is why
this is an issue in the first place. If we take this laptop to a hot spot
will it try to do the same thing? There is some kind of bug going on here.

 

[Sooner Al [MVP]]

Thanks Al

I can do the static IP thing for the fixed machines, as you alluded to
there
guest devices (WII, DS handheld, Pocket PC etc) and I was concerned that
there may be a collision with the laptop. But the bigger question is why
this is an issue in the first place. If we take this laptop to a hot spot
will it try to do the same thing? There is some kind of bug going on here.

The DHCP server determines the lease time period. For example the default on
the current Belkin F5D7230-4 router I use is "Forever" but I can also select
time periods of a half-hour, one hour, two hours, half day, one day, two
days, one week or two weeks if I want to. So for example a one hour lease
may be appropriate for a public hotspot while a home user, like myself, will
opt for the default. Your router may or may not allow you to control the
lease period depending on the firmware installed.

--

Al Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking)

Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the
mutual benefit of all of us...
The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights...