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ecolucci's avatar
Sep 10, 2023
Solved

Nighthawk CAX30S LAN Configuration

I have a Netgear Nighthawk CAX30S that I am beginning to configure.  In the Attached Devices section, I see a wired device that automatically was assigned an IP address of 192.168.1.2 before I even began to configure anything.  This address appears to be assigned as a static IP I assume by the router itself since I did not do it.  To what device does this address apply?

  • For what it’s worth, I worked out the source of my trouble: an addled brain…. A large part of my confusion is that my tablet and iPod are in fact using two MAC addresses thanks to a privacy feature called Private Wi-Fi Address, which either is turned on by default and went unnoticed by me, or I turned it on when I first got those two devices and then promptly forgot all about that feature. This means the Attached Devices list is correct, and my “need” for adding the “correct devices” as reserved addresses in the DHCP pool to “force” my router to recognize those devices never existed so I deleted them. My LAN configuration is clean now with everything working as it should--with the possible exception of my brain….

15 Replies


  • ecolucci wrote:

    In the Attached Devices section, I see a wired device that automatically was assigned an IP address of 192.168.1.2 before I even began to configure anything.  This address appears to be assigned as a static IP I assume by the router itself since I did not do it.  To what device does this address apply?


    What else is connected to the router? Your PC?

     

    Why do you think it is a "static" IP address. The modem/router doesn't control those.

     

    It does allow you to make an "Address Reservation" but that is something else.

     

    It is down to the devices you connect to assign their own "fixed" IP addresses. Do you have anything set up like that?

     

    Maybe what you see is a feature of the fact that the CAX30S is a cable modem/router.

     

    While many questions about routers are generic and could be answered anywhere, some things need specialist knowledge.

    You might get more help, and find earlier questions and answers specific to your device, in the appropriate section for your hardware. That's probably here:


    Cable Modems & Gateways - NETGEAR Communities

    You might like to search there for messages related to your problem.

    I will ask the Netgear moderator to move your message.

    In the meantime you could visit the support pages:

    Support | NETGEAR

    Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware. Look at the label on the device for the model number.

    Check for various troubleshooting tips.

    You may have done this already. I can't tell from your message.

    I mention it because Netgear stopped supplying printed manuals and CD versions some years ago and people sometimes miss the downloads.

     

     

     

    • ecolucci's avatar
      ecolucci
      Tutor

      I will try to address your questions in sequence.  You write, "What else is connected to the router?"  Yes, my computer also was attached at the time, but it was assigned a different IP.
       
      "Why do you think it is a "static" IP address."  Because there was nothing else attached initially.  All other devices either were off-network or offline (powered off) at the time.
       
      "The modem/router doesn't control those....It is down to the devices you connect to assign their own "fixed" IP addresses."  I do know the difference between statically and dynamically assigned IPs.  Actually, the devices themselves (computer, smart phone, printer, etc.) do not assign their own IPs; this is something that generally is done manually by a human.  The fact that before I configured any such IPs on any of my devices an attached wired device with IP 192.168.1.2 appeared in the list made me "suspicious."
       
      "Maybe what you see is a feature of the fact that the CAX30S is a cable modem/router."  This is my suspicion, but I am not certain since previous modem-routers were not configured in this manner.  After spending an hour or so searching various posts and threads, I could not locate anything specific to my situation so I started a new topic hoping someone might have the answer.  I did check Netgear technical support but was directed to this community, which is my reason for submitting my question(s) here first.
       
      "Some things need specialist knowledge."  Yes, I think I might need to speak to a Netgear technical-support specialist.  The Netgear CAX manual refers to Ethernet link aggregation as using/requiring static IPs, but link aggregation is something else.  That is not what I am addressing, and link aggregation is turned off in my settings in any event.

      It also is possible that the CAX30S/CAX30 does not support static IPs—unless aggregated—because I since have configured multiple devices with static IPs  and notice that the CAX30 assigned numerous dynamic IPs to various wireless devices that are the same as the IPs that I configured statically to some of my wired devices. That is, I now have certain wired and wireless devices using the same IPs on my network, which (obviously) should not happen.

      Thank you for trying. I will attempt to locate a specialist at Netgear to call. There must be a way for me to assign static IPs to certain devices and have the CAX router recognize those static IPs so that the router does not assign those same IPs to other devices and create traffic conflicts.


      • ecolucci wrote:

        There must be a way for me to assign static IPs to certain devices and have the CAX router recognize those static IPs so that the router does not assign those same IPs to other devices and create traffic conflicts.


        If you assign what you call a "static" IP address to a device, then that IP address will show up in the router as an attached device. (It isn't an exclusive use of the "static" term, but that is often used for your WAN IP address, which is why Netgear uses that label when it talks about the settings from your ISP.)

         

        Giving a device an IP address on your network does not make it invisible to the router. It will add it to your table of devices

         

        I see this all the time for the NAS storage and printers on my network.