Nighthawk M1 IP addresses - allow both dynamic and static

[UK-based]

The Nighthawk M1 network IP address setup currently allows either dynamic DHCP address assignment within a specified range or fully manual assignment of static IP addresses to wired or WiFi connected devices. However, it's not currently possible to enable DHCP addressing within a specified range together with some additional manually specified static IP addresses. This is a problem where some devices in the network need static addresses, such as printers, but where automated dynamic addressing is needed for "visiting" devices on the network. I currently have DHCP enabled in my M1 but this means that when my networked printer is powered up it's often allocated a different IP address, so to print from a networked PC I first have to access the browser interface to the M1 to find the IP address and then go into the PC's control panel to modify the address in the printer port setting.

Could the firmware / interface be modified so that DHCP can be enabled but at the same time allow some static IP addresses to be specified for printers, etc. so that they can always be located by other networked devices?

If anyone else feels this would be a beneficial feature, please add your comments. The mobile network provider that supplied the M1 to me is EE in the UK (there's no option to specify MR1100EE¦Nighthawk LTE Mobile Hotspot Router (UK) in this post) but I guess that the US and Australian firmware also has this "either/or" limitation with the dynamic and static IP addressing.

[UK-based]

I've just found out that the Netgear support staff keep an eye on posts that have a high Kudos rating, so if you'd like your Nighthawk M1 to be able to give fixed IP addresses to printers (so that you can easily print to them) and other gear while still having DHCP automated IP address allocation for other devices, including visitors' equipment, please hit the Kudos button - thanks

[UK-based]

I'm still hoping that this feature will be implemented in the next firmware release. Surely it wouldn't require a great deal of programming. As explained above, my Ethernet-connected printer is currently issued a new IP address every day by my MR1100 (I turn off the access point at night, into which the printer is connected by Ethernet cable, but the printer remains on in sleep mode), so I first have to find out what that address is by either logging into my access point or the MR1100 and then I have to go into my PC's printer settings and configure the printer port with the new IP address. This is a real hassle every day, even if I only want to print a single sheet.

I'd be grateful if a Netgear Moderator would tell me if the implementation of this can be prioritised. @JasonN perhaps you could help in this?

[JasonN]

Hi UK-based,

I'll forward this to my internal team and see what they want to do with this idea. :]

Thank you for the suggestion!

- Jason N

[UK-based]

Thanks again JasonN! You're doing a great job .

[JasonN]

No problem! Thank you for appreciating my help! :]

- Jason N

[JSchnee21]

Just to say, you can always mix and match static and dynamic IP's within a subnet.  Just be sure the static you grab (and manually config on your printer) is outside of the Dynamic address range assigned by the routers DHCP service and is not yet claimed by any other of your static devices.  Keep in mind, name resolution (DNS/WINS) may or may not work if you do this depending on the setup as some routers only support name resolution for the devices they've leased IP's to.  So you when you configure your network printer driver, rather than using the printer name, use the static IP you assigned.

Once you set everything up.  Just be sure you can ping your printer first with its static IP (from the command prompt, ping ex 192.168.1.150 (or whatever) IP you configed on your printer.  Then reconfig or reinstall your printer driver or windows "printer port" to point to that IP. 

I do this routinely with the  Actiontec router I have from Verizon FIOS.  I have a number of static devices (printers, cameras, Wireless AP's, etc.) outside of the DHCP lease range.  It works great.

-Jonathan 

[UK-based]

@JSchnee21: Thanks very much Jonathan for explaining this static IP address allocation in such detail. I must admit I hadn't explored the possibility of setting a static IP address in the printer's interface. I've just found an online manual that explains how to access the printer's web interface and have successfully set it up as you suggested. The M1 no longer lists it as being present on the LAN, I guess because the DNS/WINS name resolution only works for devices the M1 has leased IP's to, as you explained below. However, it's easy to set up the static printer port number in Windows-based devices.

It would still be nice to have the option to set static IP addresses, while simultaneously providing a DHCP range in the M1. This would keep IP address allocation in one place and would also allow all devices on the LAN/WiFi to be seen. So although your kind reply has solved my problem, I'll leave this thread open in the hope that the feature will be added to the M1 in future.

[JSchnee21]

My pleasure,

Just some details to keep in mind for you and others who try this.  When you set the static IP on your printer or other device, be sure to set the Subnet Mast to 255.255.255.0 (in a home networking environment) and set the gateway to the IP address of your router.  In this case the MR1100 which would likely be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 unless you've changed it.

For routers which support static and dynamic leasing, the way I've typically seen this accomplished in the router interface is that one can manually assign IP addresses to specific MAC addresses.  In this way the "static IP client" still uses DHCP to lease an IP from the router, but the router looks in the static MAC to IP lookup table and re-assigns the same IP everytime to this MAC address.  Recall for those who may not know that each and every network interface manufactured has a unique hardware address called the MAC address.  These take the form of (for example) 00:00:00:a1:2b:cc

https://kb.netgear.com/1005/How-to-find-a-MAC-address

Happy networking (-:

-Jonathan

[UK-based]

All very useful, well-explained information for the Community, Jonathan. Thank you again.

P.S. there's a minor typo in "set the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0"