ORBI RBR50 not honoring reserved IP addresses

[grify]

ORBI RBR 50 running 2.3.5.30

I have configured a reserved IP for my Raspberry Pi which is a server, but every reboot, the IP address of the raspberry pi changes

the mac address isn't the problem

attached image (I've seen some issues with embedded images, so it is also here: <img src="imghost1--grify.repl.co/aborbireserved.png">)

[michaelkenward]

Reserved on the Orbi or on the Pi?

[grify]

I need to give the raspberry pi a reserved address

[CrimpOn]

One of my Raspberry Pi's was changing MAC addresses on the WiFi adapter every time it rebooted.  Turns out there is a "feature" built into one of the Pi networking apps to "randomise" the MAC address.  I Googled the heck out of this and eventually found a method to force the Pi to "stop this dammit".  (I later decided that loading whatever software package did this was a mistake, so I downloaded a fresh copy of Pi, burned it to an SD Card, and now my Pi no longer randomizes the MAC address..)

Assigned IP's on the Orbi are by MAC address.  When your Pi has a new IP, does it still have the same IP as before?

[grify]

Yes, it keeps the same public IP, only the private IP changes.

Which raspberry pi and what OS did this occur on in your instance?

[CrimpOn]

I observed this on a Pi 4 after I loaded a complicated home automation package that I later decided, "Who NEEDS this?" and gave up  on it.

Google searches showed that one of the modules that package loaded was causing the MAC address to change randomly every time the Pi restarted.  When I went back to the stock Pi image, that stopped.  (The Google searches did turn up methods to prevent it, but I no longer need them.)

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@grify wrote:

Yes, it keeps the same public IP, only the private IP changes.

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I do not understand this.  The Orbi assigns only private IP's to devices within the LAN. A Raspberry Pi that is connected to the Orbi should never have a "public IP".  What am I not understanding?

[michaelkenward]

Is there no way to fix the IP address on the Pi thing?

Some people here insist that there is no need to tell the router to reserve an IP address if the device concerned, your Pi, can also claim an IP address.

My strategy is to fix the IP address on the networked devices – printers, NAS etc – and then to reserve those addresses on the router.

This usually provokes howls of derision and scorn telling me that I am doing it all wrong and that this two-stage process is not needed if the device reserves an IP address for itself.

Then again, that is not for devices that like to change their Mac address.

[CrimpOn]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

Is there no way to fix the IP address on the Pi thing?

Yes, when I Googled "Pi changing MAC address", I found links to the specific module that was causing the change, which was supposed to be a "good thing" because it provided a weird sense of security.  The module had been loaded when I installed a home automation package. There was a work-around, which did work.  But I later decided to reflash my Pi SD Card and the problem "went away."

Some people here insist that there is no need to tell the router to reserve an IP address if the device concerned, your Pi, can also claim an IP address.

My strategy is to fix the IP address on the networked devices – printers, NAS etc – and then to reserve those addresses on the router.

This usually provokes howls of derision and scorn telling me that I am doing it all wrong and that this two-stage process is not needed if the device reserves an IP address for itself.

There's a difference between "not needed" and "can't hurt".  Sort of like "belt and suspenders".  I like to keep a record of the device each IP is assigned to.  The LAN Setup table is as good a place as any.

Then again, that is not for devices that like to change their Mac address.

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[grify]

I would love to know the method that you used which stopped the Raspberry Pi from randomizing its MAC address

[grify]

Also apparently, my Raspberry Pi's MAC address *doesn't* appear to change when I restart it.

That confuses me.

Is it the router or raspberry pi's problem, and how can I go about fixing it?

Thanks for your help!

[CrimpOn]

I believe that the problem that I had was a module called "Network Manager" that got installed along with a home automation package.

One way that is suggested to fix that is here: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=196348&start=25#p1524581 

This is definitely the Pi, not the Orbi.

MY advice is to Google "Raspberry Pi MAC address keeps changing".  There will be tons of hits and one of the solutions should match your situation.

Sorry I did not keep better notes.  Once I reflashed my Pi, the problem went away and my memory faded.

[grify]

There doesn't appear to be a etc/NetworkManager

I'm going to test another reboot to confirm if the MAC address is actually changing.

Pre-reboot of router and pi:

(according to OrbiLogin.com basic Attached Devices)

connected to orbi Orbi Satellite-1 (B0:39:56:7C:A1:AD)

Wired

MAC Address is B8:27:EB:AD:4A:6B

IP is 192.168.1.10

Post-reboot of router and pi:

Orbi Satellite-1
B0:39:56:7C:A1:AD

Wired

B8:27:EB:AD:4A:6B

IP is 192.168.1.14

[grify]

According to the Attached Devices page, the IP was changed (from .10 to .14) despite the fact that the MAC remained as 

B8:27:EB:AD:4A:6B

[CrimpOn]

A solution to this issue eludes me.  Given that the Orbi has an IP address assigned to this MAC address in the LAN Setup table (Advanced Tab, Setup), it should get the same IP address every time.  Provided, of course, that there was not a different computer already using that IP address when the DHCP request came in..

Maybe it is time to capture the DHCP packets that are passing between the Pi and the Orbi.  One way to do this is to go into the Orbi "debug" screen, Enable LAN/WAN Packet Capture, then click on Start Capture:

Then power up the Pi, check which MAC and IP it gets.

Do a restart & check again.

Do this a couple of more times.

Then go back to the debug page and "Save Debug Log".  This will put a zip file on whatever computer you are managing the Orbi from.

The zip file has LOTS of stuff in it.  Unzip it and then use Wireshark (or something like it) to open the LAN file.

Filter the output on "DHCP" and it should show all the interactions between the Pi and the Orbi.

[grify]

I can't find the Orbi "Debug"

[grify]

I just need to enable websocket traffic on ports 25517 and 25317 to my raspberry pi

[michaelkenward]

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@grify wrote:

I can't find the Orbi "Debug"

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Go to the address you use to get at the browser graphical user interface (GUI).

Turn it into

http://{url}/debug.htm