LinkSys Router and Static Addresses

I have a 2 Linux and 1 Windows machine at home on a network behind a LinkSys
BEFSR41 router. Everytime there is a power outage, or other disruption, all
the IP addresses get reset, and I have to change all the host files,
forwarding, etc.

Is there a way to assign the machines a static address, rather than have the
router act as a DHCP server?

I am not a networking guru, so please don't assume too much knowledge on my
part.

Buck Turgidson wrote:

> I have a 2 Linux and 1 Windows machine at home on a network behind a
> LinkSys
> BEFSR41 router. Everytime there is a power outage, or other disruption,
> all the IP addresses get reset, and I have to change all the host files,
> forwarding, etc.
>
Which files specifically? If dhcp is properly set up, the dhcp protocols
configure all that information(default route, dns servers, etc), not just
the ip. So in normal circumstances, it should not really matter what
particular (reserved)ip the host gets. O.K. your /etc/hosts file would
become outdated, and keeping it updated(if that's really necessary)
whenever the ip changes is a bit complicated.

Another possibility: Put the router alone on an UPC( Uninterruptable Power
Supply).

> Is there a way to assign the machines a static address, rather than have
> the router act as a DHCP server?
>
Yes. Each distro should have some way of manually configuring each
interface with a static ip. Just choose one from the reserved network
pool: 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.0. Choose some network( i.e. 192.168.1.0
or copy the one the Linksys router used) and assign each of your hosts with
a network number of 192.168.1.x where x = a number of your choice from
1-254) . For the Windows PCs, go to Network Properties, uncheck "Obtain Ip
automattically" and just fill in all the boxes, and fill in your router's
ip for your gateway.

George

--
#
#...

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 08:31:17 -0500, Buck Turgidson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have a 2 Linux and 1 Windows machine at home on a network behind a LinkSys
> BEFSR41 router. Everytime there is a power outage, or other disruption, all
> the IP addresses get reset, and I have to change all the host files,
> forwarding, etc.
>
> Is there a way to assign the machines a static address, rather than have the
> router act as a DHCP server?

Yes, just make sure that the static IPs are in the same network, but
outside of the DHCP assigned range. However, when assigning static IPs,
you also need to set gateway and nameservers (/etc/resolv.conf in Linux).

You can get a clue of current settings by checking ifconfig, route -n, and
/etc/resolv.conf in Linux before changing anything. In windows you can
either check settings with Start, Run, winipcfg (Win9x/ME) or 'ipconfig
/all' in a command window of NT,2k,XP. Then check DHCP range of your
Linksys and use a static IP where number after last dot is outside that
range.

Some gateway/routers (like my Dlink DI-704) can actually dhcp assign
static IPs by MAC address, but that may be rare.

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/