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Advanced WiFi 7 Router DHCP and IP Reservation Issues
I have two devices on my network that have long-standing static IP addresses, which correspond with custom entries in the hosts files on each of the Mac/Win/Linux/etc. machines in my home. For the purpose of this discussion, let's suppose these two static IP addresses are 192.168.1.191 and 192.168.1.192, which provide a variety of services on the local network.
Looking through the Advanced Settings in the Advanced WiFi 7 Router, I see no way to modify the DHCP configuration to prevent it from dynamically assigning conflicting IP addresses.
I did notice the IP Reservation feature, but this seems limited to ensuring the current DHCP-assigned addresses is consistently allocated to the same MAC address; it does not allow me to specify which IP address I want assigned to that device.
Perhaps I'm being lazy, but I don't want to work-around this limitation by changing my servers to DHCP, then reserving whatever IP the router decides to assign them, and then updating the hosts files on each of my client machines. That seems like a lot of time and effort for something that is (usually) easily corrected by configuring the router properly.
With this in mind, I have three lines of questioning:
- What is the range of DHCP addresses the Advanced WiFi 7 Router will assign? It seems like the router naturally reserves 192.168.1.1 for itself, but does it allocate all addresses from 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254 for assignment by DHCP? Are there any addresses in the subnet range it will NOT assign which are safe to statically assign to servers or network printers?
- Is it possible to have a user-selected IP address reservation configured in the router by a Charter/Spectrum technician as this is not a function available to me through the Spectrum web site or mobile app?
- Presuming neither of the above is possible, is the "Advanced WiFi 7 Router" intelligent enough to detect and resolve IP address conflicts before assigning a conflicting address to a device requesting a new DHCP lease?
Perhaps I'm spoiled by this fairly common feature/function found on most consumer-grade routers I've owned & operated since they early 2000's.
To be clear, there are things I like about this fancy new Advanced WiFi 7 Router and I appreciate the direction Spectrum is headed by offering remote management & monitoring. Even so, the DHCP and/or IP Reservation features & functions are not quite… "advanced" enough to configure basic DHCP settings—something most routers can (and frankly, should) do.
Comments
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P.S. - Also, it would be nice if the user guide actually documented the default DHCP configuration or the process for using IP Reservations and other Advanced Settings. From what I can tell, it does not.
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If the subnet mask, which you should be able to find via LAN or WLAN adapter TCP/IP settings/parameters on any client device if not the router itself, is 255.255.255.0, then there are 254 IP addresses available and the DHCP pool would typically cover all of them but that of the LAN/router itself.
I'd set up a test-case reservation for any old non-production device and, during the process, see if the last octect of the IP address can be modified right then and there, in any way, prior to ultimately finalizing it or else after the fact via "Manage Existing IP Reservations."
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Hey @CanonicalBacon, welcome to our community and thanks for your questions.
- Yes the whole range of IPs may be used, none are protected. This isn't adjustable.
- We aren't able to designate a specific IP either, you have access to the same options we do.
- If you manually designate IPs directly on devices IP conflicts are possible.
The intended use is to allow the router to assign an IP to everything via DHCP then reserve whatever that IP is. I would recommend considering purchasing your own router if this doesn't meet your needs, it seems like they are far beyond those of a typical home user.
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Thanks for the clarification.
For anyone who may encounter this going forward, here is how I resolved the matter.
First, switching the network printer to DHCP was fairly easy, as I would not have to modify the hosts file on any computers. I did take note of which IP address it was assigned, in case I need to use the printer's web interface to view/modify any settings.
As my network server runs Linux, I modified the TCP/IP configuration to use DHCP but used an approach for requesting the IP address I wanted from the server. This worked well and I'm glad I don't have to change the hosts file on any of my client machines. The DHCP server cooperated with my request for a specific IP address, which should eliminate (or at least, minimize) the possibility of an IP conflict going forward.
That being said, it would be nice if whomever designs/manages the advanced router firmware & features eventually implements the ability to reserve specific IP addresses for a particular MAC address, or the ability to change the range of IP addresses the DHCP server can allocate (e.g., ending the pool at 192.168.1.225, leaving ~28 addresses available for devices that may need a static address).
Again, an update to the technical documentation/user manual about the default DHCP configuration as well as any future enhancements/features would be great as well.
Thank you again for your assistance; take care!
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