Static IP questions...

[shadowfax0]

We just got a new iMac, and I'd like to hook it up to the PC we have in another room over our wireless network. So far it's been great; I added a network place on the PC and I can transfer files from the iMac to the PC. I also set it up the other way around. However, the problem being that the IP addresses change everytime you restart the computer, so therefor the Network Place never stays the same and it's hard to change in Windows, etc. Anyhow, I'd like to set static IP addresses, so in the System Prefs of OS X I selected 'Using DHCP with manual IP address' which is just what I want, the only problem being that when I select that the router (a Linksys) refuses to recognize the computer and I can't get on the internet, and as for the PC I'm up the creek on how to do this (Window$ XP Home) Any ideas?

 

[peterjhill]

You need to make sure that the subnet masks are the same and that the ip is not duplicated on the network. With two computers on the network, I don't see why you are getting a different ip address. dhcp is supposed to try to give you the same ip address if it is available before giving you another one.

Also, of course, you need to make sure that the address you are statically giving it is in the network range for the ip address / subnet mask of the router and windows box.

Do this: open terminal.app while dhcp is configured to set up everything then type in

ifconfig -a

then paste the output and i will be glad to decode it for you.

 

[benixau]

do you use a router or is it a computer to computer exchange??

if you use a router then the settings are router based. if you go puter to puter then you shlouldn't be having these problems, especially if you sleep the mac.

 

[kibit]

Static IP

On the other hand, you could just set up the network to have static IPs. On the router, turn off the DHCP and give it a static IP address of 192.168.0.1 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0. Give the Mac a manual IP address of 192.168.0.2 with the same subnet, use the router's IP address for your router and gateway settings. Also set up your Windows XP the same way, with a static IP of 192.168.0.3 also set its subnet the same and gateway and DNS settings to point to the router. It shouldn't give you any problems then. Works for me

 

[peterjhill]

I am assuming that both computer want to talk to the router and each other. This is based on the desire for all computer to be able to get to the Internet. Unless you are running multiple subnets on your router with multiple interfaces, or private vlans, then it is simple

if
computer A | router
and
computer B | router
then
computer A | computer B
where | means "can talk to"

 

[peterjhill]

you could even edit your /etc/hosts file

the format is like this:


192.168.1.1 myrouter.local.
192.168.1.2 mymac.local.
192.168.1.3 mypc.local.


you could then on your mac connect to:

smb://mypc.local/someshare under connect to server (assuming you had a share named someshare

You could even copy this file to your pc and in the tcp/ip settings i think there is a way to point it at the file for host resolution. this is how they did dns before dns.

A quick google turned this up:
http://practice.chatserve.com/host.html

 

[shadowfax0]

this is all through a Linksys wireless router with DHCP. I was thinking of simply turning DHCP off and assigning IP addresses, which would work OK, but what happens when a new computer is introduced into the house? (My dad brings his laptop in all the time, so it's not always here, same with my mom's and brother's laptops (PCs and Macs), would those be assigned IP addresses automatically, if it would that would be preferable) That's why I'm so intrigued by this 'DHCP with manual IP address' because that's just what I want: DHCP with one or two static IP addresses, not fully static, not fully dynamic, but a little of both Is that possible at all? (sorry if I someone may have answered this I just leafed through the other postings, but thanks for the feedback!!)