On Sun, Sep 2, 2018 at 10:45 AM, Andrew Lunn <andrew at lunn.ch> wrote:
>> I would amend that to say that the dhcp server usually gives out the same
>> address. Occasionally, most often because of a long machine not on period
>> the address will be different. This occasional changing is why I have
>> considered using static addresses for important items rather than 'fixed'
>> addresses, as you describe just post.
>
> Yes, dhcp servers do try to give out the same IP address when
> dynamically allocating. But it can be annoying when an address does
> change. So you get a more reliable, robust and predictable setup with
> fixed addresses.
>
> I tend to spit the address range in 2. Dynamic is X.X.X.100-255, fixed
> it X.X.X.2-99. OpenWRT makes it easy to give a device a fixed address,
> because it will give a drop-down list of all MAC addresses it knows,
> along with the current assigned IP address.
>
I had dd-wrt on a previous router and that was the split that was used
there as well.

>> I am loath to fiddle with working and necessary equipment so changes
>> will happen when I purchase the second router and a spare.
>
> Ideally, you should be upgrading the OpenWRT installation every so
> often. There are security implications when you don't. Also, over the
> last year or two, buffer bloat workarounds have got a lot better. So
> you can see significant improvements in latency under heavy load with
> newer OpenWRT.
>
>> I like to carry a spare as I'm rural and getting items always seems
>> to be a challenge when there is non-trivial distance and all too
>> often that need happens at very inconvenient times - - - like friday
>> evening or early saturday morning on a holiday long weekend when
>> nothing is too readily available.
>
> It can also be nice having two when doing upgrades. It can be really
> inconvenient when an upgrade fails, and you loose internet access, so
> cannot search for a fix. Generally, you can plug a laptop directly
> into the WAN cable and it will work, but good old RJ-45 Ethernet is
> slowly going the way of the parallel printer port, floppy driver, DB-9
> serial port, on laptops.
>

I couldn't even use the internet if I change my router! My isp needs to be
the one to enter my mac address for the connected equipment. There
was a suggestion that this could be self  administered on-line but I was
abused of the idea by the isp staff.

I think it less than great when for what it would cost for a 300 Mbit service
in urban areas I would be paying more for a 15 Mbit service. The most
irksome is when the isp tries to convince me that I don't 'need' faster
service!

>rant off!

Regards

Dee