I have a setup with a fixed IP address gateway and five static IP's.

everything is configured thusly:

DSL modem and router with 4 ports-Netopia 3346N iirc

two mission critical PC's

another office PC and laptop

network printer-uses an IP address

A couple of switches between several of these computers and the router which I power cycled while trying to reconfigure this mess


I have two issues. I tried to add another laptop to the network and could only get a secondary private IP assigned which didn't give it connectivity. (It hooks up fine to my home router) The router log shows it (laptop) declined an IP address. The router has DHCP enabled with the start and ending IP's in my fixed IP range. It won't let me assign private IP addresses (192.168.x.x).

NAT wasn't enabled until last night but my connection was firewalled and didn't seem to make a difference to anything.
How do I expand my network beyond 5 IP's/computers?

Second issue: the office PC worked fine until a few weeks ago; seemingly for no reason the network connection hiccuped and the only way I could get it back online was to manually configure with one of the static IP's and DNS. I messed with it again last night and had to leave it that way. I'm pretty sure the issue is with this PC as everything else works fine.  It also has a 1394 connection running at 400 mbs in addition to LAN connection which I don't understand. Last night it popped up a message about an IP address conflict on the network while I was messing with things.

Also, why does the router show 4 out of 5 leases even when when I disconnect everything (with the exception of the login computer)  from it and restart it?? How do I get it to release them, or does it matter to anything?

Thanks in advance.

to release ip address > start then run type cmd.  then type ipconfig /release.    then type ipconfig /renew.  and it will get a new ip adress if dhcp is enabled.


have you tried plugging the laptop in the same cable as one of the other systems ON YOUR NETWORK.  not the one at the house?

using my wrt54g router i can limit the number of dhcp users on my LAN, might want to see if that is enabled in the router config.

if you have norton internet security.  or some other software firewall.  it could also be blocking the new ip address.  

when norton and others are first setup.   you setup a trusted zone and unsafe mode. (i don't remember the exact terms.   if you take the pc to a different location.  or say a different ip range.   EX:   192.168.0.100-192.168.0.253  to a 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.253.   it usualy won't let you connect, until you make a rule in the firewall to allow it.  

Quoted: to release ip address > start then run type cmd.  then type ipconfig /release.    then type ipconfig /renew.  and it will get a new ip adress if dhcp is enabled.

I tried that last time I was there and it was already released or expired  

have you tried plugging the laptop in the same cable as one of the other systems ON YOUR NETWORK.  not the one at the house?

Not yet but I will

 

using my wrt54g router i can limit the number of dhcp users on my LAN, might want to see if that is enabled in the router config.

I haven't seen a setting for that and I was there when the install tech configured it.

if you have norton internet security.  or some other software firewall.  it could also be blocking the new ip address.

 It doesn't get used much yet so only windows firewall was enabled. I shut it off to be sure and it didn't make a difference.

when norton and others are first setup.   you setup a trusted zone and unsafe mode. (i don't remember the exact terms.   if you take the pc to a different location.  or say a different ip range.   EX:   192.168.0.100-192.168.0.253  to a 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.253.   it usualy won't let you connect, until you make a rule in the firewall to allow it.

I will dig into this deeper when I have some time, probably saturday.
Thanks alot for your suggestions-Very appreciated

i do what i can

What you could do is use a cheap (netgear/dlink) router and assign each one 1 of your 5 outside addresses.

Put the "inside" addresses in the same subnet (broadcast domain), and hook up the routers together with a switch.

This way each of the inside addresses could communicate within the layer 2 switched network and the layer 3 broadcast domain, as well as get translated out with PAT through the routers.

It's late, but it sounds feasible to be now...

Quoted: What you could do is use a cheap (netgear/dlink) router and assign each one 1 of your 5 outside addresses. Put the "inside" addresses in the same subnet (broadcast domain), and hook up the routers together with a switch. This way each of the inside addresses could communicate within the layer 2 switched network and the layer 3 broadcast domain, as well as get translated out with PAT through the routers. It's late, but it sounds feasible to be now...

The reason for the expansion has temporarily been set aside. However I obviously need to increase my ability to deal with simple challenges. Is there a good online tutorial where I can edumacate myself? I thought most basic networking was plug and play and I don't understand half of the above but again, I appreciate the input.

Probably the best primer to networking and how it works is the non cisco specific portion of the CCNA training.  I believe you can search for "ICND" (Interconnectin Cisco Nework Devices).

It is a very good introduction and explanation of how  networks work at the basic level, without getting too vendor specific.

Quoted: Quoted: What you could do is use a cheap (netgear/dlink) router and assign each one 1 of your 5 outside addresses. Put the "inside" addresses in the same subnet (broadcast domain), and hook up the routers together with a switch. This way each of the inside addresses could communicate within the layer 2 switched network and the layer 3 broadcast domain, as well as get translated out with PAT through the routers. It's late, but it sounds feasible to be now... The reason for the expansion has temporarily been set aside. However I obviously need to increase my ability to deal with simple challenges. Is there a good online tutorial where I can edumacate myself? I thought most basic networking was plug and play and I don't understand half of the above but again, I appreciate the input.