Network Printers and Static IP's

[n2ize]

Hello,

I have a Hewlett Packard B209 wireless networked printer. Basically it stands alone on the local network and is tied in to the network via one of our wireless access points.

When the printer is turned on it automatically grabs an IP address on the network via DHCP. While this tends to work fine it sometimes creates issues for some devices if/when the lease expires and/or the ip number changes.

What I am looking for is a way to set a static IP address for the printer. I went through the entire setup on the printer and cannot see any means to set a static IP address or hostname on the printer. Does anyone have any idea how this can be done ?

Another alternative would be to make sure DHCP always assigns the same ip addy to the printer. Anyone know how to set it up to give the same addy to a specific device ?

Any help is appreciated.

[WØTKX]

Yes, either approach will work, but depending on how you are doing things in your network, there might be a "better" way.

Maybe change the DHCP "lease" to a permanent one for the printer?

The HP network printers in the "BIZ" world used to let you log in remotely and change settings, or from the front panel... and assign a permanent IP there. So did those silly Lexmarks. You know, crude stuff like Telnet.

Is it a router or a PC (server) running the DHCP service?

[KC2UGV]

I was about to say the same thing: Set up a static lease for the printer.

But, the steps to putting a static IP address differ from make and model. The owner's manual (Or CD) should be able to tell you how to do it. Or, at least, how to get into the control interface (Web page) and you should be able to fumble your way through it.

[WØTKX]

That's the rub, finding the best implementation for the "standard" equipment using "network standards".

Years ago when I did the MCSE (NT Daze) bootcamp, and the instructor asked before the TCP/IP portion.... "Who here has Unix experience? Please stand up, it's OK".

About half of us stood up, going RUTROH!

"Now repeat after me: OOOOOMMMMMM Be Like Bill Gates".

That was a fun class.

:rofl:

[KC2UGV]

This is easier: What's the model of your wireless router?

[kd7eir]

I agree with KC2UGV - the best way to accomplish this is to have your wireless router assign the static IP to the printer. That should take all of about 2 minutes to accomplish.

[n2ize]

The wireless printer and all the computers and workstations are on a hard wired subnet that comes off the main Verizon wireless router. The IP adresses on that subnet are in the 192.168.2.x range. All the desktop machines are hard wired into that subnet via a hard wired ethernet hub and have static ip's. For example this machine is always 192.168.2.3 on this subnet. Wireless laptops, mobile devices, visiting iPods, etc. are assigned dynamic addresses on the subnet via DHCP. Wireless access on the subnet is provided by a wireless access point. All services, servers, and routing , including DHCP on the subnet are provided via a Linux box. It is that Linux box that supplies the DHCP service. So, for example the printer is assigned a dynamic ip addy something like 192.168.1.177.

The DHCP service is the standard one that comes bundled with most Linux distro's.
So, what you are saying is that all I need to do is to tell the DHCP service to supply that printer with a static IP ? I assume that parameter can be specified in the dhcp.conf file ?
If so then what exactly do I need to add to that file. I presume it must be something where I tell the DHCP server to reserve a specific IP number for a specific MAC address, which in this case would be the printer ?

[KC2UGV]

       host {host name you want the server assigned} {
               hardware ethernet {MAC Address of Print Server};
               fixed-address {IP You want assigned};
       }

Add this to dhcpd.conf, bounce dhcp, and you should be good to go (Not sure if the bounce is needed, but why not).

http://www.linuxselfhelp.com/quick/dhcp.html

[n2ize]

Okay thank,s. I'll give it a try.

[N1LAF]

John, I found this:

From the printer's web page,

1. Select the Networking tab, then Wireless 802.11, then IPv4 Configuration.
2. Select Manual IP and enter a manual IP address for your printer. Enter the existing IP address of the printer but change the last group to the value 172. For example, if the printer's IP address was 192.168.1.12, then select 192.168.1.172 for the static IP address.
3. Enter a value of 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask.
4. For the default gateway and DNS servers, leave these blank..
5. Select Apply.