Member Avatar for ex99125b

my wifw and I both have our laptops set up with static IP's on our home wireless network. Our home wireless is a WAP connected to our base network. We both have work hotspots (DHCP) available, and would like the capability of simply choosing a different wireless connection rather than changing the properties of our static IP connection to be a DHCP one.

How do I set up a new separate DHCP wireless network connection and keep the static IP wireless connection available?

XP S2

thanks
ex

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Quick summary: wants to keep the home machines using the same IPs while still being able to roam to DHCP hotspots without editing TCP/IP properties each time. and pointed toward using the router to make the home addresses persistent; since you noted the Linksys BEFSR41 doesn’t offer that, below are practical alternatives (one is the cleanest long‑term fix, the others are quick workarounds).

Best, simplest fix (recommended)

  • Put the laptops on DHCP and configure the home gateway to hand out the same address to each laptop by MAC (called DHCP reservation / static lease). Steps: find each laptop’s MAC with ipconfig /all (look for Physical Address), log into the router admin page, find DHCP / Address Reservation (or Static Leases) and add each MAC => desired IP. On the clients set TCP/IP to obtain addresses automatically. This avoids conflicts and keeps roaming seamless.

If you can’t change the router: quick profile switching with netsh

  • Create two small batch files to toggle the adapter between static and DHCP. Replace the IPs/gateway/DNS with your values and the interface name if it differs.

Switch to static (example):

netsh interface ip set address "Wireless Network Connection" static 192.168.1.50 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1
netsh interface ip set dns "Wireless Network Connection" static 192.168.1.1

Switch to DHCP:

netsh interface ip set address "Wireless Network Connection" dhcp
netsh interface ip set dns "Wireless Network Connection" dhcp

After running a script, use ipconfig /all or ipconfig /renew to verify.

Other options and cautions

  • XP’s Alternate Configuration tab (Control Panel → Network Connections → Wireless → TCP/IP Properties → Alternate Configuration) can provide a static fallback when DHCP is not present, but it only applies when no DHCP server responds — it won’t give you a static IP if the home router is still handing out DHCP.
  • Third‑party profile managers (network profile switchers) or a second USB Wi‑Fi adapter dedicated to one configuration are other choices.
  • Always avoid IP conflicts: ensure any manually assigned IP is unique or reserved in the router, and confirm subnet/gateway/DNS values before putting a static address into use.

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Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Hey ex. It sounds like you've run into a problem that I've run into before. I never did find a solution (at least not a solution that worked the way I wanted it to). When hardwired connections were all that existed, there wasn't much need to allow systems to have multiple LAN configurations in order to handle switching networks on the fly. Unfortunately, this design concept seems to have stayed despite the fact that systems can hop WiFi spots numerous times a day. If I were designing the latest OS software, I would make a check box that lets the network connection accept DHCP settings if the static settings failed.

My suggestion would be to set your static home IP from the router rather than from the computer. This would allow you to set your machines to accept their IP settings from whatever wireless access point they encounter. I don't know what type of router you have, but all the ones that I've used allow you to set a computer's IP address by means of refering to the computer's MAC address.

Does this sound like a viable option for you? If it does, just let me know, and I can provide some more information on how to set it up.

Member Avatar for ex99125b

thanks for your reply.
If you mean set up my router to supply my computer's their IP addresses via DHCP (the way hot spots do), I considered it. This would probably eliminate any problem because I could then just pick up my laptop and go; and it wouldnt care which dhcp server supplied the IP. But because of the way I have things set up and the number of computers I have (4) It just made things easier to have static IP addresses.
If you are talking about something diffferent, please tell me more

ex

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Each LAN card has its own unique MAC address. You should be able to configure your router to assign specific IPs to specific MAC addresses. This means that you can give your computers the specific IPs that you want to use at home without having to set the IP on the machine itself.

I know that this setup works since I use it at home.

Please let me know what specific router you have so I can give you more specific details.

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

ChrisBliss18 is talking about reserving addresses inside of DHCP, and that is the way to go for what you are trying to do.

Christian

Member Avatar for ex99125b

ahh, ok I get it. So yeah, I guess any help you can give me would be great. My router is a Linksys BEFSR41 with two desktops (one XP one OS 9.2.2) as well as a Linksys WAP CAT-5'ed to it. The WAP provides wireless for 2 laptops (both XP)

thanks
ex

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

I just checked your router's documentation; unfortunately, it doesn't support that feature. If you are still interested in using this feature, I know that it is offered on most current routers (both wireless or wired). If you are interested in replacing your router so you can get this feature, I could make some recommendations.

Member Avatar for ex99125b

thank you for your help

ex

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