Unmanaged Switch - IP Address (basic) question

[Mark070]

Hi folks,

I have a Netgear GS308 v3 (8 port) unmanaged switch. When I purchased my Edge Router 4, I had assigned reserved addresses for the major pieces of the network (NAS, Access Point, etc).

For now, I have the switch just hooked up and it all works, but .. is it possible for me to assign the switch an IP Address (dhcp reserved)? I read that unmanaged switches do not have mac addresses; so how would I know which device is my switch on the network?

Sorry, n00b question - and it really does not matter, but .. 1.) Its fun and 2.) I enjoy the learning aspect

EDIT: ok .. so dumb switches (unmanaged) do not have MAC address' or IP Address', they switch on a ethernet level. Ok, answered. Thanks!

EDIT 2: /delete thread

 

[coxhaus]

Look at you DHCP assigned pool of IP addresses. Do you have a MAC you don't recognize that might be you switch's IP, if not then probably no.

 

[sfx2000]

For now, I have the switch just hooked up and it all works, but .. is it possible for me to assign the switch an IP Address (dhcp reserved)? I read that unmanaged switches do not have mac addresses; so how would I know which device is my switch on the network?

Sorry, n00b question - and it really does not matter, but .. 1.) Its fun and 2.) I enjoy the learning aspect

For an unmanaged switch, no need to reserve addresses - as mentioned, it's all at the ethernet level.

For Layer2/Layer3 managed switches - I prefer to keep them outside of the DHCP scope period, and static assign them.

Reason being - what happens if the DHCP server is down or goes sideways - having a true static IP address to get to the switch can save a lot of trouble.

 

[dosborne]

Reason being - what happens if the DHCP server is down or goes sideways - having a true static IP address to get to the switch can save a lot of trouble

I do both, I setup the device with a static IP but I also put it into the DHCP reservation list. The odd time you reset to default a device, it typically goes back to DHCP. This way the same IP gets assigned

 

[unmesh]

I do both, I setup the device with a static IP but I also put it into the DHCP reservation list. The odd time you reset to default a device, it typically goes back to DHCP. This way the same IP gets assigned

Doesn't this mean that the static IP address has to be within the DHCP scope? If so, do you let the DHCP server assign the address and then add it to the reservation list and to the device as its static address?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Doesn't this mean that the static IP address has to be within the DHCP scope?

No, not on an Asus. The router (and dnsmasq) doesn't impose any restrictions on reservations other than it has to be within the same subnet as the pool. Just manually type in the client's MAC address.

 

[unmesh]

No, not on an Asus. The router (and dnsmasq) doesn't impose any restrictions on reservations other than it has to be within the same subnet as the pool. Just manually type in the client's MAC address.

Thanks! Adding this to my list of things to do

 

[coxhaus]

The IP address scope is based on the mask of the IP address not the DHCP scope. A mask of 255.255.255.0 means 256 IP addresses. You can't use them all as you have a network IP address and a broadcast IP address.

 

[unmesh]

The IP address scope is based on the mask of the IP address not the DHCP scope. A mask of 255.255.255.0 means 256 IP addresses. You can't use them all as you have a network IP address and a broadcast IP address.

I knew that but was not sure of the relationship between the range of addresses in the DHCP scope and the ability to make a reservation.

Maybe I still don't know it and only think I do