whatismyip.com

• Home
• Forum
• Speed Test
• IP Tools
  • IP Address Lookup
  • IP WHOIS Lookup
  • Host Name Lookup
  • User Agent Info
  • Server Headers Check
• IP FAQ
  • How To Change Your IP
  • How To Trace An Email
  • What Is An IP Address
  • IP Address Management
  • What Is DHCP
  • WIMI Shows A Different IP Than IPConfig
  • How To Determine If Your Computer Is Being Assigned The External IP
  • Static IP vs. Dynamic IP
  • What Is A MAC Address
  • What Is MAC Cloning
  • Router Support
• IP Commands
  • DOS / Windows IP Commands
  • Linux IP Commands
  • Unix IP Commands
  • VMS IP Commands
• Hide My IP
  • What Is A VPN
  • What Is A Proxy
  • What Is A Web Proxy
  • Proxy Detection and Blocking
• Most Popular
  • What Is A Virus
  • Malware vs. Spyware
  • Speeding Up Your PC

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

In simple terms, DHCP determines if your IP is static or dynamic and the length of time an IP address is assigned.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is controlled by a DHCP server. Your router can be a DHCP server...and if you're on a home network, it most likely serves this purpose.

I know this might be confusing because the word dynamic is in the term, but just because you have DHCP enabled on your computer doesn't mean you can't be assigned a static IP. DHCP enabled on your computer simply means you're letting a DHCP server assign its IP. Having it enabled DOES NOT mean it's a DHCP server.

A true DHCP server (not your Linksys router) gives the LAN Admin a ton of control with IP assigning.

Ever print to a network printer? Ever wonder how that printer keeps its network assignment? Each network device has a MAC address. You can assign a static IP at the server to a specific MAC address. This allows the network printer to always get the same IP even after it reboots and without assigning the IP at the printer. If you print the network configuration at the printer, it will probably tell you that DHCP is enabled and no static IP is assigned. That's because the IP assignment is handled at the server.

Your ISP has a DHCP server. They can assign IPs by modem MAC addresses. When your modem comes online, it communicates to the network indicating it is looking for an IP address. The DHCP server listens to this communication and starts talking to the modem. The modem then transmits its MAC address to the DHCP server. At that point, either an IP has been reserved for the modem or one is assigned at that time. Hence cloning your MAC address to get a new IP from your ISP.

Routers and DHCP - Under the General Setup or LAN Setup tab in your router, you'll see a settings option for DHCP. You can control how many IPs are assigned or to enable/disable the DHCP server portion of the router. If you disable it, you'll have to statically assign IPs to each computer, or have a DHCP server or your network. This goes for wired and wireless. Any connection on your network has an IP address.

There's a lot more to DHCP than this, but this is a basic explanation.

Recent Forum Posts

Tracking an individual by Admin , Limits?!
If an admin has decided not to let one in bulletin forum, what are the limits? How far can one track an individual? As far as I undestood VPN is of...
Extending the distance of my router's signal.
:)Hi, I'm new to IP Forum. The main reason I joined was to hopefully learn how to access my IP's website and change some settings on my router to...
wireless ip camera problems
i recently bought a northq wireless ip camera. when i connect the camera via ethernet and run the northq setup it will recognize it. I set all the...
Email rejection with different IP address
Hi, I am a user not a network person and am very puzzled by some odd behaviour. I have a number of email addresses and am finding mail from one of...
I have 5 static IP's from COMCAST - advice needed
I have a Comcast Internet connection with 5 available IPs. I have 5 computers in my office. I want to have each computer its own IP individual IP...
List of VPN services?
I see that people are starting to use VPN services to access the net for several reasons. There is one suggested service on this site. I am asking...
New Member
Hallo, I am a new member here. It's just today, Mei, 12th 2012. I am hosting a NAS at home to share files with my family. I provide my family...