You might have noticed that IP addresses used in home networks are not typically fixed, but are assigned within a specific range. The router you use automatically assigns a different IP address whenever a new computer links to your network, or whenever you change your configuration. This works well and you may not notice any difference in the performance of your internet or functionality of your applications once your IP changes. Static IP addresses, however, do not change. Your computer decides on which address to use and tells the router. So why would you use a static address? Is there any benefit? This article highlights what static IP addresses are, their benefits, and how to get one.

What Is a Static IP?

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are distinct number codes which PCs linked to the Internet use in locating and communicating with each other. There are two major types of IP addresses, which are static and dynamic. While static IP addresses use a single IP address, dynamic IP addresses use dynamic or changing IP addresses, where a network allocates the PC a different address whenever it connects to your network.

When discussing the IP address of a home computer, we are denoting to two kinds of addresses. Your private and external addresses. The external IP address is the one anyone sees when on the internet. You have a private IP address you use in your home network. You should note that if you possess a single computer on your home network, the router assigns it a private IP.

You should note that the private IP is not routed to the Internet and is specifically for using privately. In addition, there are also a few probable ranges of using private IP addresses, but in most instances, a home user is assigned with an IP address that has a general format of 192.168.*.* (note that * is any number).

For instance, your router interface is more likely to be reachable via 192.168.0.9, which is a private address. However, your home computer’s IP address could be anything from 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254. Most of the routers used in home networks assign internal addresses based on a sequence, from first to last. This implies that the first computer you plug into your router sends out a network request and is the assigned an address like 192.168.1.2 and the next computer is assigned IP address 192.168.1.3.

For this reason, it is impossible for you to change the external IP address you are provided automatically by the Internet provider. You can buy a static IP address but you should bear in mind that it is costly. Therefore, for accessing the home network remotely, you need to use a dynamic address. However, it is possible to allocate a static IP to a home network to any computer you want.

The advantages of Static IP include:

  • Stability
  • Speed and reliability
  • Allows for multi-player gaming
  • Provides access to local web servers
  • For remote torrent management
  • Simplicity in assignment and maintenance
  • It is easier to track through the internet
  • Lower costs
  • Email server hosting capabilities

Is There a Need for a Static IP?

Obtaining a static IP is vital since you need it anytime you attempt to forward specific packets from the Internet to specific devices on your home network. Static addresses are vital in various computer tasks including:

  • Remote torrent management
  • Accessing a local web server
  • Gaming

Remote Torrent Management

You will need a static IP address in managing your torrent client from a mobile phone or remote computer, which entails sending requests on port 9091 to the computer that runs the torrent client. Essentially, when doing this, you will need to find the machine’s address and create a rule, but if the IP address changes on that machine, you will also have to change it on your computer. This implies that if your IP address changes, then the remote management would not be possible.

Accessing Local Web Servers

Setting up a web server on your home network that can be accessed by anybody on the globe means you will have to forward the requests on the port 80 to the web server network in your local network. You need a static address for this to work. Essentially, you should note that if the web server restarts, it will definitely get a different IP address from your router.

This implies that this voids the special rule you created so it would be possible to forward the requests to the old server’s address from your machine’s port 80. As such, the remote person would not be able to access the web server on your home network. With this in mind, you will need a static IP not to break the connection.

Gaming

Forwarding specific ports to your PC, PlayStation, or Xbox in the older routers and gaming setups was essential so you could play multi-player games online. For this to work, you need a static IP address since a dynamic one would make it impossible to sustain the connection and play the game. However, more recent routers have included an automatic setup procedure referred to as uPNP that eliminates the needs to set up rules by hand.

How to Get a Static IP

What Is the Disadvantage of Using IP Addresses?

You need to configure your computer manually to get a static IP address. This implies that you have to implement some changes to the router configuration. This is why they have an administration overhead to keep track of the router settings. While for home networks it can be done easily because you have few computers to worry about, for corporations it is very hectic since there are many machines you will have to configure.

In addition, if you do not have correct router configurations, you will run into issues of IP conflict errors. Assuming that once you set your computer to a static address 192.168.0.9 and the router gives out automatic IP addresses, at some point, a new PC is provided with a similar IP, which implies that using static IP addresses can be problematic.

How Do You Get a Static IP Address without Manual Configurations or IP Conflicts?

Manual configurations can be hectic, especially if you run into issues of IP conflict. Instead of manually configuring the settings on each computer, you can give the machines static addresses by reserving the specific address you want to provide to them in the IP address system of the router. This ensures that the PCs have an address that never changes with no need of assigning the computers a static IP, which would be complicated.

For you to reserve the addresses, you need to open the router configuration page and  go to “LAN IP” or “DHCP.” You should then look for the section that is labeled “Reserved Lease Info” or “Static Leases.” You should note that two more fields should be filled in. The first is the hardware address where you need to fill six pairs of alphanumeric inputs distinct to every device globally. Second, you can incorporate the IP that you wish to use.

You should then be able to view the hardware address in the “leases” list and next to the IP is assigned. Note that a lease is an IP address that the router automatically gives your machine. If the IP address is not assigned, type “IPCONFIG/ALL” from the command line prompt of Windows or “IFCONFIG” from an OS S device, and then look for either “Physical Address” or “Ethernet.” Here, you want to ensure that a device with a specific hardware address is connected to a specific IP and stays that way permanently. You should then enter the hardware and IP address for a new reserved IP for that specific device.

Note that it is possible to change the IP here if you would like to have your device connected to a new reserved IP. However, restarting the computer is a must for you to obtain a new IP address. What you are actually doing is typing a specific local address to a specific hardware. That’s all you have to do and the reserved IP address will never change even if you restart your device while keeping the special routing rules.

Conclusion

Getting a static IP address is important since you need it anytime you attempt to forward specific packets from the Internet to specific devices on your home network. This is why they are vital for remote torrent management, accessing a local web server, and gaming as dynamic addresses would not work for these tasks. To obtain a static address, you need to configure your PC manually, which is difficult especially for companies, and you will run into issues of IP conflict errors. This justifies why you need reserved IP addresses for your devices, which is easier to configure and does not change even when the machine is restarted. We hope that this article has equipped you with what you need to know about setting static IP addresses.