P2P network IP question

[justme]

Im setting up 5 machines (xp) in a peer to peer setup. They will all share an internet dialup connection. So I want to know if i should set up the ip addressing to be automatic dhcp on the basis they are all going on the web. If they weren't sharing a web connection i would use a static address (192.168 etc). Is this correct??

thx

[TechZ]

I share a dsl line for all my pc's at home, I left it at DHCP, but you can go Static, just remember to set the gateway IP.

I say go DHCP. Its been working for me fine.

[justme]

the part im puzzled by is this. If the addressing is dynamic and I want to send a message or whatever, how do i know which machine is which. They dont have stable ip's anymore. Im probably not understanding how this works but it seems to me the network becomes a hodge podge of changing ip addresses.

[TechZ]

If you want to share folders, its not a problem, if youre using an application that needs an IP to connect, then its best you use a Static IP.

[Bigtimbre]

the part im puzzled by is this. If the addressing is dynamic and I want to send a message or whatever, how do i know which machine is which. They dont have stable ip's anymore. Im probably not understanding how this works but it seems to me the network becomes a hodge podge of changing ip addresses.

Depends on what you mean by send a message. Are you referring to "net send"? Or email? If email, then you won't be affected, not in the way you are thinking.

Just because you are using DHCP does not mean that the addresses are constantly changing. They are associated with lease times, that define how long they will hold a particular address. So they try to maintain the same address. Additionally if you reboot a pc, the first thing it tries to get is the same address it had before..

[Matridom]

Im setting up 5 machines (xp) in a peer to peer setup. They will all share an internet dialup connection. So I want to know if i should set up the ip addressing to be automatic dhcp on the basis they are all going on the web. If they weren't sharing a web connection i would use a static address (192.168 etc). Is this correct??

thx

dynamic vs static has no effect on how you connect to anything.

It's a case of administration. DHCP is easier to administer the larger the network gets (centralization).

About messages. If your wondering how larger companies keep track of computers when DHCP is used, most now days use DNS to solve this issue. When an IP is leased, the computer updates DNS dynamicly, "computername.domain.name" will then point to his own IP. If the IP changes, the computer tells the DNS server the new IP and it updates.

end result, your IP changes, but your DNS does not.

My recommendation. For anything less then 4-5 computers, set things staticly, less hassels. anything more, setup a proper network.

on a side note....

Additionally if you reboot a pc, the first thing it tries to get is the same address it had before..

I just wanted to point out that though this seems correct, it's not quite true. The computer is not re-obtaining the same IP, it's requesting a new one (the OS has no idea what the old IP was) The only time the OS is re-requesting the same ip is when the OS does a dhcp renew request (done automaticly at set time frames based on the lease period).

The DHCP server cache's the MAC addresses of the connected computers and the server tries to hand back out the same IP if possible based on MAC address. The DHCP server will hold the IP for the remainder of the lease period. It will then freely give out that IP to anyone. If the original IP is no longer available(given to someone else), it will assign it a new IP. (hence why the longer you leave your computer off, the higher the chances of getting a new IP)