Setting static IP addresses

And yes, there is indeed the save button you refer to at the bottom of the page. Also, MAC address formatting uses all caps and colons as separators as was done in Apple. So just copy/paste should work, one IP reservation at a time.

Sonos Staff

Hi @Kumar

It’s strange, but it looks like you have to enter both the current IP and the new, desired IP, as well as the MAC.

Thanks, that was very helpful. However why do you say the quoted? The first IP address in the box is 192.168.1.1 and is greyed out, so nothing to be done there, I presume.

192.168.0.1 is most likely the IP address of your router. I believe it’s in there just to show you the expected format. You don’t want to use 192.168.0.1.

Having said that, I see now that neither of the top two entries have a * next to them, which would suggest you don’t need to fill either in. Leaving as is (which is technically blank as the text there now is grey rather than black) is probably the thing to do.

Colons! I should have though of that!

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

So, a glitch after doing all this for all MAC addresses. Things are working but the IP reservations are being ignored, and for kit with reserved addresses outside the pool, the router is still handing out addresses starting with the beginning of the pool.

Is this then a router that needs reservations to be done from within the pool? If so, expanding the pool back to its original size may be all that is needed to be done?

Further to the above, I turned on Sonos units, all with IP addresses now assigned from outside the pool, after first seeing how things are minus Sonos.

Some Sonos units have been correctly given the assigned addresses from outside the pool, others have been given those from within the pool, although their MAC is shown in the list of reservations outside the pool, in the router UI.

As far as I can see, what is happening for Sonos kit is randomly different divided into the two cases above.

In the little testing done, all Sonos kit is working fine.

Sonos Staff

Hi @Kumar

So, a glitch after doing all this for all MAC addresses. Things are working but the IP reservations are being ignored, and for kit with reserved addresses outside the pool, the router is still handing out addresses starting with the beginning of the pool.

Is this then a router that needs reservations to be done from within the pool? If so, expanding the pool back to its original size may be all that is needed to be done?

I suppose that could be possible, but I wouldn’t have thought so - it’s not the way my router works, if that helps?

Did you reboot every device after changing the pool? You may want to turn the router and all client devices off, then turn the router on, wait for it to boot, then start turning on all the other devices.

Further to the above, I turned on Sonos units, all with IP addresses now assigned from outside the pool, after first seeing how things are minus Sonos.

Some Sonos units have been correctly given the assigned addresses from outside the pool, others have been given those from within the pool, although their MAC is shown in the list of reservations outside the pool, in the router UI.

As far as I can see, what is happening for Sonos kit is randomly different divided into the two cases above.

In the little testing done, all Sonos kit is working fine.

At this point I would either a) contact the provider of the router to find out how it should work, or b) just buy a third-party router that does what it’s told to do and replace the current one. Though, depending on your connection type, you may need to turn your current router towards modem duties only instead.

Hopefully rebooting everything will help (though given that some Sonos devices are taking the reserved addresses and some are not, it seems questionable).

I’m glad to hear it’s all still working!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

I’m glad to hear it’s all still working!

So am I!

b) just buy a third-party router that does what it’s told to do and replace the current one. Though, depending on your connection type, you may need to turn your current router towards modem duties only instead.

@Corry P I have unpowered/rebooted all devices in the necessary sequences, no joy. Done it twice.

To the quoted, my set up is like this because the ISP UI is clunky: I have disabled the wireless on the ISP, wired a LAN jack on it to a TP Link router set up as an AP, with DHCP disabled there, but with WiFi on for both bands. I can manage the TP via a neat app. TP also feeds Sonos via wired connections besides putting out WiFi.

I wonder if I just need to disable DHCP on the ISP router, and enable it on TP link, and get much better UI to do reservations without having to muck around with other settings, esp in the ISP router, that I am not familiar with.

Will this work? But I suspect it will need so more tinkering in both ISP and TP Link, and my network setup up skills are severely limited.

Or, just let sleeping dogs lie till one starts barking? Discretion the better part of valour and all that.

Sonos Staff

Hi @Kumar

I wonder if I just need to disable DHCP on the ISP router, and enable it on TP link, and get much better UI to do reservations without having to muck around with other settings, esp in the ISP router, that I am not familiar with.

Will this work? But I suspect it will need so more tinkering in both ISP and TP Link, and my network setup up skills are severely limited.

You already have a secondary router? OK, I was not aware. That’s what I would do, yes - you’ve bought another router because you know the ISP one is poor, but it’s still technically doing all the routing - your new TP Link router is just acting as a network switch and WAP (Wireless Access Point) at this point. I would like to think the TP Link will behave as expected in regards to your reserved addresses and the address pool, unlike your ISP router (I have a TP Link router too and it’s great wee thing). You want the ISP router to be doing nothing other than providing an internet connection (assuming the TP Link router can’t do this on it’s own).

You are correct in saying that there should only ever be one DHCP server on your network at any one time - be sure to disable one while you enable the other.

Or, just let sleeping dogs lie till one starts barking? Discretion the better part of valour and all that.

That’s a choice I leave to you - networking can be a pain at the best of times. Learning a new skill can be rewarding, however - and not just in terms of improving your network.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

You want the ISP router to be doing nothing other than providing an internet connection (assuming the TP Link router can’t do this on it’s own).

Learning a new skill can be rewarding, however - and not just in terms of improving your network.

Thank you. I am sure the TP Link can connect to the net and I can throw away the ISP router, but I suspect the ISP staff will have to involved in some tinkering so I don’t want to go down that road, also because in future if it isn't their router that gives any trouble, that gang will throw up its hands.

Yes new skills are good to have and I am much better off after Sonos use for ten years. Ten years ago all I knew was how to apply mains power to routers! But for now, with Sonos working fine as is all other kit, I shall leave well alone.

Thanks again.