Always Broadcast
If all the computers on the LAN successfully obtain their IP addresses from the router's DHCP server as expected, this option can remain disabled. However, if one of the computers on the LAN fails to obtain an IP address from the router's DHCP server, it may have an old DHCP client that incorrectly turns off the broadcast flag of DHCP packets. Enabling this option will cause the router to always broadcast its responses to all clients, thereby working around the problem, at the cost of increased broadcast traffic on the LAN.
Add/Edit DHCP Reservation
This option lets you reserve IP addresses, and assign the same IP address to the network device with the specified MAC address any time it requests an IP address. This is almost the same as when a device has a static IP address except that the device must still request an IP address from the router. The router will provide the device the same IP address every time. DHCP Reservations are helpful for server computers on the local network that are hosting applications such as Web and FTP. Servers on your network should either use a static IP address or use this option.
Computer Name
You can assign a name for each computer that is given a reserved IP address. This may help you keep track of which computers are assigned this way. Example: Game Server.
IP Address:
The LAN address that you want to reserve.
MAC Address
To input the MAC address of your system, enter it in manually or connect to the router's
A MAC address is usually located on a sticker on the bottom of a network device. The MAC address is comprised of twelve digits. Each pair of hexadecimal digits are usually separated by dashes or colons such as
As an alternative, you can locate a MAC address in a specific operating system by following the steps below:
Windows 98 | Go to the Start menu, select Run, type in winipcfg, and hit Enter. A popup |
Windows Me | window will be displayed. Select the appropriate adapter from the |
| menu and you will see the Adapter Address. This is the MAC address of the |
| device. |
Windows 2000 | Go to your Start menu, select Programs, select Accessories, and select |
Windows XP | Command Prompt. At the command prompt type ipconfig /all and hit Enter. |
Windows Vista | The physical address displayed for the adapter connecting to the router is the |
| MAC address. |
Mac OS X | Go to the Apple Menu, select System Preferences, select Network, and select |
| the Ethernet Adapter connecting to the router. Select the Ethernet button and |
| the Ethernet ID will be listed. This is the same as the MAC address. |
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