Configuring DHCP for AP10 Access Point - AP10

Reserving a static IP for an AP10 Access Point on a DHCP server Technical Note
Product status
Document code
M213025EN-B
ft:locale
en-US
Product
AP10
Document type
Technical note

Description of issue

It is common to reserve a non-changing IP address for the AP10 access points in a network. The most convenient way to achieve this is to configure a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server to provide the IP address based on the identity of the access point.

In firmware versions 4.0.0 to 5.1.0, AP10 has a feature that makes it necessary to configure the DHCP server in a particular way for this use case. Every time AP10 starts up, it generates a new randomized client ID that it uses in its DHCP requests. This means that the client ID is not stable, and cannot be used to assign a fixed IP address. If the DHCP server assigns IP addresses based on the client ID, the IP address of AP10 will change every time it is restarted, even if the old lease is still valid.

Corrective action

Starting with AP10 firmware version 5.2.0, the AP10 uses an unchanging client ID in its DHCP requests. Update the firmware of your AP10 devices to allow the DHCP server to assign a fixed IP based on the client ID.

See the following documents for information on firmware compatibility and upgradeability, and guidance on the firmware update workflow:

Workaround using the MAC address for IP address assignment

Regardless of the AP10 firmware version in use, you can configure the DHCP server so that it assigns a specific IP address based on the MAC address of the device. MAC addresses are unique and do not change, so the same IP address will be leased to the device whenever it sends the DHCP request.

  1. Determine the MAC address of the device. You can usually find it in the list of connected devices of your DHCP server. The MAC address is also physically marked on the front of AP10 below the connectors, and on the type label behind the device.

    Example: MAC Address 78:04:73:A8:28:FD

  2. In the user interface of your DHCP server, find the section for DHCP reservations. Create a new reservation that reserves the desired IP address for this MAC address. You can select any IP address within the DHCP scope of the server, as long as it is not already assigned to another device.

    Consult the user documentation of the server if necessary.

  3. Restart the AP10 device to take the reserved IP address into use.

  4. After AP10 has restarted, verify that it is now assigned the reserved IP address. You can check the IP address from the user interface of the DHCP server, or from the local display or web interface of AP10.