Switching IP Address ranges

Last.To.Know

Last.To.Know

Member
Another in the saga of me trying to understand my home network.

My home network is based on the 10.0.0.x range with static IP for all devices.

Having miserably failed to attach a tp-link AX3000 Archer AX55 router to said network,
(No, I have no idea why it feels entitled to two AXs, either)

I am considering moving to the 192.168.1.x IP range.

I have a Plusnet Hub One.

My plan is to power it up and let it hand out IP addresses.

I will factory reset the Hub One and the AX55 as I have messed about with them both.

I will then set devices to automatically receive their IP addresses in this order:-

Windows PC
Humax T2 HDR
NOWTV Hockey Puck
Hitachi Smart TV

Motorola Moto g9 Play Phone
Samsung Tab S2 Tablet

I have questions.

Should I introduce the Archer AX55 before or after this process?

After the IP addresses have been dished out, can they be fixed to each device?

And would that be on the Hub One or on the device?

If there is any advice you could give me, I would be grateful to receive it.

If I do this, it'll probably not for a week or so.
 
You can only have one device responsible for providing "router" functions on any particular [sub]network, so what exactly are you trying to achieve? (No, I have not looked up what this Archer thing is! I'm guessing it's another modem/router.)

If you want your Hub One to provide the modem (ie the interface to the incoming WAN) but the Archer to provide wired/wireless router functions, then you would turn all that off in the Hub One settings, and connect the Archer to its WAN port. Then you use the Archer (and only the Archer) for your local network management (and disable modem functions in the Archer). There's no point setting up your network devices on the Hub One only to then turn the Hub One off and set everything up again on the Archer.

In the other hand, if the Archer also has modem functions, there is no need to use the Hub One at all. I use a Netgear modem/router perfectly well (despite BT being my ISP), with minimal configuration (mainly as an easy way to defeat BT's public hotspot facility – not with my line speed! – but also to get more control then the BT unit permits).

Last.To.Know said:
I will then set devices to automatically receive their IP addresses in this order
Click to expand...
It doesn't matter what order you "introduce" devices in, and so long as they are set to DHCP rather than being fixed manually it doesn't matter what you set your subnet address to be – they'll find it when they boot up and try to establish a connection. 192.168.0/1.xxx is pretty standard, but not essential.

Last.To.Know said:
After the IP addresses have been dished out, can they be fixed to each device?
Click to expand...
Yes, but how you do that varies according to the router's control panel implementation. You might have to set up an infinite lease time, or (often) there is a facility to allocate device MACs a alias label, and fix their preferred IP address. Be careful you don't end up with two devices on the same IP address (which could happen if one device is not connected at the time).

The other way to "fix" a device's IP address is to define it manually at the device (instead of DHCP); however, practically all mobile devices these days broadcast a name on the zeroconf or bonjour services, so you end up never having to use IP addresses at all (just the name of the device you want to connect to).

Routers have a defined range (see settings) of addresses to allocate by DHCP, so if you must use manual settings it is safest to set those outside the DHCP pool. Sometimes the pool can be varied in settings too, to (eg) make a larger number of non-DHCP addresses available. For example: my HDRs are 192.168.1.1x and my HD-FOXes are 192.168.1.2x (which makes them easy to remember), configured manually, and my DHCP pool is set to start at .100.
 
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Last.To.Know said:
Another in the saga of me trying to understand my home network.

My home network is based on the 10.0.0.x range with static IP for all devices.

Having miserably failed to attach a tp-link AX3000 Archer AX55 router to said network,
(No, I have no idea why it feels entitled to two AXs, either)
Click to expand...
Sections 14.1 and 14.3 of the AX55 user manual seem to cover what you want to do. What exactly have you done and what happens as a result.
 
Last.To.Know said:
My home network is based on the 10.0.0.x range with static IP for all devices.
Click to expand...
Why do people never include the subnet mask when talking about IP address ranges? It is vitally important to the process.
Having miserably failed to attach a tp-link AX3000 Archer AX55 router to said network,
Click to expand...
What is that exactly? It would help if you gave details of what it is/does and why you want it, rather than making people look it up.
I am considering moving to the 192.168.1.x IP range.
Click to expand...
Why?
It's just a number. Again, no subnet mask. What do you think that will achieve? What is the fundamental problem?
 
prpr said:
What is that exactly?
Click to expand...
Turns out to be a fancy wireless router, with no modem. Should be completely straightforward to configure, except TP-Link have obfuscated it through some kind of management app/web site, which (looks like) it might be remote.

@Last.To.Know: turn off all the WiFi and DHCP etc stuff on your Hub One, and hook the Archer's WAN port into any of the LAN ports on your Hub One. All you need to do to make the Archer communicate with the Internet through your Hub One is to tell the Archer what the Gateway and DNS IP addresses are on the Hub One.

Then you can configure the Archer to provide downstream Ethernet and WiFi as required.
 
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Last.To.Know said:
..Having miserably failed to attach a tp-link AX3000 Archer AX55 router to said network,
(No, I have no idea why it feels entitled to two AXs, either)
Click to expand...
Did you add this to your network or did it replace something?
A brief description of your network will help,
Eg is it
Internet (fibre/cable) <-> Archer AX300 <other devices connected to router>
Or is it something more complicated?
Bear in mind most simple networks only require up to one DHCP server. (Ie it's usually easier to nominate one device as the DHCP server and switch off that option for the other devices.)
Is your ISP Plusnet Fibre or something else?
 
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Apologies for not returning to respond to your replies.

I have been a bit down.

I will go through them at some point.

Thank you in advance for your help.
 
Last.To.Know said:
Apologies for not returning to respond to your replies.

I will go through them at some point.
Click to expand...
Take all the time you need. I think the point we were trying to get across was that it should be possible with what you have. It would help if you could tell us what type of broadband you have,
 
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

Working backwards...

@bottletop The Archer AX55 was a new addition: it did not replace something.

My home network is based on the 10.0.0.x range with static IP for all devices.

It's ADSL with PlusNet.

@prpr I'm adding the tp-link Archer AX55 for faster (and possibly more stable) WiFi.

@BH @prpr I was considering moving to the 192.168.1.x IP range because that's what the Hub One supports.
It does not support the 10.0.0.x range.

BH You been very generous with your knowledge: thank you.

IF I turn off the DHCP on the Hub One (which has the default IP of 192.168.1.254), what IP address should the tp-link Archer AX55 have?

And does this mean I could still use the 10.0.0.x IP range?

FYI I will factory reset the two new devices as I have been messing about with them.

Apologies if I have missed out any information.

Feel free to ask me for more info.

Also apologies if I have you tearing your hair out at my stupidity
 
Last.To.Know said:
And does this mean I could still use the 10.0.0.x IP range?
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Very likely yes, if that's what you want. With an unlocked router (which I presume the Archer is but the Hub One isn't), all that sort of thing can be configured, preferably using an Ethernet connection.

Like I said before, the Hub One should have all services switched off except gateway and DNS, then you connect one of it's LAN ports to the WAN port on the Archer and use the Archer for all the other router services (WiFi, DHCP...).

I'm sure it will be a lot easier with the control panel open in front of you to see what you have to do than me try to describe it blind.
 
Black Hole said:
Like I said before, the Hub One should have all services switched off except gateway and DNS, then you connect one of it's LAN ports to the WAN port on the Archer and use the Archer for all the other router services (WiFi, DHCP...).
Click to expand...
IMO you just get more confusion that way, and double-NAT which is generally not thought to be a great idea.
If I've understood correctly (difficult to be sure), then all that is wanted is to connect a LAN port on both devices together and turn off the wireless/DHCP on one and enable it on the other, configured with whatever common IP subnet you desire on both devices.
 
AIUI the AX55 has two modes router mode and access point mode. You could use the router mode but that will create a separate network so you would end up with double nat.

Alternatively in access point (AP) mode you could keep your original setup (but with the old WiFi turned off) and just use the AX55 to replace the WiFi connection. In AP mode the ethernet ports and the WiFi are all bridged so it no longer has separate routed networks. It will then use your original IP addresses and services in one single network. You may find that some of the router functions are disabled in this mode. The LAN port on your existing network should be connected to the WAN port of the AX55.

Which mode you choose is really dependent on what you are trying to achieve with the new device.
 
Non-update.

I have spent several hours this weekend trying, and failing, to install the Hub One and the Archer AX55.

I would again like to thank all who offered advice.

It has become obvious to me that I either can not understand simple instructions or I can not follow them.

I won't be seeking help on this subject for the time being.

Thank you once again.
 
Positive-update.

After trying everything I could think of to setup the Plusnet Hub One, I rang support.

Where a lovely woman gave me the instructions that were not in the setup manual.

If you have to set up the Hub One, this may help.

It sets itself up with the broadband username of
setup@plusdsl.net

Counter-intuitively, having let the Hub One connect itself to the net,
you need to disconnect from the internet.

Then replace "setup" with your own Plusnet username and use your own password.

I feel slightly better about myself that this was knowledge that I did not have access to.

[Side note: the information card that comes with the PlusNet Hub One prints the WiFi in capital letters.
The WiFI password is in lower case.
Thus ABCD1234 on the info card was actually abcd1234 in reality.
This was not helpful!!]

I now have a Hub One router connected to the internet.

Now...

BH (or anyone willing to help)
Would you be willing to advise me on how I could keep my 10.0.0.x IP range?

The Hub One is at 192.168.1.254 and DHCP is on.

The Archer AX55 currently is at 10.0.0.2

Does the following sound correct?
  • Turn DCHP and wireless off on the Hub One
  • Power it down.
  • Plug a cable between a Ethernet port on the Hub One and the WAN port on the Archer AX55.
  • Power up the Hub One and wait for it to fully initialise.
  • Power up the Archer AX55
Will the Hub One be able to see the AX55 despite being on a different IP range?
 
Sounds about right to me, but time will tell.
Last.To.Know said:
Will the Hub One be able to see the AX55 despite being on a different IP range?
Click to expand...
The Hub One doesn't have to "see" the AX55 unless you intend to also use the Ethernet ports on the Hub One. I may be naive about this, but so far as I know all you need to do is configure the AX55 to use the gateway and DNS addresses upstream. The WAN port is not just another LAN port, it has special properties.

Last.To.Know said:
Thus ABCD1234 on the info card was actually abcd1234 in reality.
Click to expand...
Oh fantastic! How to make life hard.
 
Hey-ho, that didn't work.

The Archer AX55 can not see the Internet.

Might factory reset it tomorrow and follow the setup instructions again...

I suppose I could avoid typing in IP addresses altogether by adding nice names to my hosts file.

I did that when I had a couple of Tivos on my network.

Assuming the IP addresses DHCP hand out are sticky.
 
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