Am I able to assign the static IP address that my ISP provides me directly to my router?
My ISP are telling me that I have to assign the IP to a server inside the network instead, and cannot assign it directly to the router.
Can anyone clarify this?
Networking – Assign a public static IP address to a router
ispnetworkingrouterstatic-ip
Related Solutions
Your router can indeed lease that IP address to another client once the lease expires if your machine is off or disconnected, and doesn't renew it. To guarantee you always get the same IP address, you'll want to make what's called a DHCP Reservation in your router (terminology may vary - see this question for details):
With DD-WRT firmware, you can find this under the Services section:
Using DHCP reservations offers you a sort of poor-man's IP address management solution. You can see and change IP addresses from a single console and makes it so you can see what addresses are available without having to resort to an Excel spreadsheet (or worse, a ping and pray system).
That being said, many applications require a static IP. If the server is configured to use DHCP, the application has no way of knowing that a reservation exists and may refuse to install. Also some applications tie their license to an IP address and therefore must be static as well.
Personally I prefer to use reservations when I can, and statics when I have to. But when I do use a static, I make a reservation for that address anyway so that A) it can be within the scope with the rest of the servers, and B) still provides the visual accounting of the address.
NOTE: If you're referring to network devices like IP cameras and printers, reservations are definitely the way to go because you can add a comment in the reservation as to what the device is and where it's located. Depending on the device, this may be your only means of documenting that information within the system.
Best Answer
Well, if the router is providing NAT services to a bunch of machines on a LAN you would need to assign your public address to it, but it really depends on your setup so what have you got (router make, machines etc.)