Static IP address help

[jayuk83]

Hi, I'm new to this, so apologies if this is a common question or whatever.

I have a few questions really.

I have a PS3 and PC which I both use for the internet, but recently the PS3 especially has been losing connection to the internet (in fact, I can only go online for about two minutes on the PS3 now). I have a Belkin router. Any tips?

I wondered if setting up a static IP address might help?

What does it do?

And how do I go about doing that? I've followed instructions on here, but I don't know what IP address to input.

Thanks.

[mehmeh]

Can't advise on the PS3, but setting it up in your router should be easy.. Your router will have a DHCP table, as an example 192.168.1.2 too 192.168.1.100.. Basically anything within that range will be asigned automatically to any device that connects to the router (your network). IP's are unique to each machine connected.

Two ways to go about things..

1) Remove one from your DHCP, so cut it down to say 192.168.1.99 and asign the one you've gained to your PS3 (191.168.1.100).

2) Choose an IP address outside of the DHCP range. Personelly I always go with the first option as most peeps can afford to lose one or two from the DHCP table as you'll only likely have half a dozen machines connecting, if that. I believe it makes sense to leave a few spare tho.

Whole host of reasons why you'd want a static IP, port fowarding for example. There are also many reasons why even tho you think you do, you don't need one. Top link in google, seems about right.. http://www.zytrax.com/isp/faqs/static.htm

No idea why your PS3 is getting booted.. Is it, the router or another machine in your household giving you any error messages that could be related? Certainly no harm is asigning it a static IP to rule out address conflicts etc.. Deffo would also be worthwile double checking your router settings arent upsetting the thing (maybe a firewall, dunno?). If all else fails, restoring to factory defaults, I've found, fixes most problems which you don't even know you created hehe. I would be thinking whats changed recently and can be traced back to when your issues began.

Hope thats of some use.

[Spleen]

is the ps3 connected via cable or wireless?

[GeoffX]

A friend has various consoles and computers connected via cable and wirelessly to his router - a Thomson TG585 V7 if I remember correctly. The PS3 loses its Internet connection with Call of Duty 4 ( but not COD5 ), although the other machines seem fine. Resetting the router fixes it,

[peterb]

To my mind that would indicate that the PS3 is trying to open too many connections to the server and the router can't handle it. I'm not familiar with that router, but if there is scope to adjust (or limit) the number of open connections, that might help.

[Caudovittatus]

I've had a few issues with my PS3 also including:

1) PS3 has a good connection (so it reports) but certain games (mainly Resistance 2) keep dropping off for no apparent reason mid-game.
2) Just plain loss of connectivity.

I'm pretty sure in my case it's just a question of range (unless you're connecting wirelessly though range is unlikely to be an issue unless you're wired and hundreds of feet away from your router). My wireless router is in my study three floors up and the PS3 is in the lounge. I did try using an extra wireless router Wireless Distribution System (WDS - only some routers support this) and also just using the second router as a wireless client for the main one but it still wasn't up to the task (both routers are 802.11g - maybe 802.11 draft N would have helped). Given this, I'm about to try a different approach and have ordered a couple of homeplug adapters (200Mbps Devolo's from dabs.com) - If I actually find some time to play on the PS3 I can update you on how that goes, but I've heard that a lot of people who've had problems with wireless range have absolutely no probs when they deploy these (I'm going to attach the second router to the downstairs plug too so I'll have good wireless down there also).

If your problem isn't wireless then a static IP probably wouldn't help unless your DHCP leases are set to be really short - in which case the router will reassign your ip more frequently - usually you'll get the same address back, but I have had cases where I do get a drop in connectivity when this process is going on - only on bad routers though.

When some people refer to a static IP they're talking about having an IP that is visible from the internet. Most home broadband give you only one 'public' IP address that can be addressed from anywhere on the internet and this is assigned to your router; the router then uses Network Address Translation (NAT) to allow your private clients to access the internet (by assigning private IPs on your home network and routing internet traffic via the public IP) - This also affords you some protection because systems from the outside world can't directly address clients attached to your router. Some ISPs will give this to you by default or as an option (paid for or free); I guess if you're getting assigned a new address every few minutes that could be a problem, but I've very rarely see that happen.

Some ISPs will allow you to have additional public IP addresses on request (some won't and again there can be a fee for this - normally you'd only request one if you had multiple machines that needed to be accessible from the internet and where port forwarding was not sufficient for the task), even ones who don't normally do it may allow you an additional IP if you explain the problem. I know some PS3 owners have done this in the past (and this is what some people refer to when they talk about getting an extra static IP address). If you go down this route, you'd then put your PS3 in your router's DeMilitarised Zone (DMZ) (you do this by putting its MAC address in your router's DMZ page) - you'd then either enter the static IP that the ISP gave you into your PS3's network settings or have it assigned by DHCP (most of the time static IPs are still assigned by DHCP and that shouldn't cause problems - I give all the clients on my network a static IP but assign it by DHCP - that way I can always address them by their DNS name (I run an internal DNS server)).