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I've got an AirPort Extreme base station that I use for several computers and devices.
I set it to configure IPv4 with DHCP, but there's a problem with that: The IP changes from time to time (as reported in AirPort Utility and whatismyip.com).

I need the IP address to stay the same, so I set the AirPort to configure IPv4 manually, and left the settings there that were last setup automatically.

This arrangement worked for a while, but before long the Internet connection cut out (for all computers on the network). I set the AirPort back to DHCP and restarted, which fixed the problem. A day or so later, I switched back to manual mode. The same thing happened.

So, I currently have my AirPort set to configure IPv4 with DHCP. My IP address changes from time to time, which makes it impossible to exclude my traffic from Google Analytics reports. But, if I change back to manual, Internet cuts out after a while.

Does someone know what's causing this and a way to fix it (or otherwise keep my IP the same)?
I'm really bad at this networking stuff, so it's quite possible that I'm fundamentally misunderstanding something. Please correct me if that's the case.

Thanks!

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  • What IP address you want to be the same, your computer's IP address or your internet IP (as reported by whatismyip.com) ?
    – Martin Marconcini
    Mar 14, 2011 at 17:05
  • @Martín The Internet IP (as in whatismyip.com). It's represented in AirPort Utility as just IP Address.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Mar 14, 2011 at 17:06

1 Answer 1

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Your External IP Address (or, as you call it, the IP address reported by whatismyip.com) is not under your control and you can't simply set it to static. Your ISP gives you a new one when you reconnect, although there are chances that you might get the same, you should never count on it.

In order to solve this problem you have two choices:

  1. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer you a "Static" IP service for a monthly fee. With the lack of IPv4 in the world, this service is unlikely to exist forever to individuals and it's usually reserved for companies and services that really need a static IP. Not all the ISPs offer this, you can always ask.

  2. Use a Dynamic DNS provider. This will mean that although your IP address will eventually change when you disconnect (or your provider wants), you will always be able to get "back" to your Airport's IP by using a "name" rather than an IP. Any computer in your network will have a small piece of soft (some routers can do this automatically, I'm not sure about Airport Extreme, don't think so), that will periodically check your IP and if it has changed, it will inform the Dynamic DNS service that you use so it can update the value.

Some Dynamic DNS Providers (Mostly a free service) are (in no particular order):

Think of this as if instead of having a fixed phone number (static ip), a person could call you by "name" and the phone will check what is your current number (wouldn't that be great? ;) Nobody knows your number, only your name, because your number changes often (your ip!).

You haven't mentioned why you need a Static IP in the first place, but if you can't get it via your ISP, your only hope is to use Dynamic DNS. For what is worth, DDNS works really fine and it's very "fire and forget". Once it works, you no longer have to worry about IPs or anything, you just connect to: XXXXX.no-ip.org (for example)

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  • Thanks for the info! I'll look into those DDNS services. The only reason (at this point) that I need a static IP is to exclude myself from Google Analytics data.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Mar 14, 2011 at 17:40
  • @Nathan I believe Google Analytics will allow you to specify a host name, but I can't tell for sure.
    – Martin Marconcini
    Mar 14, 2011 at 17:52
  • I can exclude traffic from a domain, if that's the same thing. I can specfy that in AirPort utility.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Mar 14, 2011 at 18:33
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    I don't think using DDNS will work for excluding from Google Analytics as it uses reverse DNS to obtain the hostname, which will be something his ISP set and not the DDNS name. Honestly, your best bet for excluding yourself from GA is to block it in your browser.
    – Kyle Cronin
    Mar 14, 2011 at 20:32
  • @Kyle That's a shame! I've got Ghostery running as a temporary solution.
    – Nathan Greenstein
    Mar 14, 2011 at 21:35

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