Allow users to change IP Address

[cglass1015]

I need to allow mobile users to change their IP address, but I can't find the group policy setting to allow me to unlock that functionality for my mobile users group. Any help is appreciated.

 

[TheLad]

Why would you want to do this? Do you use DHCP? What is your reasoning for having static addresses on mobile devices?

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[cglass1015]

No, we don't use DHCP, and we really can't because of some unique software requirements.

 

[xmsre]

You should be using DHCP with reservations. The effect is very similar to static IP addresses, and you can create a unique scope for each location.

Allowing users to change their IP to one of their own choosing at will is a major problem. There will be nothing to prevent duplicate IP assignments, incorrect gateways and subnet masks, etc.. Your helpdesk will be flooded with calls and your mean time between failure will approach 0. The first time a mobile user assigns the IP address used by a mission critical server, you'll be looking for a new job.

 

[Seaspray0]

Agree with xmsre. It gives you 2 advantages to use DHCP with reservations. 1. management: the IP's are fixed at a central location (reservation in DHCP) when the clients are onsite. 2. flexibility: If the clients are mobile, it allows them to obtain a good address should they plug into a hotel's network, for instance, to get internet access.

A+/MCP/MCSE/MCDBA

 

[TheLad]

I also agree. You can setup reservations at each site so if they are at Site A they always get the same IP address within that scope, if they are at Site B, they always get the same IP Address within that scope etc...

My company does this for users who update server content in our DMZ (mainly web servers) where access to the DMS is restricted to certain IP Addresses. Their laptops are set to DHCP, which is configured to give them the same address. If they go to a different site, they get a normal DHCP address relevant to that site unless a reservation for their laptop MAC address is configured there too

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"It's true, its damn true!"
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[cglass1015]

Ok, I'll look into that. One other question...our DC is located at our corp. office, and all three branch offices connect to that. Is it possible for that DC to assign IP addresses to the remote computers with the proper subnet? How is this accomplished?

 

[xmsre]

1. Yes
2. You have to set the routers to forward dhcp or bootp requests to the server, and configure a scope for each location on the server.

 

[cglass1015]

Can I not just use my routers for DHCP and set the primary DNS as the domain controller? I think that would be better than just using the windows dc and the DHCP so that if the link between the corp. office and a branch offices goes down, they can still get out to the internet.

 

[JBorecky]

Being in a corporate enviornment myself, I'd check with corporate. Of course unless you're the MAIN corporate admin. They get kinda funny when you start making unapproved changes that could impact the network.

 

[xmsre]

It depends 0on what you have for a router. For Cisco routers, there is no native DHCP server, but you can set the "IP HelperAddress" to forward bootp/dchp requests to a server of your choice. You can set more than 1 dhcp server. If you have available IP addresses in your subnet, one way to get redundancy is to split the subnet into two scopes. Have a local DHCP server serve up half with a long lease time, and the remote dhcp server serve of the other half with a short lease time. Make reservations for the IP addresses given out by the local dhcp server. With this configuration, if the local DHCP server is up, you effectively get a fixed ip. If it goes down, you still get an IP albeit a dynamic one.