Printer IP Addresses

[MrTBC]

Hi there.
This is no longer a problem, I'm just interested if anyone has the time to offer opinions.
I'm fairly new to networking and at the last place I worked we would install new network printers by:

1. Connect a network cable
2. Wait for DHCP to assign an IP address
3. Take a note of the MAC address
4. Reserve the IP Address on the DHCP Server

I have now moved jobs and had to set up my first new printer yesterday. I tried this and although everything SEEMED fine, print jobs would stick in the queue and not print.
So I took a look at how the other printers were set up...

They were all done manually using an IP address keyed into the physical printer. Nothing reserved in DHCP. They were also part of a small sequence of IP Addresses (a 'Scope'?).

So, my questions are:

1. What are the advantages and disdvantages to these two methods?
2. Why didn't what I originally tried work at my new place?

Thanks very much for any help you may give me.

 

[Seaspray0]

I'm currious as to why it didn't work either. If you set a printer to get it's address from DHCP and print off a configuration page, do you notice anything wrong with either the IP address, mask, or gateway?


A+/MCP/MCSE/MCDBA

 

[JBorecky]

That is Curious.

The only reason I can think of, was if your reservation was part of the exclusions list in the DHCP? This is a common mistake.

 

[Teknoratti]

I dont see any reason why it shouldn't work. In my environment the ip addresses are physically on the printers. Do you have a print server? Maybe the spool is corrupted. Restart the spool, then resend the print jobs.
Could be something physically wrong with the printer.

You never stated what you did to fix the problem, unless the fix was configuring them the way the other printers were set.

 

[MrTBC]

Thanks everyone - glad to know that my thinking was right, i.e. it was weird!

Seaspray0 - the IP Address, Gateway, and Subnet Mask were all fine
JBorecky - I know a LITTLE about this (currently doing my MCSA) and that was my guess too
Teknoratti - The spooler was fine as all other network printers were working OK

 

[fs483]

On most of the networks that I manage, I generally reserve a certain range of IPs for servers and a different one for the printers, it's much easier to manage. If the printer allows hard coding of the IP then by all means I will do it that way. Some cheaper print servers don't allow that so I do a reservation.

 

[MrTBC]

Thanks akwong. So how do you tell printers which range of IP Addresses to use via DHCP? Will it not just pick up one at random?

 

[Seaspray0]

The reservation is done by the MAC address of the network card. When the requestor (printer in your case) asks for an IP address from DHCP, it also supplies the MAC. The server will match the MAC against the reservation list and if it finds a match, it will assign the reserved address to the requestor (DCHP will only assign the address to the MAC that matches). Warning: if the NIC goes bad on your device and you replace it, update the new MAC on your reservation.

As for reserving a range, most people will define an exclusion range to keep DHCP from handing out addresses in this range. They use this range for hard coded IP addresses such as servers and printers (so DHCP will not hand these out). You plan your exclusion range in advance to allow for future growth of your network. At the end of this range, you might want to exclude some addresses individually for printers you want to do reservations on later. That way you can buy a new printer, do a reservation and then delete the exclusion for that single IP.

A+/MCP/MCSE/MCDBA