When I first got into digital audio (about 10 years ago), I received advice to set my audio gear to static IP addresses. As I recall, the rationale was that a static address gave a smoother, more reliable connection, which could improve sound quality.
As far as I can, tell, the PST and DS Mk2 do not have any facility to set a static address. (The menu system will show the IP address in use but not allow one to change it.) But I guess this doesn’t really matter, since these units do not need a network connection to function, unlike the older DMP. (And I leave Wi-Fi turned off and ethernet jacks unconnected.)
Streamers, of course, must be connected to a network. There are a number of streamers discussed on this forum; do these units typically provide the ability to set a static address (as I did with my Bridge II)? Do people still think this is important? I still use static addresses for my NAS and my P12 (the latter can be set through its network page).
Assigning a static IP address is done using the router, not on individual pieces of equipment. In my early tablet days (Nexus 7) I found that assigning a fixed IP address helped prevent my WiFi connection being dropped and reconnecting repeatedly.
I still recommend doing this for each item connected to your network. If you don’t assign a fixed IP address (DHCP reservation), then any time an item gets disconnected and then reconnects, it gets assigned an IP address by the router that may not be the same as the last one it had. If that IP address changes, then other items on the network may no longer be able to find it if they are looking for it based on the IP address rather than a device name.
Thanks for the reply. In some cases, at least, addresses are set on the individual piece. For example, I did this on my iPad using one of the sub menus under the Wi-Fi settings. I also did it directly on the Bridge and my NAS.
My router does not allow one to set static addresses. That was one of the first things I tried; at least I haven’t been able to make it work. It’s a very old unit supplied by Verizon. (I do know how to access the router and play around with the various settings.)
Edit: I just went into my router and looked around some more. I may have found a setting that I didn’t already try. More to follow.
I’m sceptical about there being a difference in SQ between using fixed or DHCP-assigned IP addresses. After all, once the address is assigned, the operation of the connection is identical however the address was assigned. However, if you hear a difference then go with what you hear.
As bstanwick indicated above, you can still reliably use DHCP in your network and, for added certainty, reserve specific IP addresses in your router’s DHCP address pool for specific devices in your network. It’s simply associating each device’s MAC address with a specific IP address from the address pool. Many router configuration GUIs allow this to be easily done.
At any rate, even without special consideration, in reasonably stable home networks where IP resources are not contentious, DHCP will assign the same IP address to a device based on the (same) MAC address.
After all that, I’ve found that, provided all devices are configured to request an IP address from your network’s DHCP server, it’s far more convenient and reliable to use DHCP rather than fixed addresses.
Thanks – I didn’t know this. And there is no competition for IP resources in my house. Certainly using DHCP is more convenient, but more reliable? I thought the whole idea of static addresses was greater reliability or consistency.
DHCP reservations (based on mac address) work reliably now on most routers and clients, and it’s a lot less hassle than having to reset the IP every time you rebuild or reset or whatever.
Some routers allow you to save a backup file of the DHCP reservations too which I would recommend if you can
Edit - some routers also allow hostnames to be assigned to reserved IPs too, assuming your router also acts as your home network’s DNS server (which most do).
