Should devices with static IPs be entered into Reserved Address list?

[timmy2]

I'm curious about when to enter devices into a router's Reserved Address list. Specifically, the Netgear WNDR3400v2 router, but I assume the function of reserved addresses is largely the same for all routers.

One use I've found for the reserved address list is to force the router to assign the same IP address to a specific laptop when I want to leave the laptop's NIC set for DHCP. The laptop essentially has a static IP address when used with this particular router but can fetch IP addresses from DHCP servers when taken elsewhere.

This led me to wonder if there is any reason to enter into the reserved address list mac addresses of devices that have been configured internally with static IP addresses.

 

[zentec]

It is mostly a matter of personal preference and how you design your network.

I define a static IP on any device or machine that has network infrastructure. I have two machines that have caching DNS and other services important to how the network operates, so I need them to always be where I put them and not get goofy in case the DHCP server goes wonky. Same for network infrastructure like wireless access points.

Devices and machines that are not part of infrastructure, but work a little nicer with a known IP address (such as getting to the VoIP web interface, the DVR) get their MAC addresses entered into the reserved address list. They'll pretty much always be where I put them.

Anything else gets its address from the DHCP pool.

Another use for the address reservation list is security. Any trusted known device gets an address with full access to the network, anything else gets an address that has limited or no access to the network. Or, perhaps unknown devices get special routing. It all depends on what you want to do; it's just one of many tools to control access on your network and make things easier to manage.