Windows or router setttings

[SpikeyB]

I don't know much about networking issues but I've been playing around and trying to learn more. I have a single computer attached to a simple NAT router with no no firewall on router or active on the computer.

Every day my machine gets the same IP address, so I decided to change my TCP/IP connection settings from obtain IP address automatically to use the ones I found using netstat.

Now I cannot access web pages by typing in their name. I can only access them by typing in an IP adress.

I don't know whether to change some DNS settings on windows or on the router.

Can anyone explain what is happening. It's not a problem, I'm just trying to understand things a bit better.

Thanks for any help.

[Arup]

Put it back to obtain IP automatically, in this case, your router is set to DHCP so it will assign IP on its own. By specifying netstat IP, you are bypassing your ISP's DNS servers.

[SpikeyB]

Thanks Arup.

I hadn't noticed that a DNS needed to be set if the IP address was set to a fixed address. I set a DNS and it worked.

This leads me onto another question. I had thought that I could disable the windows service DHCP client if my router was set to DHCP but I found that I couldn't connect if I disabled it. I then disabled DHCP on my router and now I can also disable the windows DHCP client service without losing my connection. How is DHCP handled if it's enabled in windows and on the router, does one take precedence over the other?

[Notok]

What's on your router is the DHCP Server, on your computer is the DHCP Client. If you have both enabled, the Client on your system will be able to accept the IP address that the Server assigns it. If you have the Client disabled, however, it won't be able to communicate with the DHCP Server, and you will need to set the IP address yourself (this will also include the default gateway and DNS server settings as well). Personally I prefer to set those settings manually, otherwise it sets the DNS server to the router itself, which in turn translates the request and sends it to the actual DNS server.. this process is slower than just connecting directly to the DNS server.

[SpikeyB]

Notok, that was an excellent answer, thank you very much.

I've learned something new today and I'm pleased, thanks Arup and Notok.