Installation guide

Imagine 8-bit (0 – 255) as 8 little switches. Each switch that is ‘on’ has to be matched by the corresponding

switch in your address. The number 255 hence indicates that an exact match is required. The number 0

represents the other extreme: all possible 256 numbers (0 - 255) would match. Thus, a subnet mask of

255.255.255.0 would allow all IP addresses ranging from 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.255 to ‘see’ each other.

If you need to restrict your subnet further, or expand it, you will require more knowledge than we can cover

in this brief introduction. You can start further reading at

IP Addressing and Subnetting for New Users.

DHCP servers

In larger networks, or in networks where new devices are added regularly (like wireless networks), allocating

a correct and unique IP number to every network interface can be a daunting task. Whenever you decide

to change your subnetwork, for whatever reason, you also need to change all connected interfaces.

It is easier to leave the task of allocating IP addresses to a DHCP server. In this case, you can set up all

your client computers just once to automatically get the networking information from a DHCP server, and

then you can forget about them.

The following links provide more information on how to set up a network interface to get its address from a

DHCP server:

• if you are using Windows.

• if you are using Apple Macintosh.

• if you are using Linux.

For other operating systems, please consult your manuals or engage an IT professional who knows the

system.

To set up the DHCP server, you first have to know where it is:

• if you are using an embedded gateway/firewall (e.g. D-Link, Linksys, Billion, Netgear), go to

Embedded DHCP Server Setup.

• if you are using a dedicated gateway/firewall computer (e.g. Smoothwall, SME Server), go to

Dedicated DHCP Server Setup.

Setting up a DHCP server usually requires answering the following questions:

• what is the DHCP server’s address?

 in our example: 192.168.0.1

• what is your start address?

 in our example: 192.168.0.50

• what is your end address?

 in our example: 192.168.0.250

• what is your DNS server’s address?

 find out from your ISP