Specifications

Getting Started 29
4.5 Dynamically Assigned Internet Addresses
In many instances, there are no fixed IP addresses. This is the case when, for example, you
are assigned an IP address dynamically by your dial-up Internet service provider (ISP) or
when you have a device that provides your IP addresses using the Dynamic Host Configu-
ration Protocol (DHCP). The RCM3000 series RabbitCore modules can use such IP
addresses to send and receive packets on the Internet, but you must take into account that
this IP address may only be valid for the duration of the call or for a period of time, and
could be a private IP address that is not directly accessible to others on the Internet. These
private address can be used to perform some Internet tasks such as sending e-mail or
browsing the Web, but usually cannot be used to participate in conversations that originate
elsewhere on the Internet. If you want to find out this dynamically assigned IP address,
under Windows 98 you can run the winipcfg program while you are connected and look
at the interface used to connect to the Internet.
Many networks use private IP addresses that are assigned using DHCP. When your com-
puter comes up, and periodically after that, it requests its networking information from a
DHCP server. The DHCP server may try to give you the same address each time, but a
fixed IP address is usually not guaranteed.
If you are not concerned about accessing the RCM3000 from the Internet, you can place
the RCM3000 on the internal network using a private address assigned either statically or
through DHCP.