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Why can't you use .1 for a host?
- Thread starter shroomiin
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klank
Killer of Killer NIC Threadz
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You can...
lizardking009
Gawd
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You can. .1 is often picked as the router IP but it isn't reserved for that purpose.
Hmm..
For some reason we ran into a situation where this caused problems. Symptoms were the network connection being dropped often and not coming back online (wired network).
The environment is a PC with 2 NICs. One NIC is dedicated to a private secure VLAN while the other is on our normal production VLAN for remote access. When the NIC for the private VLAN was assigned 192.168.60.1 (.60 vlan), it became unstable.
The PC acts as a server for a video surveillance system, so technically there is no gateway as networks are not being traversed, however changing this IP from 192.168.60.1 to 192.168.60.10 resolved the issue.
For some reason we ran into a situation where this caused problems. Symptoms were the network connection being dropped often and not coming back online (wired network).
The environment is a PC with 2 NICs. One NIC is dedicated to a private secure VLAN while the other is on our normal production VLAN for remote access. When the NIC for the private VLAN was assigned 192.168.60.1 (.60 vlan), it became unstable.
The PC acts as a server for a video surveillance system, so technically there is no gateway as networks are not being traversed, however changing this IP from 192.168.60.1 to 192.168.60.10 resolved the issue.
S
shade91
Guest
You can. Most people tend to use .1 for the router IP and some will use .254. I prefer .1 though 
dandragonrage
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You can indeed use .1. I assume your problems are probably because that IP was already in use and you were unaware. Usually .1 is the gateway. Fortunately nobody at my work has been idiotic enough to make a PDC .1.
S
shade91
Guest
If you ping .1 do you get any kind of response? What you are seeing is very unusual.
It's more fun to confuse people and use a /23 or larger and then use .0 or .255 as the router IP.
But yes, there is no reason why you can't use any IP Address, provided it is not the "network" or "broadcast" address(assuming you aren't using a /31 but that's a different beast altogether).
But yes, there is no reason why you can't use any IP Address, provided it is not the "network" or "broadcast" address(assuming you aren't using a /31 but that's a different beast altogether).
lizardking009
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A couple of our DHCP scopes are /23's and it confused the hell out of one our less educated techs when she had machines with IPs ending in .0 and .255.
Why? What's the point?
My take on this is that you might as well use .1 as the gateway to keep things simple. If you are trying to confuse potential "hackers", the last IP in the range is their second guess, followed by .2 and .254 lol. If that is what you are going for, I would use a completely random IP somewhere in the middle of the range.
agreed. especially if i'm doing any kind of first hop redundancy.
.252 - secondary/standby
.253 - Primary/Active
.254 - vIP
i usually stop the DHCP range at .240, gives me some IP space to either static or use for routers/switches/WAPs etc if I'm setting up a flat network with no separate management subnet.
dandragonrage
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It's all about a standard. He likes his use last IP standard, you like your use first IP standard. As long as it's followed everywhere, it doesn't really matter whether it's the first or last IP in the scope, as long as everything is the same to make things simple.
dandragonrage
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But last IP is NOT the standard. Even if he's not the only person to do it, regardless, it is not the standard, and should be considered wrong. When he leaves his job, his replacement shouldn't have to figure out all the stupid little things he did like that. Is it a big deal? Okay, no, not really. But is it wrong? Yes.
That's what i'm dealing with at the moment..
The last manager of IT where i'm at did not follow any best practices or popular standards- to add to it he took very little and very poor documentation.
For the past 6 months that ive been here, it's been a struggle to figure out the environment and get it all configured to best practice the right way.
A real PITA!
The last manager of IT where i'm at did not follow any best practices or popular standards- to add to it he took very little and very poor documentation.
For the past 6 months that ive been here, it's been a struggle to figure out the environment and get it all configured to best practice the right way.
A real PITA!
I don't think first IP is standard either. Maybe a convention, but not a standard.
dandragonrage
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It's by FAR the closest to a standard compared to anything else. I'd be willing to bet that .1 is used for a gateway more than everything else combined.
If you have a real reason not to follow the standard/convention of .1, fine, but if you're just doing it because you like to be different, then WRONG. Again, of all the things a network admin could do, this is FAR from the worst, but it's still a slight annoyance. Network administration is a science, not an art.
Sorry to OP for the tangent.. This'll be my last post about this in here.
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Because someone decides to use an addressing convention that you don't like they're "WRONG" (all caps WRONG even)?
It's not a standard, and there's no reason anyone should feel they should use it.
I've seen many that are .2, .50, .99, .240, and .254 - even on home networks (biggest local telco uses .254 on their equipment). Not so many .1's in my experiences.
I think the point he is trying to make is that the admin should have a good reason to use a gateway other than .1. You cannot deny that people traditionally expect the gateway to be .1- This is how networking is taught to students (that the gateway is normally .1).
Personally, our network is set up using .2 as the gateway, which was not my doing.
That's true. Most people expect .1 and it would be far easier to get the lay of the land on any given network if they all were .1 or even .254. Neither are really hard to read and both are "correct" based off general guidelines the industry follows.
In the end there is no right or wrong with what you use in a network, only based off what each network administrator views as being right or wrong. You expect .1 or .254 to be the default gateway 100% of the time. When neither are the case then it throws people off and makes them spend more unnecessary time developing or understanding the network.
The real problem though isn't what IP you're using as a gateway, so long as it's consistent throughout the network. Same way people might say always use the beginning or end of the address block as static IP's for network devices that need one. You can use whatever you wish so long as it's well documented and CONSISTENT in the entire network. It may suck for a newbie coming in understanding your network design and be simply frustrating for a network eldar, but that's just human preference getting in the way.
Ultimately if you're using a /24 and the gateway isn't .1 or .254, then you better have a damn good reason as to why you're not. If at all anything, it just looks tacky as shit.
If you expect .1 to be the gateway then you're taught wrong, plain and simple. There is no standard, only conventions.
The only reasoning I can follow is to put the gateway top or bottom, anywhere in the middle is whacky, although I can't see why it matters. DNS and DHCP exist.
The only reasoning I can follow is to put the gateway top or bottom, anywhere in the middle is whacky, although I can't see why it matters. DNS and DHCP exist.
Yep, I was never taught that .1 should be the gateway. Usually it's the first or last address bu it can be anything. Same thing with dhcp/dns. Who cares if its first or last?
Most places have their own way of doing it, certainly no reason to get butt hurt over it.
What's the problem having a PDC on .1 ?
Sounds like a duplicate IP on the network. What gateway do you have configured on your private network interface? (it should be empty). Also, you are using the term VLAN incorrectly, as VLANs have nothing to do with what you are trying to achieve. You can have two distinct IP networks on the same LAN or VLAN without issue.
What is the output of "route print" on this machine? There should be no persistent routes.
I agree, probably a duplicate IP.
But no, I am not using the term VLAN incorrectly. We are simply using VLANS to separate traffic and keep the "private" network secluded. One port on the switch is uplinked to another switch on our standard VLAN for SNMP monitoring. The rest of the ports as well as the PC used as a server for the camera's are on another VLAN.
Although what you are saying may be true, this is how we set it up and it achieves the functionality we need all the same.