Static IP Address  

RE: Static IP Address

Set a static IP pool in the router.. This is a better solution. Configure a range that you will use for static addresses and a range for dynamic.. Set your router to give DHCP dynamic range to the 2nd pool. But routers can also give out a fixed IP each time it gets a DHCP request.. It is based on the mac addresss.. Somewhere in your router you can set an IP address based on the mac address of the DHCP request. This is the best way to track all your static IP addresses as a single table resides in your router instead of looking at many machines. Set your MK4 for DHCP as usual, but get its mac address and set the router to give it an IP address from the static pool .

RE: Static IP Address

This is the way. As long as you control your router…

RE: Static IP Address

I'm sorry but I disagree with you.

Yes, you can assign a fixed IP address in the router by MAC address.  That address can even be outside of the DHCP range.  But this is a kluge when firmware doesn't allow the static IP address to be set locally.

The MK4 has a static IP address setting but it doesn't allow for the setting of the address.  There is a screen that has the ip address, network mask and the default gateway but the firmware does not allow changing these values from zero.  This is a firmware flaw.

Between computers, mobile devices, servers, streaming devices, etc. I have over 100 devices on my network.  I prefer to set the ip address of each device on the device and not on the router.  I have lost the router fix ip address mapping table more than once.  Even with backups it is easier to maintain at the device level rather than rely on the router.  I replace/update my routers more frequently than I replace/update my devices.

Many manufactures assume the user is too inexperienced to handle complicated things such as static ip address and only allow DHCP configurations.  I find this short sighted assumes quite a bit about the customer.  Though most users have no idea of what the difference between static and dynamic ip addresses are I still want the option to set the ip address myself.

RE: Static IP Address

Well Static IP on the router is certainly not a kludge.. and many best practices in large enterprise settings (think Cisco) recommend to use Static IP pools. On your 100 devices that require static addresses, if they are not PC computers, each has a different way to set that static IP.. and some like the MK4 will have firmware bugs.. But all will use DHCP from bootup .. (you find the Mac address on the packaging typically). You get a new printer.. dig into the manual .. what .. no manual.. okay.. go online.. how many buttons on that tiny LCD screen do you need to hit to get into the maintenance section? .. what .. didn't hit the save option? Try again.. 

No.. managing 100 devices for static IPs is definitely not the way to do it.. If you've lost your router settings more than a few times.. and have 100 devices on your network.. you are using the wrong router.. (man.. my $50 telcom routers have never died.. and I've moved 5 times.. ) I've managed many networks.. and I can't think of more than once I've lost a router table that I couldn't recover from a backup instantly. (and I've very rarely had a router totally fail.. (cisco, HP, Dell, NetGear, xyzel, .. ).. If you replace your routers frequently, that is just not typical. 

Absolutely, many like to set static IPs on machines.. sometimes it is the quickest thing to do when you have a Telcom router and don't know how to get into it.. or it will take too long to get into it.. But static IP pools are a great idea .. At a glance they give you a list of every device you have all their addresses.. Self documentation of 100 static IPs on devices.. is prone to human errors and it is easy to set two devices to the same IP; and in many networks it is much more work.

It's also not an industry, standard practice ..that is why Bootp and DHCP were invented. They solve more issues than they create.

That said.. there is no excuse for Prusa to have bugs in their static IP feature.. but.. they are not strong in their networking knowledge & testing.. at least DHCP will work.. or they can't even sell their printers.  

Posted by: @chitownguy

I'm sorry but I disagree with you.

Yes, you can assign a fixed IP address in the router by MAC address.  That address can even be outside of the DHCP range.  But this is a kluge when firmware doesn't allow the static IP address to be set locally.

The MK4 has a static IP address setting but it doesn't allow for the setting of the address.  There is a screen that has the ip address, network mask and the default gateway but the firmware does not allow changing these values from zero.  This is a firmware flaw.

Between computers, mobile devices, servers, streaming devices, etc. I have over 100 devices on my network.  I prefer to set the ip address of each device on the device and not on the router.  I have lost the router fix ip address mapping table more than once.  Even with backups it is easier to maintain at the device level rather than rely on the router.  I replace/update my routers more frequently than I replace/update my devices.

Many manufactures assume the user is too inexperienced to handle complicated things such as static ip address and only allow DHCP configurations.  I find this short sighted assumes quite a bit about the customer.  Though most users have no idea of what the difference between static and dynamic ip addresses are I still want the option to set the ip address myself.

RE:

Honestly, the replies here really bother me, pretentious and dismissive. It shouldn't be up to you to decide what someone else needs, you can't know their situation. Either help them achieve the thing they want to do, or leave them alone. Don't tell them they don't need what they're asking for, if they didn't need it they wouldn't be asking. Telling them off for it just pushes people away from what they're asking for help with if not tech in general.

I myself am also in need of a static IP address. No, you don't get to ask why, I've seen what you do when people answer. Either tell me where to find what I need to do it, or buzz off.

RE: Static IP Address

Meant to say "some of the replies here" but it's too late to edit. Other people seem to get it, that there can be reasons that are being dismissed, but again and again I see people replying to a humble question with dismissal. "Do X instead." "You should never want that." "[significantly more complex process] is much better, you should never do it any other way." And now someone who's learning, and probably not as privileged as you, is confronted with a wall that says "This is not for you."

RE: Static IP Address

Posted by: @aquilux

Honestly, the replies here really bother me, pretentious and dismissive. It shouldn't be up to you to decide what someone else needs, you can't know their situation. Either help them achieve the thing they want to do, or leave them alone. Don't tell them they don't need what they're asking for, if they didn't need it they wouldn't be asking. Telling them off for it just pushes people away from what they're asking for help with if not tech in general.

I myself am also in need of a static IP address. No, you don't get to ask why, I've seen what you do when people answer. Either tell me where to find what I need to do it, or buzz off.

Thank you for saying that in a much better way than I could have.

What gets to me is the assumption that I don't know what I'm doing and you know better than I do.

Instead of saying "You don't know what you are doing, you should be doing blah blah blah"

It might be better to say "I don't know the reason why you want to do it that way but here is how I would do it and why"

For me, I prefer setting the Static IP address on each device.  I really don't have a legitimate reason for doing this other than that is what I prefer.

I remember spending hours figuring out the MAC address of each and every device and manually assigning the IP Address on the DHCP server.  This got very confusing when trying to identify which of several identical devices a specific device is (streaming device, smart outlet, smart bulb, etc.).

RE:

I truly apologize if you think I'm being dismissive. And in no way did I ever say you didn't know what you are doing.. actually to manage 100 static IPs you have extensive knowledge of networking.. and certainly I don't want to undermine your advice. However, when you openly disagree, you are implying that using Static IP pools aren't a standard practice (or even a good way to proceed), and I think for struggling users, that can cause issues, especially if they don't have your background. Everyone uses static IPs on devices, even me.. but they can be more difficult to manage and to keep the documentation current. Many people set a static IP and then forget it.. maybe put the static IP in the dynamic range and get conflicts.. Especially when you have such a large number. A static IP table is not only easy to see at a glance, but it can be exported, often in a comma delimited file and then imported to a host of different routers. 

For 100 devices, you have to make 100 different types of configurations .. If you can learn to manage a router.. and not all do .. you only have one place to make every change which can be a much easier way to manage devices. And since you are entering that device 100 times, you tend to remember its exact steps.

Now learning about static IP pools on routers is not an intuitive thing.. and so setting a static IP at the time, when you are configuring a device is often easier because you are digging into its manual anyway.. down the road if you need to change it..  it can be more time consuming because you need to relearn the config for that device.. For one of Prusa's devices, I think it involves creating an INI file, rebooting, etc.. that's quite a process. And then if it doesn't work ..you might try to ping it to see if the static IP stuck.. .. only to eventually learn that the ping utility on the Prusa device doesn't work (a zero checksum bug)..

I was not trying to say static IPs should not be used.. but that router config can be an easier way to manage .. and which is generally a recommended practice with the knowledge that for a very small number of devices a static IP assignment is great. Managing 100 static IPs works equally as well, but it requires more knowledge, generally, for the user and more attention to documentation and management.

Again, I apologize for seeming dismissive.. my intent is to identify what might be more commonly used in networks as a generality .. but to be open to all kinds of different methods; and all have plusses and minuses. 

And my intent was to help the OP to set a static IP.. just to consider setting it at the router level. 

RE: Static IP Address

Setting static IP in the router vs each device is a religious issue as evidenced by this thread. 🙂 I can't help but provide my 2 cents. 🙂

I personally set them in the router because one never knows if a firmware update in a device resets it's network settings back to default which guarantees it won't be the static IP I assigned to it. I control when/if my router does a firmware update, but every device does it's own update whenever it feels like.  

Also, as evidenced by the Prusa firmware team, it's very probable that device firmwares are buggy and untrustworthy. The highest chance of not running into bugs is to use DHCP.

Lastly, it's easier for me to change the static IP of the 50 various devices I have in the router, instead of remembering how to get into the network setups of each individual device.

RE: Static IP Address

OP: if you are still interested in configuring a static ip, the actual answer to your question is this:

Put a file in the base directory of your flash drive named "prusa_printer_settings.ini" containing something like this (in fact it can contain only this if you want):

[eth::ipv4]
type=static
addr=192.168.0.42
mask=255.255.255.0
gw=192.168.0.1

More info can be found in the example ini here: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/blob/master/doc/prusa_printer_settings.ini

After plugging it in and doing a printer reset (I'm paranoid to I went into the system menu and selected the load settings from file option), it should use that static ip now.

It could probably be better documented. There's actually quite a few users wondering the same thing and I just decided to check out the code after the answer wasn't out there via google/prusa's search from what I could find.

I hope that helps you and anyone else who may stumble upon this thread via google like I did. 🙂

As for the earlier replies to this thread I feel like onlookers can learn a lesson from this: don't judge other users on their setup just because you have no idea what the actual answer to their question is. There is a menu option for it for a reason. Don't waste my time by saying I shouldn't be using the feature that I'm interested in. That just makes you and the prusa community look bad.

also I just feel like pointing out DHCP reservation on a router is not the same thing as a static ip. It's hard enough for humans to communicate as is so lets agree to not switch up the terminology here ;P

RE: Static IP Address

Flyingkiller,

I have the dumbest question ever...

If I want to configure my wifi with the static ip, would I use the same command lines you suggested, except change [eth::ipv4] to [wifi::ipv4]?

RE: Static IP Address

I have firmware 4.7.0. and I am trying to set a static ip address for WIFI. I need it. If I leave DHCP on, it connects to the wifi and I can communicate. If I add the wifi static ip settings to the config file exactly as instructed: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/blob/master/doc/prusa_printer_settings.ini

and I switch the address to static, the address always ends up as 0.0.0.0 and communication does not work. Is there anyone for who this works?

RE: Static IP Address

I got it to work.  For me, I was loading the .ini file in the wrong screen on the Mk4.  When I got it to work, I loaded the .ini by navigating to Settings->System->Load Settings from File.

The file I uploaded was called prusa_printer_setttings.ini and contained the following lines:

[wifi::ipv4]
type=static
addr=192.168.1.51
mask=255.255.255.0
gw=192.168.1.1

I copied the mask and gateway addresses directly from the DHCP settings.  I also went into my router settings and assigned this IP as static.  For my router, it was under Advanced->Setup->LAN Setup and there was a section in there called "Address Reservation".  I reserved the IP using the MAC address found in the Prusa Network settings.

I hope this helps you sort it out.

Posted by: @chipmen

I have firmware 4.7.0. and I am trying to set a static ip address for WIFI. I need it. If I leave DHCP on, it connects to the wifi and I can communicate. If I add the wifi static ip settings to the config file exactly as instructed: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/blob/master/doc/prusa_printer_settings.ini

and I switch the address to static, the address always ends up as 0.0.0.0 and communication does not work. Is there anyone for who this works?

 

RE: Static IP Address

Thanks, Steve. My MK4 was grabbing a different IP address every so often.  Your file worked perfectly so far (2 days).

Steve

Posted by: @steve-31

I got it to work.  For me, I was loading the .ini file in the wrong screen on the Mk4.  When I got it to work, I loaded the .ini by navigating to Settings->System->Load Settings from File.

The file I uploaded was called prusa_printer_setttings.ini and contained the following lines:

[wifi::ipv4]
type=static
addr=192.168.1.51
mask=255.255.255.0
gw=192.168.1.1

I copied the mask and gateway addresses directly from the DHCP settings.  I also went into my router settings and assigned this IP as static.  For my router, it was under Advanced->Setup->LAN Setup and there was a section in there called "Address Reservation".  I reserved the IP using the MAC address found in the Prusa Network settings.

I hope this helps you sort it out.

 

Posted by: @chipmen

I have firmware 4.7.0. and I am trying to set a static ip address for WIFI. I need it. If I leave DHCP on, it connects to the wifi and I can communicate. If I add the wifi static ip settings to the config file exactly as instructed: https://github.com/prusa3d/Prusa-Firmware-Buddy/blob/master/doc/prusa_printer_settings.ini

and I switch the address to static, the address always ends up as 0.0.0.0 and communication does not work. Is there anyone for who this works?

 

 

RE: Static IP Address

I experienced the exact same problem and I gave up and forced a static IP address in my DHCP server.

RE: Static IP Address

Hi Steve, 

if you set it up on the DHCP server, it's not a solution. It's just a workaround for a non-functioning Prusa Printer and it's not a solution for all scenarios. Certainly not for my scenarios. And there are plenty of those scenarios, e.g. you want the printer to not be on the same network range and to have a different IP than DHCP gives out. Etc. I want the Prusa setup described for static I.p. for WIFI to work.

RE:

Posted by: @chipmen

Hi Steve, 

if you set it up on the DHCP server, it's not a solution. It's just a workaround for a non-functioning Prusa Printer and it's not a solution for all scenarios. Certainly not for my scenarios. And there are plenty of those scenarios, e.g. you want the printer to not be on the same network range and to have a different IP than DHCP gives out. Etc. I want the Prusa setup described for static I.p. for WIFI to work.

 

I completely agree.  I had this exact same conversation earlier in this thread.

The inability to do network configuration from the printer display (Including WiFi configuration, IP address, etc.) is a major user interface oversight in my opinion.

The Prusa software team is already aware of the issues both with on printer as well as using the PC and the config file.

But, tbh, Network Speed, Input Shaping and Organic Supports are more important to me than setting the IP address.

For note, I am connecting to the printer via a network cable, rather than WiFi,  because of the increased transfer speed.

RE: Static IP Address

I'm confirming that static IP setting works from the printer level. Just create notepad file named "prusa_printer_settings.ini" and paste code below ith your setting. The same for WiFi but put "wifi" instead of "eth" in the beggining of the code.

[eth::ipv4]
# Type could be DHCP, STATIC or OFF.
# DHCP - use DPCH server for automatic configuration
# STATIC - use IP address and MASK from configuration
# OFF - IP4 on LAN port is disabled.
type=static
# IP4 address is ignored when DHCP type is set.
addr=192.168.0.42
# IP4 mask is ignored when DHCP type is set.
mask=255.255.255.0
# Default gateway. If variable is not empty, this value is set, even if
# DHCP type is set.
gw=192.168.0.1

RE: Static IP Address

For me, the static address setting persistently ignores it, but printer naming and access by name works for me:  prusamk4.mshome.net  and settings ini>

[network]

web=1

hostname=prusamk4