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[neb]

I'm posting this here, transcribed from another post (by me) because it pertains to an important (missing) feature of the EBR-2310.

Spec: D-Link EBR-2310, Hardware: B1, Firmware: 2.01
Notice: Firmware 2.01 is on the device, but only 2.00 listed for download.

The EBR-2310 lacks a critical feature: No DHCP Static Reservation. That is, I need my internal (LAN) machines to always be assigned the same IP address. Yes, I could statically assign them on each machine, but that should not be necessary. Other routers allow me to reserve an IP address (outside the dynamic range) for each internal machine's unique MAC address.

This feature it is absolutely critical in a NAT environment for at least two reasons:
1) Port forwards need to always point to the correct machine's IP address
2) Internal network communication between machines need consistent IP addresses

In fact, the D-Link manual for this product (as well as the help pages on the firmware) refer to a DHCP Static Reservation feature. However, the device does not include this feature. I had a very informative conversation with D-Link tech support. The representative confirmed that this feature is missing (but existed in other models), and could offer no workaround.

I have since turned off DHCP and manually configured each of my LAN machines with static IP addresses (and gateway and DNS).

[Fatman]

neb, I understand your concerns with this feature but how many threads do we need on it?

Again I will say that you are right it is a nice feature but it is not "absolutely critical", you have set up the work around yourself.  I have requested this feature through the person in charge of this product and that's all I can do for the time being.

In fact if forced to rate the importance of this feature I would put it as a minor convenience not applicable to most networks.  This is less of a misleading statement than to call it "absolutely critical" given that there a way of keeping ALL functionality without it (therefore not critical).  Even with my massive network at home described in the linked thread I just set statics on machines with important LAN functions or port forwards and all is well.  That process was just as easy as setting up a static reservation and does not rely on the function of a single point of failure to drop my LAN services.

If my router dies my services live on if you static address (and have a living switch to put the PCs on).  With that feature if your router dies so does your LAN services.

Why do we need this thread to link 2 others???

[neb]

Sorry for the duplication. I was writing in this foum, since this is the new place for EBR-2310 comments. The purpose was informational. There's another topic in this forum regarding port forwarding issues. My post explains why a user might have port forwarding problems with the EBR-2310.

This product is intended for the base-level consumer. As such, it should work conveniently without undue configuration. Gaming and file sharing are very popular, and are not "important LAN functions" that should stop working if you reboot your router/computer.

Yes, we have the technical level of understanding to deal with this. I too have a switch, for just that purpose. However, the point is that I'm trying to help those that don't have our level of understanding. That's what a community forum is for.

If you really want to help this user and defend your statement that Static Reservation isn't really that important, maybe you should explain how to use UPnP. I don't know that much about it, and I've turned it off.

I'd like to know if UPnP would alleviate these port-forwarding issues. Thank you.

[Fatman]

If all your applications support UPnP then absolutely.  Just turn it on and your applications will automagically open the necessary ports.

My experience is that most applications will support UPnP and it can all work transparently, those that don't tend to require networking knowledge to even set up in the first place.

[neb]

That's a good point.

I don't like UPnP because it allows users/trojans to open arbitrary ports.

Does UPnP also automagically set up port forwarding to the machine opening the ports?

If so, then I guess this level of consumer router doesn't need DHCP Static Reservation. A non-technical user gets by with UPnP essentially configuring on-the-fly port forwarding. If a tech-savvy user does not want UPnP, they can set up static IPs for "manual" port forwarding.

I'm glad we figured this scenario out. Now I feel I could recommend this router to someone. But, I'll wait to see what Lycan finds out about the NAT processor...

[yfourn]

I have a real life situation where I would need to be able to reserve a static IP for a specific computer.

The only way I was able to make my wife's computer VPN connection to work properly (on the cottage network) is to put her machine in the DMZ.  Since DMZ requires a specific IP address, I would need to reserve a specific IP address for that computer on that network.  She's using that computer (laptop) on many networks, so I can not assign a static IP address to the wireless connection.

So that feature would be much appreciated.

I'm not very networking savy.  I know that I could probably open some ports, but I don't know wich one.

[keving98]

I know this is an old thread but I just bought this router yesterday.  The reason I quit buying Linksys routers was because of the lack of an ability to reserve IP's.  Saying it's a "minor convenience" is a foolish statement and you wouldn't be saying it if you had to maintain small business networks for a living.

Linksys decided to add this "minor convenience" to the last SOHO router I bought from them in a pinch so I guess it's no more D-Links for me.

Too bad.