How to set a Static IP Address on a Mac
Dec 17, 2010 - 7 Comments
If you want to set your Mac to always have the same IP address (a static IP), you can easily do so in the Network settings. Here’s how to do this in Mac OS X:
- Launch System Preferences
- Click on “Network”
- Click on the protocol you are using, let’s say we’re using AirPort with a wireless connection so click on “AirPort” and then click on “Advanced” in the lower right corner
- Click on the “TCP/IP” tab
- For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume you want to maintain DHCP but set a manual static IP address, so click on the drop-down menu next to “Configure IPv4″ and select “Using DHCP with manual address” (you can also use full manual mode)
- Select a static IP that will not conflict with anything else on the network. It’s best to pick a number far out of the normal range of assigned IP’s, in the example below we chose 192.168.0.245 because most of the machines on this network stop at 192.168.0.150
- After you have selected your static IP address, click on “OK” in the corner
- Click on the “Apply” button in the lower right corner
- Your IP will now manually set to the static address you provided, you will briefly disconnect from the network while this occurs
- Close Network settings and System Preferences
Now your Mac has a static IP address. There’s other ways to achieve this, and ideally you would set a static IP to your hardware from the router itself by determining it’s MAC address, but that is a more advanced solution and also varies from router to router, making it impractical to cover here.
The IP address you have used in the screenshot are not valid in this network configuration. 192.168.0.255 is for broadcasting.
Address: 192.168.0.1 11000000.10101000.00000000 .00000001
Netmask: 255.255.255.0 = 24 11111111.11111111.11111111 .00000000
Wildcard: 0.0.0.255 00000000.00000000.00000000 .11111111
=>
Network: 192.168.0.0/24 11000000.10101000.00000000 .00000000 (Class C)
Broadcast: 192.168.0.255 11000000.10101000.00000000 .11111111
HostMin: 192.168.0.1 11000000.10101000.00000000 .00000001
HostMax: 192.168.0.254 11000000.10101000.00000000 .11111110
Hosts/Net: 254 (Private Internet)
See: http://jodies.de/ipcalc?host=192.168.0.1&mask1=24&mask2=
In a /24 network, the .255 address is the broadcast address. It cannot be used by an equipment. Same with .0 which is the network address.
Valid addresses are from 1 to 254
If you have a subnet which is larger than /24 (eg. /23 or /22), then .255 can be used in some cases.
Good catch Sebastian & Max, thanks for pointing that out
FWIW, if you have a router most will let you permanently assign an IP to a DHCP client based on the MAC address of the hosts ethernet NIC. And yes. x.x.x.255 for a 0xffffff00 netmask is the broadcast. Your text is right, just the screengrab shows the wrong addr.
I bought my MB pro about 2 weeks ago (first MAC) and once I realized I had a problem I began searching for a solution. Amazing how there are literally 100′s if not more posts on numerous websites-including the APPLE SUPPORT forums-yet NOTHING from the braintrust in Cupertino. …..;(
I tried many things-last of which was turning off IPv6-with no success. Earlier today I finally assigned a static IP to my MB pro on my D-Link router via web browser and viola!!! Problem appears to be solved. I’ve been online for several hours without any interruption.
It is an easy solution for an experienced user-but I’m certain this is no comfort to those that bought the Mac because “It’s so simple-ANYONE can use it,regardless of computer experience”……..
Thanks.
you are my savior, ive been swatted every day, and now they dont know my ip
It didn’t work at first, and I have a linksys router so I went to Network->Advanced->DNS->and added in the left box 192.168.1.1 and it worked.