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  1. #1
    The Optimistic Asshole
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    LAN networking question.

    Right now, I'm using the old Google wifi mesh pucks with Ethernet backhaul for my home wifi and routing. I'm wanting to update my router. I'll probably go to the new nest wifi pro since it will be able to handle the smart home Matter stuff as individual hubs. And I don't want to spend hundreds or thousands wiring Unifi APs with Unifi switches, which would probably be my 2nd choice. The new nest wifi pro is not backwards compatible, so it's going to be like putting in a new router.

    My question is regarding all my current LAN settings. I have PoE switches, static IPs, hardwired cameras, 3 servers (UNRAID, Blue Iris, Home Assistant), a DNS Server, etc all using the current subnet. No VLANs or VPNs.

    When I swap out the router, what happens with these devices? Do they get assigned new IPs automatically? Do they hold their settings and the new router picks them up and begins using the existing subnet? I'm assuming I will have to manually add the DNS settings and probably which addresses should be static. I just don't want to go through all the trouble of reconfiguring all the ip addresses for the various softwares and servers and dockers. It'll be a fucking nightmare. I won't know where to begin.

    I just don't know how all the existing hardware and LAN settings migrate (or don't) when introducing new routing hardware.

  2. #2
    Sea Torques
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    As the DHCP lease table is stored on the router, anything on DHCP will probably change IP addresses.
    Are the static devices truly static or are they permanent (MAC locked) DHCP leases? Since you also have static IP devices, you should first make sure the new routers DHCP lease range does not include them or has the permanent leases configured. I would configure the new router with a laptop/pc prior to connecting it to your existing network to minimize issues.

  3. #3
    The Optimistic Asshole
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    They aren't permanent. I can assign the ip addresses as necessary, but it'll require a TON of software reconfiguring if I make changes to the static addresses. UNRAID server, all the dockers, home assistant and more smart home devices than I care to count. All my cameras. I'd have to terminal into my switch. All that shit...and it would suck.

    The nest devices have to be configured by a mobile device using the Google home app. There's not web UI. Shouldn't be an issue though, I just won't hook in my switch and only connect the mobile device to WiFi. Using the app, I can still manually set the DHCP pool.

    So yeah, maybe just hook up the modem and the configuring mobile device to the router and manually set the DHCP pool, then have the static addresses blocked out and manually set them after hooking up the switch. All the static addresses are hardwired, so I can reserve those addresses before adding the devices. Use the same SSID and the WiFi devices can pull whatever address they want.

  4. #4
    Hydra
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    It should just be a matter of configuring the DHCP pool and the DNS settings (to use your DNS server) on your new router as you mentioned. If you use the same subnet, gateway IP address, and DNS server IP address you shouldn't have to make any changes on the devices with static IP addresses. For the WiFi, if you reuse the SSID and password, you will be prompted for the password the first time you reconnect your wireless devices in case you didn't know.

  5. #5
    Bard-turned-Miner
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    I think the question was are the IP addresses static because you've input a specific IP/subnet/gateway on every single device/host/etc? Or are they static because in the router you've assigned an IP based on the mac address of the each host (address reservation)? That's going to significantly change the scenario.

  6. #6
    The Optimistic Asshole
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    They're just dhcp reservations. I have software looking for specific IPs (eg blue iris looking for 192.168.x.x for the porch camera). I also have some yaml code written in HA pointing toward certain devices. So I need those device LAN IP addresses to remain the same.

  7. #7
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    So unless Google has some sort of settings migration function (which I'd imagine is unlikely), I would assume *everything* on your network is going to get a new address as soon as you put in the new router. If you've got things well documented, it'll probably take a couple of hours to set up the dhcp reservations again. You may be able to pull the current list of mac address / hostname / reservations now if the router's interface shows all of that clearly.

    I see two potential gotchas, which you won't know if they are an issue until you're in-progress making the change.

    One, the new router will have to use the same range (edit: ment to say subnet) as the old or you could be in trouble. I've had routers that use 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1. I think mac gear uses either 10.x or 172.16.x -- or at least used to. Point is that's one possible headache, and on the off chance that happens you'd need to be able to change those settings or you're dead in the water.

    Second, and this one burned me, I switched to a router that had a hard cap on dhcp reservations and that kicked me pretty hard. It was a bug but far as I know it was never fixed. This was when I moved and switched to FIOS. Their G3100 was free with my plan and actually a really good router, but my use case (and I wouldn't exactly call it typical) just completely broke.

    I don't know any specifics on the Google stuff and how deep into those settings they let you get, but my layman's understanding was those are fairly hands-off and feature-poor. I could easily be wrong, and the only thing I caution is you probably won't know you've got an issue until you're in the middle of setting the new stuff up.

    Or you could bite the bullet and manually IP everything now, which would be the suck. And maybe impractical or impossible on IoT devices.

  8. #8
    The Optimistic Asshole
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    I can set the DHCP pool range. Theres decent customization. Its not pfSense or openWRT, but it's capable of doing what I need and my Aruba layer 3 enterprise switch can handle everything else.

  9. #9
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    I should have said subnet, not range, but if you've got access to all those settings there's probably no jam you couldn't get out of with a bit of work.

  10. #10
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    Migrating static DHCP leases if the old and new router don't have proper export/import ways sure can be a PITA. But then again, you went the "easy" route beforehand by using them instead of properly assigning static IPs to your devices.
    One of many reasons why I love AVMs FritzBox series (which are AFAIK only available in Germany and parts of Europe) that have excellent config migration paths, and Mikrotik routers which can be fully configured and scripted via web, graphical config tool (winbox) and all kinds of terminal protocols.

    If you don't want to fiddle with all your devices there will most likely be no other way than to manually "migrate" the DHCP lease table, but that will only work when a) you can get that info from your current router, and b) that your new one allows setting (static) leases up when the associated device is not (yet) connected.

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