Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-04-27)

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HOW I USE...

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WHAT I’D LIKE TO SEE IN SYNOLOGY’S DHCP SERVER

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number if it’s 254 - mine is, so I

changed it to 253^3. I then entered the

Netmask as 255.255.255.0 (that’s the

same for all home networks)^4 and

the Gateway address^5 I noted down

earlier, and clicked Create.

You can’t have two DHCP servers

running on the same network, so I

disabled the one on my router. Settings

differ from router to router, but for

my BT router, I accessed its web

management page, selected Advanced

Settings, My Network, then changed

the Enabled option under DHCP to Off,

Some devices benefit from having

a fixed (or ‘static’) IP address, namely

those that need to be frequently

accessed by other systems or devices

on the network, such as printers. The

easiest way to create fixed addresses

is to go back to the Synology DHCP

server settings and click the DHCP

Client tab. You’ll see a list of devices

connected to the network. I find the

device that I want and then click the

padlock icon next to it: that makes the

DHCP server always give the same IP

address to that device.

27 April – 10 May 2022 • Issue 630

Finding out what you have to set up on

the Synology DHCP server requires a

bit of research. Yet, my NAS already

knows a lot of the settings, including the

Gateway address and, as a result, the IP

address range it’s operating on. It would be

handy if these details were automatically

filled in when you opened the server’s

page, saving you the hassle of finding and

inputting them.

By changing

these

settings,

David

switched to

the DHCP

server on his

NAS drive

When a device connects to your home

network, it sends a request to your

router asking for an IP address. Yo u r

router’s Dynamic Host Configuration

Protocol (DHCP) server looks to see

which addresses are in use, then it

sends a spare one, so your device can

connect to the internet.

DHCP works brilliantly, but the

servers that are built into routers are

typically quite limited and lack useful

features. They can also be hard to use.

More powerful is the DHCP server built

into my Synology NAS drive, which

shows me what’s connected to my

network, lets me set the DNS servers

I want, and quickly fixes IP addresses

for important devices.

To switch to it, I first typed ipconfig

into Command Prompt and noted

down the Gateway address of my

BT router (192.168.1.254). Next, I

connected to my NAS drive’s web

page (find.synology.com), then clicked

Control Panel followed by DHCP

Server. I then selected its network

adapter (LAN 1) and clicked Edit.

To turn on the DHCP server, I

clicked the ‘Enable DHCP server’

box (^1 in our screenshot above right),

then needed to enter the Primary and

Secondary DNS server addresses. The

easiest option is to enter the IP address

of your router, but you can change

DNS servers (as I explained in

Issue 629). I chose Google’s DNS

servers here (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)^2 as

they’re very reliable and fast.

Next, I added the ‘Subnet list’, which

means the start and end addresses that

the server will give out. This is where

things get a little complicated. The start

address needs to retain the first three

numbers (each number being separated

by a dot) of the Gateway’s address

(192.168.1 for my router). But the fourth

number depends on the fourth number

of the Gateway address. If it starts with

a 1, then the fourth number in the start

address should be a 2 (192.168.1.2, for

example). If the Gateway ends in 254

(as mine does), then the start address

should end in 1 (192.168.1.1).

For the end address, again keep the

first three numbers from the Gateway.

You only need to change the fourth

Synology’s DHCP server

Frustrated by his router’s limitations, David Ludlow turned to

his NAS to make his home network easier to use

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