Configuring your network printer with DHCP reservation in your router

DHCP Reservation is an advanced feature available to all Linksys routers.  This allows you to assign a unique, fixed IP address to a specific device on your network.

Why you need to have a permanent or fixed IP address

A permanent or fixed IP address is recommended if you want to use port forwarding for devices that need to receive inbound traffic from the Internet.   This is helpful when managing devices such as print servers, web cameras, network printers, or game consoles.  This will also save you the hassle of reconnecting each device whenever the router assigns a new IP address.

Identify the MAC Address of the printer

A Media Access Control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to devices for communications on the network.  You can check the MAC Address of the printer on its network settings.  Refer to the user manual for instructions on how to get the MAC Address of your wireless printer.

QUICK TIP:  The MAC Address is also referred to as the Physical Address.

Set up DHCP Reservation

After you get the MAC Address of your printer, you can now start configuring DHCP reservation.

If your router has the Classic web-based setup page, click here.
If you are using a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router, click here instead.

QUICK TIP:  If you create a DHCP reservation for your printer, you don’t need to configure anything on the printer.  It will be your router that will assign the same IP address to the printer every time it connects to the network.  As long as you don’t connect the printer to another network or you don’t change its network card, the router will continue to assign the IP address you reserved for it.

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