Windows 7: Help with Router for Bar owner -- not renewing IP addresses

Hi there
the owner of a bar I go to regularly asked me if he could sort out a propblem with his router (even though I'm NOT a hardware geek or a network one by any manner at all).

The Cafe owner just about knows how to turn on and use a PC which is how I became involved.

He's (like a lot of places) has been supplying Free wi-fi --which during the Euro 2012 competition has been very popular with loads of visitors. This is a bar incredibly popular with visitors from everywhere especially at weekends etc.

However the IP addresses don't seem to get released -- even when a customer leaves and is out of range.

I've been back on many occasions and when I logon to the wifi get the identical IP address which I had last time -- which is strange while sometimes others can't get on at all.

So what happens from time to time is that some customers cannot logon to the wi-fi until the router is totally re-booted -- obviously in a busy bar this isn't a good idea.

Are there any settings on a typical router to flush and re-allocate IP addresses after a certain period if no activity occurs. From what I can see of the router it IS set for DHCP.

Any help on this would be greatfully acknowleged. ( I suggested that maybe he should get a New router -- but that could be overkill and might not solve the problem anyway).

Cheers
jimbo

Try flushing the DNS to clear it out.

Flush DNS - What's My DNS?

Hi there
that's fine for a one off but what we need to do is to "De-Allocate" allocated IP addresses once customer leaves or goes out of range automatically. There isn't time in this type of bar to keep fiddling around with the router - and it's up 3 large flights of stairs too ll. !!! Not a good idea when you've had " a few" as well.

Flushing is fine -- but we need to avoid the manual process -- whether it's done remotely with a computer / smart phone or physically at the router via the reset switch.

I looked at the manual (of course written in French / Dutch -- no English !! ) but couldn't see anyway to automatically re-allocate IP addresses if an IP adress wasn't used after a certain time.

In a home environment it doesn't matter but in a Bar you can get easily get 50 or 100 people who logon to the wifi with smart phones for a short period while having a pint or two. There must be some way of releasing these IP adresses if they haven't made a request say within 30 mins. !!

I looked for some parameter like "Lease IP time" but couldn't find any.


Cheers
jimbo

What is the make/model of the router?

Reinstalling firmware for the router may fix this issue. I've had issues like this with Netgear routers where I had to wipe out the firmware and reinstall it from their website.

My default DHCP lease time is set for 1440 minutes, or 24 hours, but it can be changed under Network settings in my routers set up page. They might have this setting turned off or left blank which may cause it to run out of DHCP IP's with no chance to renew them.

The DHCP range for most routers is set to only 100 address so it may be that all the IP's are used up in a 24 hour period. In this case changing the lease time to 2, 4, or 8 hours would allow for more IP's to be released in that time frame making them available again in a shorter amount of time.

Conversely, you also might be able to change the number of assignable IP's to more than 100.

You can see the DHCP lease renewal setting at 1440 in the picture below but it will be different for the router in the bar which I have no idea who makes it.

Sounds like Router-settings or -overload. With so many guests maybe the system
DSL/Cable-Modem->DHCP-Server->WLAN-Router->Guests (on WLAN, not Wi-Fi) would solve it.
Set the local timings (Lease) on the DHCP-Server to a reasonable minimum.
Complicated, it really should be at least two systems, fused! Hope the cash-machine is separate.

Scaling back the DHCP lease time is a good idea. How often does someone go to the bar to sit for hours and hours on WiFi? I would set it to no more than 2 or 3 hours.

Yep I believe that is the way to solve the problem which is why I posted that info, too bad Jimbo hasn't responded.

They are using up all 100 IP's in under 24 hours. Few hours for lease time should do it.

One thing to consider is people coming into the bar with their smartphones, and how many of those phones may be set to auto-connect to open networks, many times without the patron even knowing their phone connects. One way to mitigate this would be to put a password on it and have it displayed somewhere in the bar for guests to see. That could cut back on the amount of leases being used.

It also would still be helpful to know the make and model of the router to make sure it can support such an environment. Good discussion!

Hi there
being watching the Euro 2012 footie so no time to respond but THANKS..

I found it in the end -- Lease time -- we've set it to 3 hrs -- now working great

It's enough -- those guys who stay longer have no pr oblem re-logging on again.

thanks everybody !!!

Cheers
jimbo