As a business owner, you can develop an advanced network that will meet all your needs in order for your company to operate efficiently. When setting up the network, it is helpful to be fully aware of what you need for your connection to the Internet and how it works. For example, a static IP address and a /30 subnet are similar products, but have important distinctions that can make a big difference on how your company’s network connects to the outside world.
A static IP address is configured for one specific router by D & P and is not assigned a random, changing address. The Single Static IP address does not change and can be compared to your business’ physical address in a stationary location that stays the same, making it easier to find. When hosting a website or using a remote access program, the static IP helps outside devices know how to reach those services – they are always at the same IP address. With our Single Static IP product, we will always give out the same static IP address to your company’s router. This can also help with employees who need to use a VPN to connect to the network outside the office or if security cameras need to be remotely accessed.
A /30 subnet is a group of four IP addresses that are assigned to your company by D & P. Three of those addresses are required to create the subnet and deliver it to you making them unusable from the consumer side. This is the smallest subnet that a customer can have access to providing them with one working static IP address.
There are some things that our Single Static IP product cannot do that a company would need a /30 subnet for within their network. With a Single Static IP, the address is provided to a specific router, not to the customer in general. That means that if a company were to upgrade or replace their existing router, they would have to give their Internet service provider the MAC address of their new router to continue using our Single Static IP product. They are also not portable across all of the D & P network, so if you are moving your business from one location to another, you may not be able to take a Single Static IP with you. However, a /30 Subnet could follow you to any address that D & P can service.
One of the most important differences would be that an IP address can only be manually configured in the router by the company if it is through a /30 subnet. The Single Static IP does not allow for the router’s WAN interface IP to be configured manually. It must be left to receive its address from D & P over DHCP. So, if you have an internal IT department that needs to manually enter it into the system for any reason, a /30 subnet is your way to go.
These network terms may be somewhat perplexing, but that is why we have a dedicated, knowledgeable technology staff at D & P Communications to help you make the best decision for your company. We want to assure that you are getting all of the services you require to run your internal network. From a simple, straightforward connection to a complex, multifaceted network, D & P can handle all of your Internet needs.
