Setting up DHCP on a router

[dpu]

I have a remote location that takes longer than usual to receive an IP address from the DHCP server. Not exactly sure what is causing this. But a thought that came to mind would be setting up DHCP on the router itself. What are the pros & cons? If I enable the router to provide DHCP what happens to the DHCP scope for this location on my W2K DHCP server? Do I leave it alone or disable the scope?

 

[castlesmadeofsand]

What is slow in getting the ip's---computers at the remote location, or where you are, and the dhcp server is at the remote location? Could you please describe your topology including dhcp server(s), or better yet post a topology map?
I am unclear on exactly what you are asking---do you mean setting up dhcp on the remote router, and leaving your location to have a 2K server to dish out local addresses? If this is the case, you should be fine. Let the remote router dhcp to the remote pc's, and whatever you want to do where you are now. Any node looking for a dhcp address sends a request, and the closest server fills it. You would want to configure dhcp servers with different scopes, otherwise you of course run the risk of duplicate addresses. The command
router#(config)dhcp-excluded address
will keep the router from divying out addresses from the W2K's pool. Say you want 10.0.0.2 thru 10.0.1.59 to be handed out by the W2k server---you would exclude these addresses in the router by the command
router(config)#dhcp-excluded address 10.0.0.2 10.0.1.59
Hope this helps.

Tim

 

[castlesmadeofsand]

Actually, I am wrong---the command would be...

router(config)#ip dhcp excluded-address 10.0.0.2 10.0.1.59

Sorry.

Tim

 

[dpu]

My DHCP server is located at the host location about 30 miles away. What is slow getting an IP addresse are the nodes at the remote location. For example we just installed wifi at that office. The tablet pc's take about 3-5 minutes to get an IP address. First we thought it was the access points so we tested a laptop and plugged it directly into that office's switch. Although the result was faster it still took about 1 - 2 minutes before it received an IP address. I have 12 other offices scattered throught the metro area and this is the only location where this is happening. So to cut out the time to get an IP I thought running DHCP on the router itself would alleviate the wait and my remote nodes can get an ip immediately.

 

[castlesmadeofsand]

Well, that might, but before you do that, I would plug a tablet directly into the dhcp server via crossover cable, and do a ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew, and see if it still takes that long. I presume you are running Windows XP Tablet Edition on the pc's? Are the other remote locations the same setup, IE Tablets connected to a W2K server? If so, then you can likely eliminate any conflicts between XP Tablet and W2K. I have had problems in the past with Tablet Edition, not necessarily with dhcp though. The other thing I would do is take a desktop, regular Win XP, and start directly at the dhcp server, then the other side of the switch, the thru the wi-fi, etc. Where I work, we have a LinkSys wireless router, but all connections are hard-wired ethernet, and it serves as the dhcp server, and it takes 2 or 3 minutes to hand my workstation a dhcp config. It takes 1ms to ping anything on this tiny network, and there's only one switch (no switch on top of a switch on top of another switch, etc.).
Tim