The IP address is used by other devices connected to the network to locate your printer. It consists of four sets of numbers, each of which range between 0-255. The four sets of numbers are separated by a period. Each IP address needs to be unique on the network. This means that the IP address that will be assigned to the print server or network adapter should be within the network range. To maintain a unique set of numbers, a network administrator issues numbers so that only one piece of network equipment has that IP address at a given time.
Some network devices support a network protocol called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). With DHCP, one computer on a network, called a DHCP server, can issue an IP address to a DHCP-compatible device so that no one has to manually give that device an IP address.
For various reasons, you may want to give a network device an IP address, either because your network or your network device does not support DHCP, or you want to make sure the IP address does not change. If you want to have an IP address not change, you may need to disable DHCP so the print server or adapter continues to use a user-assigned IP address.
| Note: | It is not possible to assign an IP address to a print server or network adapter on a remote subnet or network. It is possible to change an IP address in a previously configured printer from one valid IP address to another valid IP address. |