The IP address is used by other devices connected to the network to locate a printer. It consists of four sets of numbers, each of which ranges from 0 to 255. The four sets of numbers are separated by a period. Each IP address needs to be unique on the network. To ensure a unique IP address, a network administrator issues the numbers so that only one piece of network equipment has that particular 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 the network or the network device does not support DHCP, or because you want to make sure the IP address does not change. If you do not want an IP address to be changed, you may need to disable DHCP so the adapter continues to utilize a user-assigned IP address.
| Note: | It is not possible to assign an IP address to an unconfigured printer 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. |