Ipad hates static IP adresses??? Why??

[Shadow_Storm56]

So one major change I made to my network was giving alot of my main important devices a static IP adress outside of the regular DCHP pool. Works great at keeping thoes devices stable.... except ipads .... with anything apple it just connects to the network but not to the internet when I give it a static Ip. I do not have this problem on any other device on my network except ipads....  why? What is different about apple stuff that makes it not like static ips?

[Zando_]

Assuming they are running a current OS, have you tried disabling "Private Wi-Fi Address" under the wifi network settings on the iPads themselves? Tis basically automatic MAC address spoofing for privacy reasons, I disabled it on my iPhone so I can more easily ID it on the work network, as I use it for troubleshooting sometimes. Haven't tried setting a static IP so I don't know if it interferes with that, but it could be the issue. 

[Shadow_Storm56]

2 hours ago, Zando_ said:

Assuming they are running a current OS, have you tried disabling "Private Wi-Fi Address" under the wifi network settings on the iPads themselves? Tis basically automatic MAC address spoofing for privacy reasons, I disabled it on my iPhone so I can more easily ID it on the work network, as I use it for troubleshooting sometimes. Haven't tried setting a static IP so I don't know if it interferes with that, but it could be the issue. 

I think I did but I'll try again, it's so bizzare because every other device works just fine and right away with static

[Kilrah]

You didn't forget to give it the gateway address by any chance?

[Shadow_Storm56]

3 hours ago, Kilrah said:

You didn't forget to give it the gateway address by any chance?

I literally put in everything the same from when it was in automatic mode except for the ip address. It's very odd that it dosen't work

[Lurick]

Why assign a static IP on the device itself instead of via a static DHCP lease for the MAC address of the devices? I wonder if Apple stuff is fine with a static DHCP lease instead of setting it on the device, worth a shot if you can do it.

[LIGISTX]

2 hours ago, Lurick said:

Why assign a static IP on the device itself instead of via a static DHCP lease for the MAC address of the devices? I wonder if Apple stuff is fine with a static DHCP lease instead of setting it on the device, worth a shot if you can do it.

This would be the proper way to do it anyways, that way the DHCP server never can have anything at the same IP. 
 

I have all of my devices statically assigned in pfsense, including iPhones and iPads. They don’t know the difference because they are getting their IP via DHCP, I am just manually setting said IP’s at the router level.

OP, all we can really say is double check everything, make sure it has the correct gateway and a correct DNS server, and make sure the IP address is not the same as another device you manually set. But ideally, just assign manual IP’s in the router based on devices MAC address.

[Kilrah]

4 hours ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

I literally put in everything the same from when it was in automatic mode except for the ip address.

When you switch it to manual you get 3 fields, ip, subnet mask and router, you need to populate all 3.

 

2 hours ago, Lurick said:

I wonder if Apple stuff is fine with a static DHCP lease instead of setting it on the device, worth a shot if you can do it.

Of course, either works fine.

[Shadow_Storm56]

7 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

This would be the proper way to do it anyways, that way the DHCP server never can have anything at the same IP. 
 

I have all of my devices statically assigned in pfsense, including iPhones and iPads. They don’t know the difference because they are getting their IP via DHCP, I am just manually setting said IP’s at the router level.

OP, all we can really say is double check everything, make sure it has the correct gateway and a correct DNS server, and make sure the IP address is not the same as another device you manually set. But ideally, just assign manual IP’s in the router based on devices MAC address.

The reason I do it this way is the network has alot of repeaters and devices do not like having to pull an address from the router whenever they need a renewal. So alot of devices had issues before this change, the static ips are outside of the dchp pool range so theres  no chance of that kind of overlap. I have set it up the other way but after a few days it will fail to renew it's ip from the router and then the connection for it borks. This issue only exsist in this device now as it will not take a static address even with all other things checked.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

The reason I do it this way is the network has alot of repeaters and devices do not like having to pull an address from the router whenever they need a renewal. So alot of devices had issues before this change, the static ips are outside of the dchp pool range so theres  no chance of that kind of overlap. I have set it up the other way but after a few days it will fail to renew it's ip from the router and then the connection for it borks. This issue only exsist in this device now as it will not take a static address even with all other things checked.

If you have repeaters, and they are causing the issue, I would immediately assume they are causing more than just this issue. All repeaters do is boost a signal, and all Wifi is is a wireless switch. All DHCP handouts are done at the router, so if assigning static IP’s at the router causes issues, however your network is set up is likely no bueno. 
 

TLDR; repeaters are typically just horrible. When you inevitably upgrade or overhaul your network setup, definitely get a mesh network. 

[NickKz]

Turn off private addressing

 

Private addressing spoofs your MAC address, it's designed to prevent PUBLIC wifi access points from tracking your device, it's actually a really cool feature, it's just not needed at a home or work network

[Shadow_Storm56]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:22 PM, NickKz said:

Turn off private addressing

 

Private addressing spoofs your MAC address, it's designed to prevent PUBLIC wifi access points from tracking your device, it's actually a really cool feature, it's just not needed at a home or work network

Fun update, the stupid thing also wanted me to manually add the dns server which is still automatic on other devices even with a static ip. Idk why this is bold fyi

[LIGISTX]

6 hours ago, Shadow_Storm56 said:

Fun update, the stupid thing also wanted me to manually add the dns server which is still automatic on other devices even with a static ip. Idk why this is bold fyi

That is not abnormal, usually when you set a manual IP, you need to set DNS… DNS is provided via DHCP, so if you manually configure your IP, the device isn’t going to get DNS from DHCP. 

[Shadow_Storm56]

8 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

That is not abnormal, usually when you set a manual IP, you need to set DNS… DNS is provided via DHCP, so if you manually configure your IP, the device isn’t going to get DNS from DHCP. 

I'm used to android which if you enter nothing it will assume the dns is inline with the router ip or default gateway.... I forget. I just happened to notice that was the online difference between my android devices and apple so I tried it and it worked.