how do routers hand out ip addresses?

[mikk]

I have a superhub serving two d-links by wireless bridge, which are attached to separate dboxes. One gets a quite normal ip of 192.168.0.8 and doesnt glitch while the other gets 192.168.0.206 and freezes every now and again? My other wireless rep' bridge (different location) serves a DM with a static ip that also freezes sometimes, but the primary is usually taxed in the evening by several devices making the problem worse . I recently set the primary router dhcp range to start from 192.168.1.3 (my client linksys is 192.168.1.2) with some improvement. Do 'lower' local ip adds' get allocated first and therefore get preference? Also is it worth adding a secondary dns server to the boxes attached to the client routers or is the ip add' of the primary router enough? In the hope of understanding this more any advice would be appreciated.

[smokin]

Not so easy to answer this question..

In home networks, IP addresses aren’t usually fixed, but they do fall within specific ranges. Your router will assign a new IP address automatically if another computer joins the network, or if your configuration changes. For the most part, this works out just fine – you shouldn’t notice a difference to your Internet performance or application functionality if your IP changes.
I don't think it makes a difference that you have a higher or lower last number.

When we talk about IP addresses of home computers, we are usually referring to two types of address. One is your external IP address – the one that the world sees as your Internet connection. Then you have your private IP addresses internally on your home network. Even if you only have one computer on your home network, it will have a private IP given to it by the router. Private IP addresses cannot be routed over the Internet and are strictly for private use. There are a few possible ranges of private IP address, but for most home users this will be 192.168.*.* (where * can be anything).

Your router interface, for instance, is likely accessible through 192.168.0.1 – this is a private address. Your home computers might then be anything from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. Most routers will just assign internal addresses on a first come first served basis. The first computer you plug into the router will send out a network request saying “I need an IP address, my hardware address is x.x.x.x.x.x” and will be assigned 192.168.0.2, then the next will get 192.168.0.3.
Your external IP address is not something you can change – it will be given to you automatically by your Internet provider. You can purchase a static external IP address, but they are really expensive.

end of lesson

[cunny]

I have a superhub serving two d-links by wireless bridge, which are attached to separate dboxes. One gets a quite normal ip of 192.168.0.8 and doesnt glitch while the other gets 192.168.0.206 and freezes every now and again? My other wireless rep' bridge (different location) serves a DM with a static ip that also freezes sometimes, but the primary is usually taxed in the evening by several devices making the problem worse . I recently set the primary router dhcp range to start from 192.168.1.3 (my client linksys is 192.168.1.2) with some improvement. Do 'lower' local ip adds' get allocated first and therefore get preference? Also is it worth adding a secondary dns server to the boxes attached to the client routers or is the ip add' of the primary router enough? In the hope of understanding this more any advice would be appreciated.

Interal (private) IP addresses are handed out by the router that is known as DCHP. Which basically assigns a new IP address when a new device connects to the network. This is assigned from a range pre set within the routers configuration pages and can be changed, this can also be bypassed via using static IP addresses.

But to really answer your question, is preference assigned over addresses? No. I think your problem will more than likely be either poor wireless perfromance or your 'server' causing the glitching. Try running a ethernet cable to the box thats playing up direct from the router.