DHCP on Mac in Windows World

[jonevk]

I have a client with one lonly mac in a Windows/Cisco IP Phone network. The problem is that the Mac gets its ip address from the Cisco phone controllers DHCP server rather than the Windows2000 Server. Is there a way for me to tell the mac to use this particular server rather than the first one or the fastest one?

Jon

[valor]

You could try specifying the DNS servers in the “Ethernet” (or whatever connection you’re using) in the “Network” system preference pane. I haven’t tried this approach, but it my work. Other than that, you could give the Mac a static IP, thus specifying the correct router and alleviateing the problem.

However, it is generally a bad idea to have more than one DHCP server on a network, even if you have multiple subnets. It just allows for more confusion (for the machines). Given that, you should probably separate your IP phone network from your computer network. I’m guessing that aside from identifying the ports, you have a couple switches with ports connected through patch panels, so you could merely make one switch dedicated for your IP phones.

[Author]

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