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At work, I have an XP laptop with a static IP. At home, I have a wireless router.

I don't want to remove the static address, but I would like the laptop to recognize my home network. What would I need to do?

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What about changing your home network to use the same subnet you have at work? –  Ryan Nov 13 '12 at 20:15
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3 Answers

This allows you to switch between settings on the fly, i did not try this personally.

[Edit] Looks like you only need something like this, if you want to switch between more than two configurations and if you don't want to reboot or relogin every time.


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XP has an 'alternate configuration' option in the TCP/IP properties section.

You could set it to use DHCP for the home network (or actually, just about any network with an active DHCP server). When that fails it will fall back to the alternate configuration, which you configure with the static IP.

XPs alternate IP configuration screen

(From the LAN, use right click, properties, select internet protocol, properties, then the alt tab).


This assumes you use the same adapter (e.g. wireless) at both work and at home. If this is not the case then just plug in the cable when at work (with the static IP configured) and do not plug in a cable at home.

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You could use different Hardware Profiles for work and home, which would keep the appropriate settings. Go into Control Panel, click on System, and then choose Hardware Profiles. You can create a profile there for Work, where you could keep the static IP address for your NIC, and then one for Home, where you would have the wireless for your router. The only thing is, the OS would pause and wait for you to choose the appropriate profile before booting (or default to the first profile listed after a certain amount of time).

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