[Simple Guide] How to Configure/Setup Static IP on Windows 10 Laptop

For some reasons, if you need to assign static IP for the Wi-Fi adapter on Windows computer, this post will be useful. Most of the time, the Internet router provide/assign IP address automatically to the laptop/desktop devices once they authenticated successfully. These routers and wireless access points have a built-in server/service called ‘DHCP’ to assign and manage IP addresses on the network without manual intervention. For certain reasons, you may need to set the IP on your laptop to static. So, the IP address will not change next time when you restart the laptop, it is going to be permanent until you change it again. This setup may allow you to bypass some security restrictions on the network.

Few Important Points Before Changing the IP from Automictic to Static

• If you keep moving your laptop between different Wi-Fi networks, those networks also should have the same IP series. Also, the assigned IP on the laptop should be free on those networks as well. Two devices on the same network can’t have the same IP address. It will conflict, and the network services on one or both laptops will not work.
• It is better to assign the IP that is not in the DHCP range. As said earlier, your router is in-charge to release and renew the IPs based on the scope range and availability of the free IPs. It may have a range like 192.168.1.50 to 192.168.1.200. In this case, better to assign static IP which is not in this range, for example – 192.168.1.20. So, now or later it will not conflict with the other devices.
• You must set the static IP and other network settings correctly to make the network work. You must find the IP series of your office or home Wi-Fi network where you need to have the static IP. Then assign the correct IP, subnet mask and gateway of the network. Then only your laptop will be able to communicate local and external networks such as the Internet. DNS configuration is another important part that should be configured manually.

How to Assign Static IP on Windows 10 Wi-Fi Network

1) First, find out the correct IP series on the network. If you are a network admin, you would know the IP series of the network. Also, you can check it after connecting to the Wi-Fi network.

Make sure you are connected, then type the following command in the command prompt.

Ipconfig /all

As you could see, my home wireless network has a different IP series (it will be Definity different at your place).

So, I know the series of IP I should assign manually to my Windows 10 laptop.

Not to make more technical about networks and subnet classes, since the subnet is 255.255.255.0, it is a class C network. That means the first 3 numbers indicate the network address and the last figure is the device address. In this case, 192.168.100 is my network address, and .3 is the address of my Windows 10 laptop.

We should keep the same network address (192.168.100) and change only the last device address to something else to make my Wi-Fi adapter IP static.

Change the IP address to static via command prompt on Windows 10 laptop.

2) Make sure you have opened the command prompt as Administrator. Check out the network adapter name you are going to assign static IP.

Issue the following command,

netsh interface ip set address name=”Wi-Fi” static 192.168.100.209 255.255.255.0 192.168.100.1

That will change the IP to static without any errors.

3) To complete the setup, we need to change the DNS server also. Otherwise, the Internet or local name resolution will not work. To change the DNS to static, issue the following command,

Netsh interface ip set dns “Wi-Fi” static 192.168.100.1

Since my router is acting as a DNS server (relay), I added the router IP. If you need to setup external DNS servers like Google’s public DNS ( 8.8.8.8), you can replace the IP with Google’s public DNS.

4) Verify the change. Type below command and see whether you see the new IP on the Wi-Fi network.

Ipconfig /all

Confirm that the new static IP, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS servers are correct. Otherwise, it will create the issue on your computer and network.

Okay, you may find difficult by the commands to change the static IP. If you are an IT geek who likes commands to play and manage remote computers via PowerShell or command prompt, then the above steps would be useful.

If you Want to Try the Easier and Simpler Steps Through GUI, Follow the Below Steps.

You should know the network IP range, router IP, subnet mask, gateway and the static IP address you are going to assign. Once these all are ready, we can set the static IP manually via control panel network settings easily on Windows 10, 8.1 and even Windows 7.

5) We need to visit the network adapter settings under control panel. To access it easily and quickly, open Run (Windows Key + R), then type ncpa.cpl as shown below.

6) Right click on the network adapter you need to assign static IP. In this example, we are changing for the Wi-Fi network (Wi-Fi adapter). Right click and properties.

7) Click on the Internet Protocol IPv4, then properties. That will show the dialog box where you can set the IP manually. Most of the time, it would be on ‘Obtain an IP address automatically.’

8) Change the settings to ‘Use the following IP address’ and add the static IP you decided earlier. Make sure to enter correct subnet mask, Gateway, and preferred DNS server. These settings should be correct to get working local and the Internet network. Click OK to apply the changes.

The existing network may disconnect and connect back once your computer joined the network with static IP.

We hope this guide is simple and easy enough to assign static IP manually on a Windows 10 or 8.1 desktop and laptop computer. Both methods are applicable and easy for a certain type of users. To modify the IP in any cases, you must be the administrator of the computer.