On Wed, 30 Jun 2004, Vincent FLEURANCEAU wrote:

> > If you will be using PPPoE then you will normally also be using DHCP.  
> > That doesn't require that your IP address will change, but it isn't a 
> > true static IP.  Most providers here at least actually issue a DHCP 
> > reservation so that you always get the same IP rather than provide a 
> > truly static IP address.

On a PPP link you would ordinarily *not* be using DHCP, but instead using
PPP IPCP parameters to provide the same sort of information.

> I see: a sort of DHCP reservation based on username, instead of MAC 
> address...

Sort of, but it's not really a reservation.  The whole "DHCP lease" kludge
only came about because Ethernet was never really intended to have dynamic
addressing.  With PPP, addresses are assigned as part of a session when
you log in, and deassigned when you log out.  Of course the provider is
free to assign a static IP based on your userid rather than picking one
from a pool.

> So, this means it wouldn't be possible to use PPPoE with assigned block 
> of *real* static IPs (including IPs for default gateway, subnet address 
> and broadcast address) which have to be hard coded in most ISP offers?

PPP's IPCP can provide *your* IP (just one), the gateway IP, and up to two
DNS IPs.  It doesn't provide a subnet mask, but that's a pretty useless
concept on a point-to-point link.

Note that whether addresses are *configured* dynamically and whether
they're *assigned* dynamically are two separate issues.

					Fred Wright