With 5 static IP addresses, could I have 5 computers each get their own WAN IP or will all the computers share 1 WAN IP address? And if I want to setup 3 computers to use static IP #1 and 4 other computers to use the other 4 static IP, will that be possible or it'll be limited to 1 per computer?
Besides the cable modem/router, are there any other equipment I need?
If I upgrade to the 13 usable IP address package in a few months, typically would a provider give me a fresh batch of 13 usable IP or 8 in a different range?
2 Answers
With 5 static IP addresses, could I have 5 computers each get their own WAN IP or will all the computers share 1 WAN IP address?
You can have five machines that each have their own public IP address.
And if I want to setup 3 computers to use static IP #1 and 4 other computers to use the other 4 static IP, will that be possible or it'll be limited to 1 per computer?
It usually is not that difficult to have one of the state IP addresses assigned to a router that that does NAT, allowing other devices with only private IP address to appear on the Internet with the router's public IP address.
Besides the cable modem/router, are there any other equipment I need?
It depends on the capabilities of the router you have. If the router you have doesn't have that capability, you may want another router. You could also use the cable modem/router to interconnect the machines with the public IP address and connect that router to the WAN port of another router that NATs for the machines with only private IP addresses.
If I upgrade to the 13 usable IP address package in a few months, typically would a provider give me a fresh batch of 13 usable IP or 8 in a different range?
They could do it either way, but most commonly they will renumber you into a new block.
2It would be EXTREMELY RARE to get "5 static IP addresses" - what you will most likely get is a /29 = a subnet of 8 IP addresses, however the first and last IP address of the range can't be used as they are special addresses (broadcast and network), and 1 IP address is assigned to the router, leaving 5 useable IP's.
The logic is similar with "13 IPs" - 16 ips, less broadcast, network and router IP = 13 addresses.
If the above is what you are getting, you need to clarify something with your provider - they will almost certainly provide these IP's to you over an additional IP outside this range, so the 5 static IP's will be on the LAN interface. [If not, you will have a complex firewalling problem to solve (and, I'd argue, unless you have a switch with 5 routers hanging off it, or 5 devices each with there own firewall), configuring it would be outside the scope of a Superuser]
Assuming the standard scenario, ie a subnet of 8 IP's routed to your router over an additional IP -
You would be able to set up computers to use more then 1 IP - unless they run Linux or equivalnet with complex routing (policy routing) this would really only be useful for incoming connections, as all connections initiated from the computer would prefer a particular connection. You would want to use static IP addressing rather then DHCP.
The only equipment you will need is a router with firewall where you can turn off NAT. Most consumer grade routers can be configured to do this - but you might want to get something which works with DD-WRT as the added functionality may help you later.
Only the provider could tell you if upgrading to 13 usable IP's would be possible in a few months, it is technically possible to keep the IP's and only change the netmask IF THE ISP PREPARES FOR THIS UP FRONT or you get incredibly lucky - but most likely, unless you let them know your intention and they are agreeable, they would want to assign you a new subnet, which could well be in a different range.
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