What's sort of IP addresses are available?

An IP address is a unique number that allows your IP codec to communicate over IP networks and the internet using the Internet Protocol standard. There are two types of IP addresses – public and private. 


Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can allocate either a DHCP allocated or static public IP address to allow network devices to communicate with each other over the Internet. ISPs usually allocate dynamically (automatically) assigned public IP addresses to allow network devices to communicate with each other over the Internet. These are not recommended for studio installations because each time you connect to your ISP the IP address of your studio codec can change. You can also request a static public IP address from your ISP, which always stays the same, and this makes it easier to call the studio from your remote sites. 


If you connect your codec to a private IP network that is behind a router and firewall then by default you will normally be allocated a private IP address for your codec. This is a bit like a private extension behind a PABX phone system - it's easy to call out, but more difficult to call in directly.


Recommended IP address configuration for codecs on private IP networks

When you setup your studio codec for IP connections it is best to program a static IP address so that codecs dialing into it can always rely on the address being the same. If you are connected to a router that allocates private IP addresses behind a firewall then the router can allocate a static or DHCP dynamically allocated address.


Static private IP addresses can cause DNS server connection issues but DHCP addresses have "lease times", which means they are renewed on a regular basis and can change. However, it is also possible to permanently extend the lease time within a router for DHCP allocated addresses. The best way to program your router is to perform the following:

  1. Allocate a 'permanently leased DHCP private IP address' to the codec. In effect this is like a static IP address. To do this, go to the DHCP server configuration section within your router's programming interface and program the router to allocate a permanently leased, but DHCP allocated IP address to the codec - based on the codec's MAC address (which can be found via Menu > Unit Details in Commander and i-Mix codec menus, or via Config > Unit in Bridge-IT codecs.).
  2. Ensure that TCP port 9000 and UDP port 9002 are open in your firewall to ensure that audio and other essential codec data packets can easily traverse the networks between your studio and remote codecs.

If you have several codecs in your network connected to a local LAN you will probably also find it is much easier to manage all your codec IP addresses based on the preceding steps rather than programming each codec independently.

In summary...

In summary - we recommend using a dedicated DSL connection at the studio for broadcasting over IP - preferably with a static public IP address when possible. If for practical reasons you are using a router and your codec has a private IP address, ensure that your IT administrator allocates a permanently leased, but DHCP allocated IP address based on the MAC address of your codec. Open UDP port 9000 and TCP port 9002 to allow the safe passage of audio and codec data through your firewall and you will be setup in the most appropriate way for reliable IP broadcasting!