i have 2 computers connected via a router, and both are using dhcp (funnily enough), the problem is that they both continually change their ip adresses. Thus I am unable to setup nfs servers .etc, I am having problems setting up hostnames for the computers (no clue).
lye@laptop:~> ping shop.jy
ping: unknown host shop.jy
lye@laptop:~> ping laptop.jy
PING laptop.jy (192.168.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data.

--- laptop.jy ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 1999ms
[hangs]
lye@laptop:~> ping 192.168.1.2
PING 192.168.1.2 (192.168.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data.

--- 192.168.1.2 ping statistics ---
8 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 6999ms
[hangs]
lye@laptop:~>

Do I need a computer to be hostname server (storing all the hostnames)? Would that mean it would always be on .etc

Thanks

i'm starting to dislike dhcp servers...

is there a reason you can't assign a static address? isn't that what you really want?

adsl requires me to use dhcp.

not internally, no it doesn't. for your modem, sure... but your internal network can be administrated in a different manner.

hop onto your modem's / router's / whatever's config page, and you should see a dhcp client range. then you pick addresses outside that range but still under the network mask to set static IPs

wait, im not clear on this. Say I have 2 computers connected all by a router. What do I do then?

let's back up a step...
--and notice i am generalizing heavily... your exact setup depends upon your HW.

say you have:
now your endpoint ("modem") has external IP. it has the option of hanging onto that, or passing it to your router. your router then has either an internal ip in adress space x, or an external ip (on the "Internet" side), and an internal ip in address space y (on your personal network side)

your personal network can be assigned either statically or dynamically. dynamic addresses are usually given a slice of the namespace by the dhcp server -- so say your dhcp server is configured to use 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 they usally also allow for you to say something like: "start dynamic IPs at 100"

meaning: 192.168.0.100 - 192.168.0.255 are possible dynamic addresses, and <192.168.0.100 are possible static addresses.

see where i'm going?

given the above constraints, and knowing that you want static addresses, you would then just configure your PCs to use static IPs within the address space <192.168.0.100/255.255.255.0

ok i see, thanks.