NetCrosswalk: Cross-Vendor Network Task Translator

Steps

1. Easiest: IP → DHCP Server → Leases, right-click the existing dynamic lease → Make Static, then edit the address if needed.
2. CLI from scratch: /ip dhcp-server lease add address=192.168.10.50 mac-address=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF server=dhcp10 comment="printer"
3. Promote an existing lease: /ip dhcp-server lease make-static [find mac-address="AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"]

Gotchas & notes

• Make Static is the right workflow — it captures the MAC correctly and avoids typos. Typing MACs by hand is where reservations go wrong.
• A static lease address inside the pool range is fine and normal in RouterOS; it does not need to be outside the pool.
• Setting address-lists on a lease automatically adds the client to a firewall address list — a genuinely useful RouterOS-only trick for per-device firewall rules.
• A static lease with the wrong server= value never matches. Check it when a reservation is ignored.

Steps

1. GUI: Network → Interfaces → edit the interface → DHCP Server section → *Advanced* → IP Address Assignment Rules / *MAC Reservation + Access Control* → add the MAC and IP.
2. Or from the monitor: Dashboard → DHCP monitor, select a lease, and create a reservation.
3. CLI: config system dhcp server → edit <id> → config reserved-address → edit 1 → set mac AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF → set ip 192.168.10.50 → next → end → end

Gotchas & notes

• The setting is buried under the interface's DHCP *Advanced* options; there is no top-level reservations page, which makes it hard to find and hard to audit.
• The same reserved-address table also does MAC access control (set action block) — the fastest way to deny an address to a specific device.
• A reservation does not take effect until the client's current lease expires or is cleared with execute dhcp lease-clear <mac>.

Steps

1. Clients → click the client → Settings / Config → set *Fixed IP Address*, choose the network, enter the IP.
2. Save. The client keeps its DHCP lease but always receives that address.
3. For a device not yet seen, add it manually under the client list (varies by version).

Gotchas & notes

• Reservations are attached to the client object, not to the DHCP scope — so the list of reservations is not visible in one place, which makes auditing awkward.
• 'Forgetting' a client in the UniFi UI deletes its fixed IP and name along with its history. This is the usual cause of reservations mysteriously disappearing.
• The fixed IP can be outside the DHCP range and usually should be, to keep static assignments visually separate.
• The client must reconnect (or the lease expire) before the new address applies.

Steps

1. ip dhcp pool PRINTER → host 192.168.10.50 255.255.255.0 → client-identifier 01aa.bbcc.ddee.ff → default-router 192.168.10.1
2. Alternative on some versions: hardware-address aabb.ccdd.eeff instead of client-identifier.
3. Verify: show ip dhcp binding

Gotchas & notes

• A reservation is its own DHCP pool on IOS — one pool per reserved host, which is verbose and the reason few people use IOS DHCP at scale.
• client-identifier needs the MAC prefixed with the media type (01 for Ethernet) and in dotted format: 01aa.bbcc.ddee.ff. Getting this format wrong is the usual failure, and there is no error message.
• If client-identifier does not work, try hardware-address aabb.ccdd.eeff — different client DHCP implementations send different identifiers.
• Clear the existing binding after adding the reservation: clear ip dhcp binding <old-ip>.

Steps

1. Network → DHCP → DHCP Server → select the server → Reserved Address section → Add the IP and the MAC.
2. Commit.
3. Verify: show dhcp server lease interface <int>

Gotchas & notes

• The reserved address must be inside the configured pool, unlike several other vendors where it should be outside. PAN-OS reserves it from the pool rather than adding it.
• Requires a Commit, and the client needs to renew before it picks up the new address.
• The reservation list is per-DHCP-server and visible in one place — better for auditing than FortiGate or UniFi.

Steps

1. Fastest: Status → DHCP Leases → find the device → click the + / Add static mapping button next to it (pre-fills the MAC).
2. Or Services → DHCP Server → <interface> → DHCP Static Mappings → Add and enter MAC, IP, hostname, description.
3. Save → Apply Changes.

Gotchas & notes

• The one-click promote from Status → DHCP Leases is the best version of this workflow across all six vendors — it fills in the MAC and hostname for you.
• By default pfSense recommends the static IP be outside the dynamic pool range; addresses inside the pool work but can conflict depending on backend.
• Setting the *Hostname* field also registers the name in the DNS Resolver (if *Register DHCP static mappings in DNS Resolver* is enabled), giving you internal DNS for free — a commonly missed benefit.
• Static mappings can carry their own DNS/gateway/option overrides per host, which is useful for lab devices.

Steps

1. MANAGE → Network → DHCP Server → Current DHCP Leases tab shows active leases with MAC, IP, and hostname.
2. For a device that has already pulled an address: select its lease row and click Add to Reservations (sometimes shown as a 'convert to static' action icon) — this is the one-click path.
3. For a device that has not leased yet: open the relevant scope and enter the MAC Address and desired Reserved IP directly in its reservation list.
4. Save. The client picks up the reserved address on its next DHCP renewal, or force it by releasing/renewing on the client.

Gotchas & notes

• The 'promote an existing lease' shortcut only works while the lease is still live in the table — once it expires you're back to typing the MAC address in by hand.
• Reservations are stored inside the scope, not as standalone objects — deleting the DHCP scope deletes its reservations with it.
• No CLI path exists for this at all on SonicOS; it's strictly a GUI action, in line with SonicWall keeping service-level config out of the E-CLI.
• SonicWall recommends keeping the reserved address outside the scope's dynamic range; a reservation inside the active pool can occasionally lose a race to a different client if the reservation and the dynamic lease table are read at slightly different times.

Steps

1. Insight portal/app: Locations → [location] → Devices → [router or Orbi Pro] → LAN Settings → DHCP Reservations (or the Clients list) → click a currently-connected client → Reserve IP (auto-fills the MAC), or use Add Reservation to type in the MAC and desired IP by hand.
2. No CLI equivalent on routers/Orbi Pro — same story as DHCP server itself: cloud GUI only.
3. Smart Switches: not applicable — no DHCP server on the switch means no reservation feature to look for.
4. M4200/M4300: a fixed binding lives inside the ip dhcp pool you already created, as its own sub-object rather than a 'promoted lease.' GUI: DHCP Server → Pool → Static/Fixed Bindings → Add (name, IP, MAC). CLI: inside the ip dhcp pool <name> context, host <ip> <mask> followed by hardware-address <mac> (or client-identifier for identifier-based binding) — confirm exact keywords on-box since they can shift between 12.0.x firmware builds.

Gotchas & notes

• One-click 'promote this lease to a reservation' only exists on the router/Orbi Pro side via the Insight Clients list. On the M4200/M4300 you always type the MAC by hand — there's no equivalent promote button.
• Because DHCP server only exists on routers, Orbi Pro, and the M4300 L3 tier, 'reserve a static IP' simply isn't a feature anywhere else in the lineup — e.g. a plain Insight-managed Smart Switch has nothing to configure here, don't go hunting for it.
• Insight reservations match on MAC, not port/VLAN — if a reserved device gets moved to a different VLAN/subnet on the same router, the reservation's IP can silently fall outside the new subnet's range and just stop applying.