I've setup a Z100G for my household. My problem is I cannot see how to add network objects by only their MAC ID. It seems to require an IP address to create the object, so this forces you to use static IPs, defeating the purpose of having a built-in DHCP server.

Why can't it just use the MAC ID and talk to the built-in DHCP server to get the current IP address?

Or am I misunderstanding the setup of Network objects?

You aren't defeating DHCP - what you are doing is having the Z100G's DHCP server assign the same IP address to a particular MAC over time, allowing rules to know how to refer to the same machine over time.

Your PC should still be set for DHCP (and not manually set to match the IP address you set in its network object), and any machines that join your network that don't have a network object will still automatically be assigned a free IP address from the pool.

The purpose of network objects is to simplify references to machines that are more or less permanently part of your network by taking advantage of the Z100G being in charge of handing out IP addresses for your network.

Hope this clarifies things.

Thanks. I'll try setting the clients back to DHCP and see if they still get an IP OK.