Should I leave DHCP server enabled or disabled for my router?

Question

Should I enable a DHCP server on my router or disable it? People keep telling me that if I disable it I'll have to manually change the settings, but when I disable a DHCP server the ability to change the settings for the DHCP server goes away; the text boxes are all greyed out. My router help says it's enabled by default, but if it's enabled shouldn't I not have to change the DHCP settings? (I have a Linksys router by the way.) Thanks.

Answer 1

DHCP is the ability for the router to assign addresses.  There are 2 types of DHCP in the router, Dynamic and Static.  Dynamic means it picks the first number avilable and gives it out.  Static means you assign the number depending on the device MAC address.  

If you disable DHCP then you will have to manually assign an address to each computer or device, overall it would be much easier with DHCP enabled.

Answer 2

Enable it

"Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network protocol that enables a server to automatically assign an IP address to an individual computer's"

http://kb.iu.edu/data/adov.html

Answer 3

You want DHCP enabled. The settings people are talking about you having to set when it is off, is all the IP settings on each machine to plug into the router. With DHCP on, all that stuff is automatically configured, so when you plug in a computer, you don't have any extra setup to do, you can just access the internet.