Hi all -
An option would be to move to IPv6 and use stateless address autoconfiguration, where the MAC address is used to form part of the IPv6 address. You can then easily see from the IP address which device it is, assuming you know its MAC address.
the background of my thoughts was how far we can get with non-technical people just taking a bunch of Mesh-Potatoes out of the box, connecting one of them to an existing LAN segment with DHCP and Internet uplink. The setup should allow them to make calls amongst each other and simplifying the gateway setup, so they can use the Internet and make international calls. The MPs should also have a Accesspoint VAP.
This is an attempt of squaring the circle, of course...
Having said that batman-adv is pretty powerful with this regard. I just wanted to initiate some public brainstorming about how to solve the problem of identifying each device for debugging purposes when using DHCP.
Writing down each devices MAC address and using IPv6 is a feasible approach, but I figure it would be not intuitive.
However Mareks suggestion of adding a alias IP (we have a Asterisk IVR extension that can do this) is a valid suggestion.
The requirement to enter a IP via the phone keypad is not exactly zero configuration, but given the enormous set of features that we can offer, it is pretty close. Thanks!
Cheers, Elektra