Reply to: IP conflicts

[snaw]

Without wanting to sound rude here, but I wouldn't advertise what Router manufacturer and firmware you are using on a forum that can be read by the masses. It's something that hackers love to see. Just a thought.

I'm using a dual tier of Checkpoint UTM's and Cisco ASA's in case any hackers are reading this ...

[pmeswani]

I've had that before on my Netgear router, and I think it's when it's struggling to reconnect the ADSL. I imagine the "limited connectivity" message is because the ethernet connection was dropped, then tried to reconnect but DHCP didn't work. It's not specific to wireless.

BTW I have a ******** firmware for some time. I haven't had the aforementioned problem for a long while, so maybe it was the firmware that fixed it.

Without wanting to sound rude here, but I wouldn't advertise what Router manufacturer and firmware you are using on a forum that can be read by the masses. It's something that hackers love to see. Just a thought.

[Sysman]

WHS (including the bits I haven't quoted).

A friend of mine gave me a useful tip a few years ago: rather than staying with the default 192.168.1.x DHCP/NAT range, move your router's DHCP to somewhere else - say, 192.168.23.x, where the 23 can be any value from 1 to 255.

That way you are very unlikely to end up with DHCP conflicts when something that also has DHCP enabled connects to your network. Everything uses 1 as the default, which makes 192.168.1.x potentially a crowded neighbourhood.

Good tip thanks.

I've always nailed mine down to fixed IPs when possible. For the last bit of the address I had a naming scheme, so that my Winders boxes were numbered 11, 12..., Linux boxes 21, 22... and so on. This made it easier to remember which addresses were running which OS and helped when sifting though logs.

[MPwannadecentincome]

BTW I have a Netgear DG834v4 too, and have been running the 5.0.0.14 firmware for some time. I haven't had the aforementioned problem for a long while, so maybe it was the firmware that fixed it.

That's good to know - thanks!

[VectraMan]

In one case I gave my laptop a fixed IP in the right range, the LAN connection came up but the router was frozen solid - well at least the admin web pages would not come up. All the lights on the router were normal. Reboot was the only course of action.

I've had that before on my Netgear router, and I think it's when it's struggling to reconnect the ADSL. I imagine the "limited connectivity" message is because the ethernet connection was dropped, then tried to reconnect but DHCP didn't work. It's not specific to wireless.

BTW I have a Netgear DG834v4 too, and have been running the 5.0.0.14 firmware for some time. I haven't had the aforementioned problem for a long while, so maybe it was the firmware that fixed it.

[NickFitz]

Is it possble that you have two overlapping DHCP scopes on your network??

WHS (including the bits I haven't quoted).

A friend of mine gave me a useful tip a few years ago: rather than staying with the default 192.168.1.x DHCP/NAT range, move your router's DHCP to somewhere else - say, 192.168.23.x, where the 23 can be any value from 1 to 255.

That way you are very unlikely to end up with DHCP conflicts when something that also has DHCP enabled connects to your network. Everything uses 1 as the default, which makes 192.168.1.x potentially a crowded neighbourhood.

[wxman]

Is it possble that you have two overlapping DHCP scopes on your network??

Given that the Netgear is DHCP enabled.

What about ...

Windows XP Internet connection sharing (enables DHCP on the XP client)

Does the NAS box have DHCP

Are the laptops connecting via Wi-Fi AND cabled ethernet at the same time??

Just some suggestions....

[Sysman]

Buy a new one?

My Netgear router will allow you to assign a specific IP to a specific MAC address, which is what I do. The IPs are fixed, yet the configuration just uses DHCP.

You are right, I probably should get a new one, but nowadays I'm down to just a couple of systems at home and don't need to fiddle with the thing.

[MPwannadecentincome]

My router is less than 2 years old and still in warranty so I have raised a support ticket at netgear support.

Well the support ticket got answered...

Dear xxxxxxx,

Thank you for choosing NETGEAR. My name is Gaurav and I will be your support engineer. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

I understand that you are experiencing unstable Internet connection on your 'Windows XP' computer wired to the NETGEAR router (DG834v4). I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. Since we are doing this online, it may require a few email exchanges before we can resolve the issue. Please be assured that I will do my best effort to help resolve your case in the least amount of time.

Regarding your concern, I would request you to please re-flash the firmware on your NETGEAR router (DG834v4) with firmware version: '5.01.14' by following the steps given below:

blah blah

So the idiots think I have a unstable internet connection !!!!

Anyway - I downloaded the latest firmware - their server must suck it took 1 hour for the 3.8M file to download. Just updated it now I have to wait to see what happens.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Buy a new one?

My Netgear router will allow you to assign a specific IP to a specific MAC address, which is what I do. The IPs are fixed, yet the configuration just uses DHCP.

"Limited or no connectivity" happens when wireless isn't working, nothing to do with IP conflicts. Then you get a fixed IP (164 - something IIRC). Maybe if both laptops do the same and it starts working, they could conflict.

Either way I think your problem is with the wireless, and nothing to do with IPs.

I disagree!

I have exactly the same problems without having a NAS or anything else that needs static IP and I have 2 laptops connected on a WIRED network.

Recently the network just goes and 'Limited or not connectivity' comes up for no apparent reason.

I could understand this happening when connecting for the first time - if it can't get an IP from DHCP, but whilst already connected I get this.

I have a netgear too, twice this week I had to reboot.

In one case I gave my laptop a fixed IP in the right range, the LAN connection came up but the router was frozen solid - well at least the admin web pages would not come up. All the lights on the router were normal. Reboot was the only course of action.

My router is less than 2 years old and still in warranty so I have raised a support ticket at netgear support.

[baldychoko]

do the static mapping on the router so when it see's your mac address it gives you the same IP each time

Agreed if your router supports this that is, get the MAC's of your devices (ipconfig /all) and assign each device a specific IP within the DHCP settings of your router.
If the laptops are Dells I have seen issues with there NIC drivers. Also ensure that you get the right MAC (wired or wireless)

[blacjac]

I would agree with VectraMan, I was having a similar problem in an office I was working in a coupleof years ago, there was a wifi router used by 2 laptops. Both worked when in the office on their own, but when they were in the office together you would get the symptoms you described.

At first we thought it was the router, but swapping it left the same problems. Turned out it was dodgy drivers on the laptops, updated them both to the latest wifi drivers and the problem went away (they were Acer Travelmate something or others).

[VectraMan]

Not all routers are created equal. My now rather dated (2005) router will happily assign names to wireless connections and remember them, but not to cable connections.

Buy a new one?

My Netgear router will allow you to assign a specific IP to a specific MAC address, which is what I do. The IPs are fixed, yet the configuration just uses DHCP.

"Limited or no connectivity" happens when wireless isn't working, nothing to do with IP conflicts. Then you get a fixed IP (164 - something IIRC). Maybe if both laptops do the same and it starts working, they could conflict.

Either way I think your problem is with the wireless, and nothing to do with IPs.

[Sysman]

You should still be able to do that with dynamic IP addresses. The router's DNS should store the Windows computer name against the IP address it has been assigned. No need to mess about with the hosts file either.

Not all routers are created equal. My now rather dated (2005) router will happily assign names to wireless connections and remember them, but not to cable connections.

[The Wikir Man]

You should still be able to do that with dynamic IP addresses. The router's DNS should store the Windows computer name against the IP address it has been assigned. No need to mess about with the hosts file either.

Ahhh - but mine works, and Mustang's doesn't

(Didn't know that, but am now too stuck in my ways to not do it that way)