Lose Connection If I Switch Ethernet Cable To Another Machine

[Mr. Nastyness]

Hello all,

I've encountered a problem I haven't seen before. I have an all wired network setup in my home that goes from modem,to router, to my computer/xbox. Usually I will browse the internet on my PC, and when I want to play the Xbox I just move the ethernet cord from my PC over to the Xbox and play.

Now, for some reason, when I unplug the ethernet cable and try plugging it back into the PC or the Xbox, it is unable to find an IP address. I have to go reset the modem and router anytime I unplug the ethernet cable from anything.

Any clues to this? I can't think of anything...I used to switch the cord back in forth 4 or 5 times a day everyday for years now and suddenly it gets lost.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Seems your router doesn't have enough available addresses to give out, some automatically obtain and re-flash to the latest firmware available for them, sometimes a router can only lease a few addresses max for security reasons. What model is your router?

 

[manowar]

Very weird.

Any chance you could just buy another network cable and have both devices wired into the router simultanieously so you're not messing about swapping cables all the time?

You could try repairing the network connection on the PC, and run nbtstat -R, ipconfig /flushdns, and arp -d in the command prompt box.

Adding to what Corrosive said, try tapping into your router and check the DHCP address scope, see if its handing out enough addresses to devices. Also see if you can upgrade the firmware on the router - firmware is usually obtainable through the manufactorers website.

Do you get a a 169.254.x.x address when you plug back into the other device?