WinXP DHCP not working

[bitsmart]

OK, here's the setup. My WinXP Pro machine is trying to share the household cable connection through a router. My Win98 laptop does it fine with a PCMCIA Ethernet adapter, but WinXP with a PCI network interface card just cannot find the routers DHCP server. I've tried changing cables, switching PCI slots, using a static IP (then I could see others on the network but still no internet access), updating drivers, reinstalling the TCP/IP protocol, nothing.

I'm convinced that it's not the external setup that's causing the problem; it must be something wrong with WinXPs configuration. Usually I would get an APIPA-assigned IP (169.254.*.*) if I didn't try a static IP (which still didn't work) so I just turned APIPA off with a registry hack. Now XP boots up with an IP of 0.0.0.0. This tells me that it's not a problem with APIPA, but rather with DHCP.

I'm at my wit's end with this. I understand the basic concepts and devices behind networking, and what's going on doesn't make any sense. Everything I'm trying that should fix it isn't helping. My father (who set up the network) and I are stumped as to why something so simple should be so difficult. I would really appreciate any thoughts on this. If anyone wants more information I'd be happy to respond, I just tried to keep all the most relevant stuff here in the first post. Either email me or post here if you'd like to try to help please.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bitsmart]

All that help information seems good and dandy, but for me it's all common sense. I understand the logistics of the home network and how it's set up. What's stumping me is why can't my computer get an IP through DHCP? It should be working, but illogically it's not.

All the TCP/IP settings are automatic like they're supposed to be, but apparently when logging in the retrieval of an IP address from the router fails. Then APIPA assigns me a 169.254.*.* IP or if APIPA is disabled, you just get 0.0.0.0.

 

[Seloce]

sorry to have to drop to basics here with you, seeing as you sound like you know what you're doing.

have you tried to ping the router and the modem (or is it a router/modem combo?)?

are you using a firewall?

how do you have this setup, hardware-wise? obviously the router/modem on one end...but from there?

how many certificates does your router/modem provide in DHCP?

do you have any DNS or WINS settings on the XP machine? are you using the WINS protocol on the '98 machine?

 

[ikellen]

Did you make sure the router configuration is correct? A few things I would check inside XP:

-Make sure your advanced TCP/IP properties are all correct? Make sure you dont have static IP or DNS.

-Try running the ICS wizard and specify that you access the internet through another computer. Or specify your "Default Gateway" as the router's IP.

That's all I can offer at the moment.......

 

[n3tw0rkn3rd]

ran in to this problem this weekend w/ my friend's xp machine. dhcp worked fine for me, but not him. the 168.x.x.x is the generic ip that windows gives your machine when it either a. doesn't have a static ip, or b. can't find the dhcp server. temporary solution, but what we ended up doing was giving him a static ip. just make sure when you do this that the ip is in the correct subnet, and you've set the gateway to the router's ip. after you've done this, you'll probably be able to talk with the router, but you'll need to grab the dns ips from the router or your isp. that way you can access the internet

oh, and ICS has nothing to do with this. that's a software app used when you're using one computer as a gateway to get on the internet... with a router, there is no reason for it unless you're plugging another network into this computer. good luck.

 

[bitsmart]

Originally posted by Seloce

sorry to have to drop to basics here with you, seeing as you sound like you know what you're doing.

No, this is good, I feel like the information gathering is getting more specific.

have you tried to ping the router and the modem (or is it a router/modem combo?)?

When I enter a static IP in the range of the network, I can ping other computers and the router. Otherwise, no.

are you using a firewall?

I am currently not using a firewall, and though others on my network are, it doesn't matter because I don't need any other computer for Internet access.

how do you have this setup, hardware-wise? obviously the router/modem on one end...but from there?

A cable modem goes to a Linksys DSL/Cable router, which goes to a hub, which goes to my hub in my room, which splits to my Win98 laptop and my WinXP desktop. I know cutting one of those routers out might help in troubleshooting, but I'll point out that my laptop works fine going through two hubs to the router. They're basically used for distance.

how many certificates does your router/modem provide in DHCP?

Not sure, I'll ask my dad.

do you have any DNS or WINS settings on the XP machine? are you using the WINS protocol on the '98 machine?

My dad found DNS settings on his computer, and we tried using those when we tried to use a manually-configured static IP. My dad doesn't use WINS. I don't really know what WINS does, but I'm pretty sure it's out of the picture in this situation.

 

[bitsmart]

Originally posted by ikellen

Did you make sure the router configuration is correct? A few things I would check inside XP:

I've never actually seen the router configuration, my father set all of that up, so I'm trusting him as he knows what he's doing.

-Make sure your advanced TCP/IP properties are all correct? Make sure you dont have static IP or DNS.

Yeah, I was real sure to try all that several times, no dice.

-Try running the ICS wizard and specify that you access the internet through another computer. Or specify your "Default Gateway" as the router's IP.

Tried that, heh.

That's all I can offer at the moment.......

Thanks for the help.

Originally posted by n3tw0rkn3rd

ran in to this problem this weekend w/ my friend's xp machine. dhcp worked fine for me, but not him. the 168.x.x.x is the generic ip that windows gives your machine when it either a. doesn't have a static ip, or b. can't find the dhcp server. temporary solution, but what we ended up doing was giving him a static ip. just make sure when you do this that the ip is in the correct subnet, and you've set the gateway to the router's ip. after you've done this, you'll probably be able to talk with the router, but you'll need to grab the dns ips from the router or your isp. that way you can access the internet

Well, at least it's good to know that this isn't an isolated problem and I'm not going crazy. When we tried that temporary solution, it sorta worked. It got me onto the network, and I could see my laptop's shared files, but not much more than that. We fooled with the gateway IP and DNS servers and everything, but still no 'Net access.

Thanks so far for your help guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[sumando]

I have a similar setup. I've got an XP machine connected to a hub which then connects to a Linksys BEFSR41 V.2 Etherfast Cable Router.

I ran into the same problems as you. The second HUB is irrelavant, as it just passes packets though to other devices on the subnet.

I have NOT figured out why XP gives up on the router's DHCP server, but its exit plan is to assign the default IP. Apparently, it tries for about 30 seconds, then gives up.

Looking back through this thread, I think you forgot to do one thing -- assign the IP address of the default gateway.

DHCP came along to ease the growing burden on administrators of very large networks. You do not have a large network where people will forget whose computer is assigned to which IP address. So forget using DHCP. Just assign a static IP and don't assign the same one to anything else in your subnet.

Here's what you have to do:

Right click on My Network Places and select Properties from the menu.

Double click on the Local Area Connection icon and click on the properties button.

Ensure that the 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)' item has a checkmark beside it.

Highlight the 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)' item in the list and click the properties button.

Ensure that 'Use the following IP address' is selected. Then enter the appropriate IP address (Usually 192.168.1.X where X is a value unique to this machine between 2 and 99 -- 100 to 254 belong to DHCP), Subnet mask (Usually 255.255.255.0) and Default gateway (The address of your routing device, usually 192.168.1.1)

Ensure that 'Use the following DNS server addresses' is selected. You can try to enter 206.191.0.140 for the Preferred DNS server and 206.191.0.210 for the Alternate DNS server, but you should use the same ones that your dad can see reported in Setup on the router.

Click on the ok buttons to exit out. It may prompt to restart your machine.

By the way, if you wish to play any of the neat internet games, you will need to have a static IP anyway, and your dad will have to set your IP as a DMZ host. Before doing that, make sure you have a good software firewall in place such as Norton Internet Security or (free) Zone Alarm. If you don't, the bad guys will enter your computer and have a high-bandwidth ball with your puter!

Hope this helps!

 

[bitsmart]

Originally posted by sumando

I have a similar setup. I've got an XP machine connected to a hub which then connects to a Linksys BEFSR41 V.2 Etherfast Cable Router. I ran into the same problems as you. The second HUB is irrelavant, as it just passes packets though to other devices on the subnet. I have NOT figured out why XP gives up on the router's DHCP server, but its exit plan is to assign the default IP. Apparently, it tries for about 30 seconds, then gives up. Looking back through this thread, I think you forgot to do one thing -- assign the IP address of the default gateway.

OK, I think I get what you're saying about the default gateway. At first I would only enter the router/gateway/DHCP IP address (192.168.1.2) if I was manually configuring the IP; otherwise it was the same old story with everything set to 'automatic.'

So I set the default gateway in the Advanced TCP/IP settings, to go along with the 'automatic' method...something I hadn't done before, and used the manually configured static IP in the alternate configuration. Unfortunately, this caused no change. The computer still gave up on the DHCP and used the alternate manual configuration.

DHCP came along to ease the growing burden on administrators of very large networks. You do not have a large network where people will forget whose computer is assigned to which IP address. So forget using DHCP. Just assign a static IP and don't assign the same one to anything else in your subnet.

I tried doing this with interesting results, but not quite what I need. When I set a static IP, I seem to have partial participation in the LAN. I can see my laptop (Win 98, accesses the 'Net just fine) and access the shared folders, as well as my mother's computer, shared folders and printer. But no Internet access.

Of course, when I don't enter a static IP, I don't get any network access whatsoever. To be honest, this problem is really starting to irritate me. I just feel like it's some crazy little thing that I overlooked; it can't possibly be something else, because this process is so simple. The WinXP Pro machine asks the router (192.168.1.2) for a DHCP-assigned IP address, and joins the network and shares the cable internet connection. Voila. Right?

Nope. How more simple can you get? What could be going wrong? *sigh* Anyone else care to venture a suggestion?

 

[bitsmart]

I'm assuming you have researched this on Microsofts site?? http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q315978

Yeah, no help there for this issue. Microsoft only seems to give support for problems that have a logical cause and solution, stuff I already thought of and tried.