Changing IP address (when I don't want to)

[alanf617]

I am having problems with my wireless link. I have a D-Link router attached to the set-top box, and wireless PCI card inside a new-ish PC running XP home, oodles of RAM and HDD space. After a while, the IP address changes from 192.168.0.x to 169.x.x.x and I lose the connection. Seems to take a while to sort this out, and I often have to run a utility that I found called Winsockfix.exe which often cures the problem but requires a reboot. As this can be needed every half hour, it is a bit of a pain.

No problems with a wired link direct to STB; D-link have very kindly replaced the PCI card under warranty and have just returned the router after testing it and finding no problem. (If anyone from D Link is reading this, thank you, your customer support service is one of the best). Any thoughts?

[Richard M]

It just means that the connection is dropping.
169.x.x.x is known as "auto configuration" which basically means that you have no connection and can't contact a DHCP server.

[Chris W]

sounds like the old winsock 2 error.

When you next get the 169ip address, get a dos prompt up (start-> run-> cmd) then type ipconfig /renew

if you get a message "an operation was attempted on something that is not a socket" check this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;318584

[Shaun]

Could it be interference Richard? Maybe a change of channel could fix it?

Hope I'm not trying to teach anyone to suck eggs :s

Nice to know D-link have good support as my cards are from them

[alanf617]

Thanks
No obvious sign of interference according to Network Stumbler...
I'll try the winsock 2 workaround, and see.
And Ipconfig /release and Ipconfig /renew don't seem to do anything here.

Thanks to all three of you

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by Richard M

It just means that the connection is dropping.
169.x.x.x is known as "auto configuration" which basically means that you have no connection and can't contact a DHCP server.

Following from what Richard said....

Do you have anything running on the PC which could block the DHCP renewal from the router? (e.g. software firewall incorrectly configured? May be clutching at straws here )

Have you tried manually assigning an IP address for your PC, instead of letting it obtain an IP from the router via DHCP?

Also:

To stop a Win 2000/XP PC from switching to an APIPA address when it cannot contact the DHCP server:

Originally Posted by A file on my PC, can't remember where I got it!

Windows 2000 DHCP client is unable to connect to local resources?
In previous versions of Windows, a DHCP client would continue to use a leased address, until the lease expired, even if they were unable to connect to the DHCP server and default gateway.

In Windows 2000, if a client looses connectivity to a DHCP server and default gateway, they receive an APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) IP address, until connectivity is restored. The client periodically sends DHCP discovery packets and then ARPs for the default gateway.

To determine if this has happend, open a CMD prompt and type ipconfig. If the IP address is in the APIPA Class B range, 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255, they are unable to reach the DHCP server and default gateway.

If you wish to revert to the old behavior, disable APIPA on a specific adapter or for the entire computer -

Use Regedt32/regedit to navigate to or create:


Disable APIPA on a specific NIC

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\<adapter name>

On the Edit menu, Add Value name IPAutoconfigurationEnabled, as a REG_DWORD data type, and set the data value to 0. The default (missing) value is 1, which enables APIPA on this interface.


Disable APIPA on the Entire Computer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters

On the Edit menu, Add Value name IPAutoconfigurationEnabled, as a REG_DWORD data type, and set the data value to 0. The default (missing) value is 1, which enables APIPA on ALL interfaces.

NOTE: You must restart the client for the change to take effect.

[alanf617]

Now THAT looks brilliant!
BUT there are 7 subfolders, all with names beginning with {and numbers or letters. Which is the correct one?

I'll try that before I try the micro$oft solution.

And no, no firewall ( I think there is something of a firewall inside the router, does NAT sound right?).... I did have mcafee firewall but it seems unnecessary and kept giving me error messages saying that it had failed to start.

Manual addresses seemed a bit more stable, but still occasionally got corrupted to the 169.x.x.x address

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by alanf617

Now THAT looks brilliant!
BUT there are 7 subfolders, all with names beginning with {and numbers or letters. Which is the correct one?

LOL, I don't know!

My "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi c es\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\" section has 6 interface folders.

One of the six folders has a great deal more info in it than the other five, including the IP address, DNS address, subnet mask etc. of the adapter. The other five have less info in them, less entries, etc.

The only thing I can suggest (unless someone can explain an easy way to ID them), is to look through each of your seven folders, & find the one which has the correct info for the device in question.

I'll try that before I try the micro$oft solution.

Hopefully it will help

And no, no firewall ( I think there is something of a firewall inside the router, does NAT sound right?).... I did have mcafee firewall but it seems unnecessary and kept giving me error messages saying that it had failed to start.

Yeah, the router will have its own built-in NAT (network address translation) firewall.

Manual addresses seemed a bit more stable, but still occasionally got corrupted to the 169.x.x.x address

Changing the registry as above should stop the IP changing to an APIPA 169.x.x.x address.

It may still be worth a try switching to manual addresses too.

And there's still the winsock workaround to try out.


Of course, it still would be nice to find out exactly why you seem to be losing the DHCP lease in the first place!

[alanf617]

Well, I've done what you suggested for the whole computer instead of just one NIC, instead of worrying about which folder I should use.... I get frightened easily when editing the registry. I'll go to bed and see if it's still working tomorrow.... If you get a reply in the next 24 hours, you'll know I'm back at square one.

Thanks for the help

Alan

P.S. what's a Tezcatlipoca?

[Richard M]

Originally Posted by alanf617

P.S. what's a Tezcatlipoca?

An XBox obssessed Cable Forum moderator.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by alanf617

P.S. what's a Tezcatlipoca?

Dunno - I call him Tez - I still haven't figured out how to pronounce "Tezcatlipoca"

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by alanf617

Well, I've done what you suggested for the whole computer instead of just one NIC, instead of worrying about which folder I should use.... I get frightened easily when editing the registry. I'll go to bed and see if it's still working tomorrow.... If you get a reply in the next 24 hours, you'll know I'm back at square one.

Cool. Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks for the help

Alan

No problem

P.S. what's a Tezcatlipoca?

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/tezcatlipoca.html

The name of an Aztec god (I like mythology). I used to use it for my god character in the PC game "Black & White" ('cos my character in the game was not a very nice god ), so then decided to use it for my XBoxLive "GamerTag" when I had to pick a name for that, which led to me using it on forums such as here.

Originally Posted by Richard M

An XBox obssessed Cable Forum moderator.

Originally Posted by Pem

Dunno - I call him Tez - I still haven't figured out how to pronounce "Tezcatlipoca"

It's apparently "tehs-cah-tlee-poh'-cah" (from above link), but I think "Tez" is much easier


/



Anyway, I hope you get it all sorted, Alan

[alanf617]

Tez,

You are a genius!

So far, no problems apart from a briefly dropped connection late last night.

I note that the computer seems to need a minute or two to find the connection at bootup, which may explain why it kept reverting to the 169.x.x.x address, but all seems to be well at last. Will let you know if it doesn't last, but next time you are near Potters Bar, the first drink is on me!

Many thanks

of Hertfordshire

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by alanf617

Tez,

You are a genius!

LOL

So far, no problems apart from a briefly dropped connection late last night.

I note that the computer seems to need a minute or two to find the connection at bootup, which may explain why it kept reverting to the 169.x.x.x address, but all seems to be well at last. Will let you know if it doesn't last, but next time you are near Potters Bar, the first drink is on me!

Many thanks

of Hertfordshire

Glad it all seems better now, Alan