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[pnjtony]

So at least once a day I get a call at work where someone has a 169.x.x.x IP address. I work for a broadband ISP BTW. What causes this? I see it in Windows as well as Macs. Things I've done to fix this are:

netsh winsock reset then reboot -- This seems to work about 50% of the time

Re-install NIC drivers

Pull ethernet cord out of PC, reboot PC, boot up Windows then plug ethernet cord back in -- Sometimes this seems to "trick" the PC

The problem is that none of these things ever works 100% of the time. Is there something I'm missing? Half the time Windows wont even let me do the netsh command, it'll say it's not found.

I've never had this problem on my PC.

I feel like an idiot.

 

[alejob]

169.254.x.x is whats called an APIPA address. It's basically the address that the computer assigns itself when it can't find the DHCP server.

 

[123rl]

I thought 169.xxx.xxx.xxx was a computer behind a router. On my network, our computers are 169.193.2.x and then each computer (plus my Xbox) is labelled 1, 2, 3, or 4 as the last number

 

[pnjtony]

I thought 169.xxx.xxx.xxx was a computer behind a router. On my network, our computers are 169.193.2.x and then each computer (plus my Xbox) is labelled 1, 2, 3, or 4 as the last number

Thinking of 192.168.x.x?

 

[123rl]

Oops, yes I am (insert embarassed smilie)

 

[UtadaBarkley]

169.254.xxx.xxx = EV1L

 

[pnjtony]

You're telling me, but there's got to be a reason other than can't contact DHCP server. I've actually tried stopping the DHCP Client and starting it again to get it to work. Sometimes it does. Just irritating that you have to try like 6 different things and you're still not even sure if anything will work.

 

[maharg]

169.254.x.x is whats called an APIPA address. It's basically the address that the computer assigns itself when it can't find the DHCP server.

Yep. It's pretty useless though, unless you only want a simple LAN. If that's the case though, you should be able to do most of the windows file/printer sharing stuff over it without a router (still need a hub or crossover cable).

Having this problem often probably indicates that one of your NIC, your cable, or your router sucks. Whatever works better when you switch it somehow (new cable, cycle power, cycle NIC driver) is probably the problem.

 

[Shompola]

Whenever this happens to me, my retarded ISP dhcp server has died or so. Then I just wait until it connects, wich can take a few seconds, few minutes, few hours and once it took 2 days.. geez.

 

[Spruce Moose]

Back when I was an installer, I despised the dreaded 169. Sometimes a release and renew would work, sometimes not.

In a few cased the port was toast, or the ISP's equipment had gone wonky. grrrrr....

 

[pnjtony]

Isn't it frustrating that it seems EVERYONE curses the 169 yet no one has a good fix for it? Is it just because they happen for various reasons and it's hard to pin point? For a while a winsock fix app worked well, but no so much these days

I've also heard re-seating the NIC or switching PCI slots also fixes it. crazy

 

[Shompola]

flushing the socket buffer might help, somebody allready mentioned it though with renew etc. options in windows.

 

[pnjtony]

is that the netsh winsock reset command you're refering to or something else?

 

[shuri]

ipconfig /renew

 

[pnjtony]

ipconfig /renew

Apparently you've never encountered the 169

 

[Shompola]

btw, some isps allows you to have a fixed amount of ip addresses from the dhcp server.. so if you exceed that amount, the dhcp server will refuse to give you another ip address and the poor computer will sit their with a 160.x.x.x type of ip address. This happened to me when I tried to have over 5 computers connected to the internet, the 6th computer never got a new ip address until one of the other computers dropped out.

 

[SSGMUN10000]

I also work for an isp and we get these calls daily. Very...very...very...rarily its actually the dhcp server on our case. Sometimes i reset the winsock files or r/r tcp ip. Since our modems support ethernet and usb we have the client try the other open connection.