Laptops not getting an IP

[speakercon]

This week I've had a hand full of laptops (different makes and models) that are connected to the wireless but have not picked up an IP address (they have a 169 address).

 

DHCP is definitely working and has plenty of spare IP's (I connected a couple of ipads to that SSID and they picked up an IP and worked fine.

 

I tried the following, but did not resolve the issue:

· Rebooting.

· Disconnecting from the SSID and reconnecting.

· Forgetting the SSID and reconnecting.

 

The following 'fixes' the problem:

· Giving the laptop a static IP (works) and then removing the static, it then gets an IP from DHCP.

· Connecting to a different SSID, the laptop then gets an IP and then I can connect back to the original SSID and the laptop gets an IP.

· Plugging the laptop in via ethernet, the wired adapter gets an IP straight away and the 169 address on the wireless adapter goes away and the laptop gets an IP from DCHP.

 

I'm pretty sure there is no issue with the wireless, network or DHCP. The issue is isolated to windows laptops. My thinking is it might be an update that has caused the problem, the only fix seems to be the laptops needs to connect the network/internet through a method other than a DCHP lease on the SSID it was on.

 

Has anyone else experienced anything similar recently?

 

We are running version 1809.

Edited October 14, 2022 by speakercon

[round2it]

not a help but we have a similar issue on 2004 do you use unifi ap's by any chance

 

i find a quick wifi trouble shoot and a reboot fixes it for us, like you said it is random never got to the bottom of it

 

again its only windows pc's

 

 

ipconfig /release and renew sometimes works

Edited October 14, 2022 by round2it

[Jawloms]

Make and Model of laptop? They're not Lenovo V15 IIL are they?

[carlin_w]

This happened to me a few weeks ago with iPads - like you the only way I could get a connection was to set a static IP address, then turn back to DHCP.

 

Following to see if anyone has a definitive solution to this.

[mavhc]

Any info in the server's dhcp logs? C:\Windows\System32\DHCP

[Disease]

This week I've had a hand full of laptops (different makes and models) that are connected to the wireless but have not picked up an IP address (they have a 169 address).

 

DHCP is definitely working and has plenty of spare IP's (I connected a couple of ipads to that SSID and they picked up an IP and worked fine.

 

I tried the following, but did not resolve the issue:

· Rebooting.

· Disconnecting from the SSID and reconnecting.

· Forgetting the SSID and reconnecting.

 

The following 'fixes' the problem:

· Giving the laptop a static IP (works) and then removing the static, it then gets an IP from DHCP.

· Connecting to a different SSID, the laptop then gets an IP and then I can connect back to the original SSID and the laptop gets an IP.

· Plugging the laptop in via ethernet, the wired adapter gets an IP straight away and the 169 address on the wireless adapter goes away and the laptop gets an IP from DCHP.

 

I'm pretty sure there is no issue with the wireless, network or DHCP. The issue is isolated to windows laptops. My thinking is it might be an update that has caused the problem, the only fix seems to be the laptops needs to connect the network/internet through a method other than a DCHP lease on the SSID it was on.

 

Has anyone else experienced anything similar recently?

 

We are running version 1809.

 

We have the exact same problem here and it has been driving me nuts trying to find a solution, I did start a thread on it. We were on 1809 and subsequently upgraded to 21H2 but still have the problem occasionally. I have found no permanent solution, just immediate fixes like you suggested.

[speakercon]

We are on unifi wireless, is this a common theme for others with the isssue?

 

I've not checked the DHCP logs but will next time I get one with the problem.

 

They are mainly the DfE HP G7's & G8's, but I have also had the problem on an old Lenovo G550.

 

I did try an ipconfig /release and renew but this did not work for me.

Edited October 14, 2022 by speakercon

[Disease]

We are not on Unifi, we are on Ruckus so I don't think it is Wifi Vendor specific.

[Jawloms]

What about the vendor of the wireless card in the laptops? Any connection there?

[JRA]

About a year back had an utterly infuriating issue which sounds eerily similar. Never did get to the bottom of it before leaving, and sounds like you got a touch further than me in fact, but I could make it go away briefly by restarting the Unifi WAPs.

[DGardiner]

Make sure if your access points have any broadcast/unicast filtering your dhcp server is on the whitelist.

 

i know with unifi if things are set to auto when it gets busy it cuts them off

[Duke5A]

Are you allowing the laptops to pull driver updates from Windows Update? Might be worth rolling the driver back to a previous version if it's been updated recently.

[speakercon]

I've not had any more since last week... strange.

 

If/when I get another one I'll try the driver roll back & report back.

[chazzy2501]

sometimes a failing AP can broadcast and not pass some or all traffic, this is usually what is happening. Change the nearest AP.

[Zourous]

Just reading this thread with interest. We have Lenovo V145 15AST laptops that seem to intermittently not get an IP address. It's happens enough times to create tickets and get calls about it all the time. I suspect it could be to do with Windows 10 21H2. We upgraded to this over the summer whereas the same laptops didn't have the same problem before. Just for the record we have Meraki wireless.

 

Anyone have any further updates since October?

[Olliedawg]

Worth checking BIOS version of the laptops & seeing if there are any updates available. We had some issues with a DELL AIO not getting an IP via ethernet or wifi. After checking EVERYTHING else, i thought let me just check the BIOS version, and it was insanely out of date. Updated to a more recent one, unit now gets an IP no problem.

 

Might be worth a try!!

[kevin_lane]

have you tried the following

 

remove all windows updates, reboot as well

test , if issue persist

uninstall the drivers for both nic

find the most up to date drivers for wireless card

test

 

if works install the lan driver - test

 

you could try resetting the tcp/ip stack as well netsh winsock reset i think the command is

[Steve21]

Just reading this thread with interest. We have Lenovo V145 15AST laptops that seem to intermittently not get an IP address. It's happens enough times to create tickets and get calls about it all the time. I suspect it could be to do with Windows 10 21H2. We upgraded to this over the summer whereas the same laptops didn't have the same problem before. Just for the record we have Meraki wireless.

 

Anyone have any further updates since October?

 

Not sure what drivers you’re using, but we have a series of issues with Lenovo laptops not picking up IPs/WiFi etc when using their own drivers for laptops. Yet if you install the normal intel ones/other WiFi brands etc they seem to work fine.

 

Might be worth a try on some

 

Steve

[speakercon]

I've not had any futher issues with this (toutch wood!). I'm still blaming updates tbh.

[Zourous]

Not sure what drivers you’re using, but we have a series of issues with Lenovo laptops not picking up IPs/WiFi etc when using their own drivers for laptops. Yet if you install the normal intel ones/other WiFi brands etc they seem to work fine.

 

Might be worth a try on some

 

Steve

 

Not sure how you get other drivers to take? Surely it just says wrong driver?

 

I’m trialling a workaround fix with a batch file I created. It releases the IP (locally I guess) and then disconnects & reconnects to the SSID. So far that seems to get the connection back.

[Jawloms]

Not sure how you get other drivers to take? Surely it just says wrong driver?

 

I think they mean use the actual manufacturer driver from the manufacturer's website rather than the one Windows installs for the device automatically, or potentially an older version of the driver which is what we had to do at one point.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Jawloms

[Steve21]

I think they mean use the actual manufacturer driver from the manufacturer's website rather than the one Windows installs for the device automatically, or potentially an older version of the driver which is what we had to do at one point.

 

As above but in reverse We found that the Lenovo own drivers won't working, yet doing the same version from the supplier worked fine

 

Steve

[Icarus94]

Had the same issue here with Lenovo V15's, refusing to connect to SSID and after further investigation the network cards on the laptops was generating a 182 ip address. The only fix we found despite rolling back to a previous driver version was to un install the wireless driver and automatically re install. Seems to be working fine now (touch wood).

[Zourous]

Had the same issue here with Lenovo V15's, refusing to connect to SSID and after further investigation the network cards on the laptops was generating a 182 ip address. The only fix we found despite rolling back to a previous driver version was to un install the wireless driver and automatically re install. Seems to be working fine now (touch wood).

 

I was doing something similar but it's not great uninstalling and reinstalling drivers all the time. I then broke it down into a batch file that helped a bit:

 

ipconfig /release

 

netsh wlan disconnect "SSID"

 

netsh wlan connect "SSID"

 

I'm guessing the IP address is getting stuck for whatever reason. Maybe it can help in your situation?

[Accura2k7]

Just playing devil advocate, but you have checked your DHCP server hasnt run out of assignable addresses?