The dreaded "self assigned IP"

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:09 pm

Hi all,
from time to time, with various routers and airport configurations, my MacBookPro likes to stop being able to connect to internet and, when asked about what's wrong, says that he has a self assigned IP and may not be able to connect to the internet.
Some silly workarounds sometimes give result:
Deleting the location and creating a new one
Launching the network diagnostics and following through the steps
Other strange voodoo stuff

Most of the times it just won't work and I have to go out and have a beer hoping for the computer to change his mind.

Do you guys heve the same happening to you?
Do you have a real, proven workaround?

thanks

really

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:14 pm

Sounds like a problem with the internet connection, rather than with the computer.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:25 pm

Sounds like you need to call the company who makes your wireless router and get some tech support. Doesn't sound like a computer issue to me either.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:56 pm

how old is your mac? which OS version? Some routers are known to not be mac friendly. They dont pass Appletalk basically. I could also be that your DNS settings are wrong. I've seen quite a few computers that couldnt get on the network (obtain a valid ip address) because someones boyfriend or little brother monkeyed with the TCP/IP settings. Definetly an area where a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:33 pm

Does a reboot fix it?

When in doubt, reboot. Seriously.

Sometimes a computer just gets all funky about working out its networking act on the boot up and it just kinda sticks to its guns about its funky setup. A reboot let's it try, try again.

Update your wireless drivers, and the firmware of your computer's wireless and the router? If there are newer versions available.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 5:09 pm

well there is also the more techie way (without going to the command line)
open up network preferences and go to advanced.
Makes sure "Configure IPV4" says "using DHCP". Then click the big "renew DHCP lease" button. you will be asked to sign a 2 year contract and to get a renters insurance policy naming the property management firm as the recipient...oh wait, that was the last live work space I looked at.

Andy Peters · Post by **Andy Peters** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 6:02 pm

niccolo gallio wrote:Hi all,
from time to time, with various routers and airport configurations, my MacBookPro likes to stop being able to connect to internet and, when asked about what's wrong, says that he has a self assigned IP and may not be able to connect to the internet.
Some silly workarounds sometimes give result:
Deleting the location and creating a new one
Launching the network diagnostics and following through the steps
Other strange voodoo stuff

Most of the times it just won't work and I have to go out and have a beer hoping for the computer to change his mind.

Do you guys heve the same happening to you?
Do you have a real, proven workaround?

thanks

really

This happens when the Ethernet interface is alive and is expecting a DHCP server to provide an IP address and DNS server information, but there is either no DCHP server on the network, or its reached the maximum number of assignable IP addresses. I ran into this over the weekend at the airport using their shitty free wireless service. My laptop could see the network and it had sufficient signal strength but I was never assigned an IP address. At some point, it just started working. My guess was that all of the IP addresses in the block were assigned to other computers/smartphones, and I was just outta luck until someone dropped off the network.

If this problem is at your house/studio and you have a router that also handles the DHCP serving, reboot that, not your machine. Also, if for some dumb reason you've made your wireless network freely available, make sure that there aren't a hundred users horking your network. Consumer routers have a limit to how many simultaneous computers they allow to connect and that number is often pretty low (a dozen, maybe).

Summary: it's not your computer. It's the router.
-a

Injured Ear · Post by **Injured Ear** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 7:37 am

I've had the same problem in 2 different locations (home and studio) on 2 different machines (Laptop and My Desktop DAW)

I do what you do in the first post. I don't understand it, as this never happened to me before about a year ago.

For me there are 2 completely different router systems between the studio setup and the home setup. The only thing that is consistent is os 10.5. Rebooting the router does not help.

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 9:06 am

Thanks a lot everybody.

This almost never happens at home/studio.

It's always while I'm abroad (a lot of times).

Unfortunately I don't have access to the router since I'm in an hotel/theater and they guard their routers closely..

Makes sure "Configure IPV4" says "using DHCP". Then click the big "renew DHCP lease" button.

Thanks Calaveras, I did that and some times it solved the problem.
Some other times I've manually entered an IP address that I remembered I was given the last time the 'net was ok for me.
I'd happily resort to open the terminal if that was a valid route, do you have any advice regarding that?
But I guess it's as Andy says: too many connections.

thanks again

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The dreaded "self assigned IP"

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