Hello I have the problem that one of my computers cannot reach the DHCP server. I have a three computers connected to a router and one of them cannot access internet. It has the IP address of 169.254.x.x and The two computers that can access internet are running WinXP Sp2 the computer that cannot access internet is a Pentium III Windows2000 professional with Networkd Card: Realtek RTL8139/810X Family Fast Ethernet NIC Router: D-Link DI604 It was mentioned that it might be a problem with the NIC but I am not too sure how to go about that. Can anyone guide me on this one? thanks Thanks

169.254.x.x is telling us that you are not getting a dhcp offer. Suggests to me that you nic may work more than not. You should be able to access network shares on local lan segment. Ways to go are use static ip in your networks range. Be sure you understand your router's config. Be sure your review the dhcp process. Use tools such as ping. Make a simple loopback cable. Get a cross over cable to test to known working computer. Again understand that and IP address along with the subnet mask tell how a packet is to go. For basic tests use static IP's in private ranges such as 192.168.2.5 and 192.168.2.6 on two test computers. Be sure router isn't blocking any of this

Sounds great, but I am not too sure if I understand everything. I am just new to all this. What do you mean by 'make a simple loopback cable'? And how do I review the DHCP process? Thanks again for your comment!

The first thing I'd check is the DHCP scope on the router just to ensure it's not set to two addresses only. I have a DI604 myself and will tell you where to check. First, connect to the routers management interface with your web browser. Then click on the Home tab at the top, then click on DHCP (left side of window). Ensure your scope is set to more than two IP's. ex: Starting IP: 192.168.0.100 Ending IP: 192.168.0.199 If the scope was OK (ie: more than two IP's available) you will next want to get some of your ISP's info from the router. Click on the Status tab at the top. At the bottom of the page under WAN you'll see "DNS". This is your ISP's DNS address(es) (usually there's two). Write those down on a piece of paper and keep it handy. Double check the router's IP and subnet mask at the top under LAN. Make note of those too. Now, go onto the problem PC and statically apply an IP address to it that is in the range of the network created by the router. The default for this unit is 192.168.0.x. If your DHCP scope is .100 to .199 then use something like 192.168.0.75 for the problem PC. Ensure the subnet mask matches what your router's using. Put your routers IP address in as the Gateway Address on the PC. Put the DNS address(es) you got from the router in the DNS Server fields and save the info. You should now be able to communicate with the other PC's and the internet. First run a ping test to the router: ex: Open a command prompt window and type the following command: ping 192.168.0.1 If you get proper replies, your LAN is working. Using the same command prompt window now type the following: ping www.google.com Again, if you get proper replies, your internet is working as well. If you don't get proper replies in either case you have other issues aside from IP addressing. Troubleshooting steps: Unplug the network cable from a working PC and plug it into the problem PC. Change your TCP/IP settings from Static back to DHCP (automatically get IP info) and reboot. Open a command prompt window and type the following command: ipconfig /all If you get a proper address for your LAN (ie: 192.168.0.X) then you're working and the problem is either your cable or the port on the router. To see which it is (cable or port), plug the original cable back into the PC and go to the router and move the other end of that cable into the port where the working cable is. If you get a working connection (IP and connectivity) then it's the port. If it still doesn't work, unplug the original cable, plug in the one that did work and unplug the router end of the cable from it's original port and put it in the port where the first cable you had plugged into the problem PC was. If it works, you have a bad cable. If it doesn't work with the different cable plugged in a different port, then you likely have either NIC or TCP/IP stack problems. The fact that you get an APIPA address makes it likely your NIC is good....but that's not 100% for sure. I would at this point uninstall the TCP/IP stack and reboot and reinstall the TCP/IP stack. If you still can't get an IP from DHCP, I would try another NIC.

Thanks a lot! ARGENTUS

Hey I tried giving the static IP address and it still does not work, so I think it has nothing to do with IP addressing. The cable and the port are also fine. So, I uninstalled the TCP/IP stack and installed (from the LAN properties pannel) it back again and nothing happened. How do I go about trying another NIC? Thanks