Hi all, I have a problem with connecting a laptop to a LAN. The problem is, as I think, that the computer is unable to obtain an IP adress from the DHCP server. As ipconfig shows, the machine even does not know the IP adress of the DHCP server. Does anybody have an idea how to tell the laptop at which IP adress it should look for the DHCP server (ipconfig writes DHCP's IP 255.255.255.255)? Thanks for any idea.

You have it backwards, Lukas. The laptop doesn't need to know (nor can it know) the IP address of a DHCP server before it leases an address. How is the laptop connecting to the network? wired or wireless? Can the laptop lease an address on any other network?

your wrong jimminy, you can tell what computer in what DHCP server you want them to use, it's called C:>ipconfig /showclassid , switch long story.. if your getting a 169.254.X.X address, it's not seeing the DHCP server. I would do a c:>ipconfig /all and post the results here.

If the laptop is not getting an ip address, it can be few things: 1 - the connection to the dhcp server is broken (bad cable, bad ethernet card, etc...) 2 - the dhcp server might have run out of ip addresses 3 - dhcp server might have assigned ip address already, but the laptop didn't pick it up (I am fighting this last one myself now)

Brian, the DHCP class ID client setting functions by specifying a desired DHCP server's class ID, not its IP address. It is technically correct to say that you cannot specify a DHCP server by IP address. You can read more about BOOTP and DHCP here if you're interested. That being said - I wonder if setting the class ID is a requirement on the network Lukas is connecting to. Or rather, is not connecting to :) Your suggestion to post output of ipconfig is a good one. We need more information to determine what's really going on.

Back to the original question, go into your network settings on the laptop and check the properties for TCP/IP. Should be set to "Get IP Address Automatically" and "Use DHCP Server for WINS Resolution". You've indicated it's running Win98 so you don't have the XP firewall problem, but do you have another firewall running on the laptop? If so go into its setup and configure it to treat IP range 192.168.0.1 through 192.168.255.255 as "local" or "trusted". Go to the command prompt and enter PING 127.0.0.1 to make sure your adapter is connected properly and the drivers are installed. If you get an OK back it should be good to go, otherwise reload the drivers and make sure it's seated securely.

I got the same problem with Lucas. My OS is XP. I've tried to ping 127.0.0.1: It's ok I've tried c:>ipconfig/all. I got: Window IP config: Hostname: VALUE-ECECF7F4 Primary Dns: Mode Type: Hybrid IP Routing Enable: No WINS Proxy Enable: No Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Physical Address : 00-0-6E-93-A6-BC Dhcp Enabled : Yes Auto config Enable : Yes Auto config IP address: 169.254.46.239 Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0 Default Gateway : Thks in advance for any suggestions, inputs