DHCP Allocator
Having got brave and installed a new hard drive on my laptop and set it up with Win7 RC1, I'm having occasional problems with DHCP. The connection to the LAN is OK, but it tells me "No internet connection". If I change the DHCP setting to "obtain automatically", then it does so and the internet is back. After a while, it will complain again that my LAN (192.168.8.x) is "outside the 192.168.137.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which addresses are being allocated to DHCP clients". I can't find where the setting is that is telling it to use 192.168.137.x Can anyone enlighten me? It may not be relevant, but the Event Viewer shows regular complaints that IPv6 can't connect. I'm used to those from the desktop, which does the same but works fine.
May 30th, 2009 2:38pm

Hi KeithRight click the connection icon in the Notification Area and select the Network and Sharing Center.Right click the connection you are using and select the Properties Button.Remove the check mark from the TCP/IPv6 protocol.Wait to see if the problem repeats.Hope this helps.Thank You for testing Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP
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May 30th, 2009 4:25pm

Is the connection wireless? You may be switching between two different wireless networks. Make sure the wireless network is encrypted and try changing the SSID to something you know is unique to your network.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
May 30th, 2009 8:07pm

Thanks, Ronnie. Curiously, disabling IPv6 (but leaving IPv4 on) produced the message "No Internet access", even though v4 showed "obtain DHCP address automatically". I've turned IPv6 on, and haven't had the problem again. It may be a hangover from last week, when I was in Salzburg using the wireless LAN in a house there. I didn't check what the IP address was, since it worked OK. Kerry - no, at the moment it's wired LAN. There is a wireless network, with a unique SSID (the name of the house). I can see about 4 houses away down the street, each with the relevant house name as SSID.
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May 31st, 2009 3:51pm

Check that the wireless NIC is not connected to a network. Try turning it off.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
May 31st, 2009 5:22pm

The wireless NIC is not connected. It's set not to connect automatically, and indeed isn't connected. I suspect the problem is fixed purely by dint of tweaking the IPv4 and IPv6 - I'll wait and see if it behaves now.
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June 1st, 2009 12:08am

KeithjUK: Now that you've waited, can you confirm that it works now? -Nick
June 22nd, 2009 9:52pm

Indeed so, Nick. It's been fine since. One of those little sneezes, I suppose.
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June 23rd, 2009 2:04am

Yes, it was a mistake saying that. It's back :( I have dozens of entries over the past few days, all saying [quote]The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 192.168.3.20, since the IP address is outside the 192.168.137.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which addresses are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP allocator on this IP address, change the scope to include the IP address, or change the IP address to fall within the scope.[/quote] Things seem to work while I'm watching, but when I go away if disconnects all the network drives That may or may not be associated with the DHCP allocator. I've looked and can't find anything in Win7 that lets me change the scope. I can't even find the scope. I don't recognise 192.168.137 as a server I connect to. My home one is 192.168.8 and the rural hideaway is 192.168.3 - it has to be different because I use a VPN from one to the other. The VPN bit works fine. I've turned off IPv6, and so far, internet access remains "up".
June 30th, 2009 12:46am

Do you have Internet Connection Sharing installed?Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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June 30th, 2009 4:31am

Yes, Internet Connection Sharing is installed, and used with my mobile when I'm out and about away from WiFi. Would that take over the DHCP from my routers? Where do I find the "scope"?
June 30th, 2009 12:53pm

Yes, Internet Connection Sharing is installed, and used with my mobile when I'm out and about away from WiFi.Would that take over the DHCP from my routers?Where do I find the "scope"? Do other computers use your computer to access the Internet? If not turn off ICS.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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June 30th, 2009 4:47pm

No, the laptop is the only one: it uses ICS via my mobile phone to access the internet - it's the user, not the host. I'm not sure if ICS is "on" on the laptop. It's switched on on the phone when I want to use the GPRS/HSDPA connection. When I'm in either home, there's a router that it connects to - wired or wireless, depending which room I'm in.
June 30th, 2009 8:31pm

Click on the Sharing tab in the NIC properties for each NIC. Make sure Sharing is disabled. When not using the mobile phone connection make sure the phone is not plugged into the computerand the connection is disabled.Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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July 1st, 2009 7:52pm

Thanks - I've checked, and the mobile phone's NIC disappears from the Win 7 Network Devices list if the phone isn't plugged in, and with Internet Sharing on the phone switched on. When it's connected that way, "sharing" shows as switched off on the link on Win7. If I plug in the phone without its Internet Sharing enabled, the laptop doesn't report it as a network connection - it sets off down the ActiveSync route instead. I do regularly plug the phone into the laptop, to synchronise my diary and contacts using Activesync/Windows Mobile. That also has serious problems, with the famous (pre-Win7) reduplicating entries and sync error - see separate thread on 86000107. Despite that long-running bug, I need to keep my diary etc up to date, so the phone will have to be connected regularly. I've found a workaround to the 86000107 problem: I don't connect the phone (ever) to my desktop. The problem arises when syncing to two computers. It's a pain, but I can work like that till Microsoft sort it. That bug's two years old this Sunday, so I'm lving in hopes! Meanwhile, I've turned OFF IPv6 (which disabled the Internet connection when I tried it earlier - refer above) and the Internet is still working. Maybe a software update has fixed that bit. I'll check over the next couple of days to see if zapping IPv6 has fixed things.
July 1st, 2009 9:41pm

Unchecking IPv6 can actually cause more problems than it solves. To properly disable IPv6 you have to modify the registry.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852Kerry Brown MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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July 2nd, 2009 2:17am

Thanks! I've duly modified the Registry, and after several reboots and some hours of operation there's no mention of IPv6 or of DHCP allocator, so that looks like a "win". If all is well, I won't be back :)
July 2nd, 2009 11:02pm

Oops! Then it came to time for the regular backup, whereupon came a stream of error messages about not being able to access other computers on the network. Since the only thing I'd changed in the last 24 hours was the Registry entry for DisabledComponents, I changed that back to zero and rebooted. The network is back! So it's at IPv6 turned off on the LAN and WiFi, but enabled in the Registry, and so far all is working... No allocator so far, either. Perhaps I scared it off.
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July 3rd, 2009 3:19am

I can say is that IPv6 is not your problem. the IP's you been working with are all IPv4. IPv6 adresses look more like MAC adresses in the way they are structured (they are not the same, it just reminds me of them). I would diable the wifiinterface then try your LAN with DHCP again. If you still got problems I would reconfigure the router you are using. Don't forget theNIC light too, it could be as simple as a bad cable.
July 3rd, 2009 3:47am

It may not be IPv6, but I'll be amazed if it's not connected with changing DisabledComponents from 0 (network worked) to ffffffff (network didn't work) and back to 0 (network works). Pings worked all the time (that's the first thing I tried). I doubt it's the router or the cable: nothing's changed there. The other machines on the network are networking happily, and Internet access from the laptop was fine while the network wasn't working. I've now switched the laptop from DHCP allocation from the router to a fixed IP. It's working happily, and I can ping it from another machine without having to look up the IP first.
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July 3rd, 2009 4:18am

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