DHCP not working on a wireless connection
Hi there,at SonicWALL we are getting many people complaining that their wireless clients running Vista are unable to obtain an IP address via DHCP from SonicWALL firewalls. We are unable to reproduce the problem. Is this a known issues. Is this fixed or will be fixed?There seems to be similar issues...http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=863519&SiteID=17 CASE 1: WEP, no WEP... I can connect no problem, but cannot get an ip address handed out. Vista seems to see it as an unidentified network and will not connect to it. The same laptop running XP, no issues whatsoever. I have fresh installed Vista a second time with no avail. Any other non Vista machine has no issues connecting to wireless. I can see successful authentication, and DHCP shows nothing has been issued. FWIW, Vista indicates that it cannot identify the network... Any suggestions? Anyone else having this issue? I'm stumped. I actually have since brought two other laptops online of different makes with Windows Vista with the same results. SONICWALL - HELP?! :) CASE 2: I am glad to see you have the same problem. My HP nc6140 exhibits the same thing you see. IT works fine with XP, but no joy with Vista on a Sonicwall TZ170W.My suspicions are it's a MS problem in the IP stack. As a MS partner, I have used Vista betas since way back - some work, some don't in this regard. I got the OS to work in RC1 and 2 by loading the original XP system and then upgrading it. It doesn't seem to work if you do a fresh install. It seems to connect but doesn't pull a DHCP address. When you hardcode the proper address it still gives a 169.X.X.X address on the wireless adaptor and then tells me there is a IP address conflict on the network - which is nonsense. BennettCASE 3: I have the same problem. I can joined my vista to 5 other wieless networks but cannot connect to my own home network with my TZ-170w. I have had it connect a few times then drop for no reason. It is very very strange. CASE 4: My Dell 620 is unable to connect to the internet through the SonicWall. Did you have to do anything special with the configuration of the SonicWall?? VLan is not listed under advanced tab. Using an Intel prowireless 3945abg adapter. Event log in Vista show that there is ip address conflict and assigns the 269.154.. Ip. Event log states it did receive 172.31.16.. address and then a conflict. Sonicwall show the mac address as associated but DHCP doesn't show that it has given and IP address. Very weird issue, but all my clients have sonicwalls and i cannot connect via wireless. CASE 5: The issue I saw was with the Intel 2915 ABG card. It would try and get an address from the Sonicwall and I saw in the DHCP table where the Sonicwall would keep giving multiple addresses until all were exhausted. I dont have it installed anymore and this was with RC2 Beta. Event log in Vista show that there is ip address conflict and assigns the 269.154.. Ip Any help and explenation of the issue is appreciated. Thanks,Jean-MarcSonicWALL
December 15th, 2006 9:16am

::..Hi guys I have exactly the same problems as mentioned inthe previous post.Wired connection works fine, but wireless won't work and it keeps reverting to the169.x.x.x IP. It simply cycles through the whole DHCP range always comming back with an indication of an IP address conflict. Hardcoding the IP address doesn't help either. The client is running Vista Enterprise v6.0.6000 with as updated drivers as possible for the Intel 3945abg card. The Sonicwall is a tz150 with, to my knowledge, the latest firmware. I have been messing around with all kinds of settings on the sonicwall including the security stuff. None of the changes made it work. Connection to the same Sonicwall from the same PC, just using WinXP works like a charm... Any help on this issue would be highly appriciated :-) Cheers ..::HazelTWA
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 5th, 2007 2:06am

I am also having the exact same problem. I'm using the released version of Vista with a SonicWall TZ150. Can connect to the network, but I can never get a DHCP address. Setting a static doesn't work either. Anyone found any work arounds?
January 22nd, 2007 8:21am

This is the exact problem I've been having. I frequently go to Panera Bread between client visits to get some work done on the wireless, and I've been having this problem with not being able to get a DHCP address. I talked with the manager at length about it today, and he tells me that (1) they use Sonicwall firewalls and (2) I'm the only person that's complained so far about any connection problems on his network (this is a new store). I told him that I presumed it was probably some incompatibility between Vista and Sonicwall, because nothing else makes any sense. I hope they get a fix soon.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 23rd, 2007 5:22am

I actually submitted a support case to SonicWall (we use them in our company) and got the following response: -Hi Josh. -Thank you for contacting SonicWall Technical Support. -I am Raj and I have taken ownership of this case. -As per the issue description, I understand that you are having issue with the Vista. -I would like to update you that as of now Vista is not compatible to SonicWALL. -This is the known issue here and our Engineering Department is working on this issue. -We are hoping to fix it soon. -As soon it will fix we will update you with the same. -I would be moving the status of this case to, Pending Closed. The case would remain open for the next five days and automatically close on the sixth day. -Kindly update the case or give us a call on 1-888-777-1476 for any further assistance or queries. -NCB. Regards, Raj, SonicWall Technical Support. So, apparently they know about it and are working on it, but no details. Even if they do fix it, it will probably be some sort of firmware update to the SonicWall. Who knows if places using them for access points will know to update them. Very interesting.
January 23rd, 2007 7:27pm

I followed these directions I found on SonicWalls webiste: I am using a Dell Latitude D620 with Vista Enterprise Edition - I can now get a valid IP address from DHCP - give it a try and see if it works for you. David The issue is caused by a lack of a correct association on the SonicWALL between the computer running Windows Vista and its assigned IP address. Follow these steps to work around the issue by editing the System Registry: Click the Start button. Select All Programs > Accessories. Right click Command Prompt and click Run as administrator. Type regedit.exe and press enter. Go to the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters Right click this entry and select New Dword. Rename the new entry ArpRetryCount (leave it set to 0 by default). Restart the computer. Reassociate with the SonicWALL. You should notice a successful connection. See the Microsoft article entitled Registry management strategies for IT Pros for additional information on editing the System Registry in Windows Vista. Important Note: This information is provided for guidance purposes only and does not represent a configuration officially supported by SonicWALL.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 23rd, 2007 8:22pm

Hi David, Do you have the original page that this solution came from on the SonicWall website? I did extensive searches there and was just wondering where you were actually able to find it.
January 23rd, 2007 8:41pm

Josh, Here it is...what I did was do a knowledge base search for Vista and it came back with three choices...i picked the third one. http://www.nohold.net/noHoldCust22/Prod_3/KnowledgePortal/KPScripts/frameskp.asp?sid=671221&ds=nh5.nohold.net David
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 23rd, 2007 9:19pm

Thanks! That's crazy, that it would be that easy and obvious. You always miss those things. Thanks! I'm going to try this a little later today, when I can get to my other site.
January 23rd, 2007 9:46pm

The steps seem to have worked for mine. I did have one instance where I got a connection fora few hours and then it dropped out again, so I'll update if that happens again, but for now I've got my fingers crossed!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 24th, 2007 3:06am

Glad to hear you got it working as well. It still seems to be going good. I think its weird that SonicWall tech support did not pass this on to you intead of just saying its a bug and we are working on it. David
January 24th, 2007 8:08pm

Day 1: figured out that it was an ARP problem. Day 2:laboriously determined that none of the usual ways to disable ARP solved the problem (reg entry IPAutoconfigurationEnabled does nothing). Day 3: figured out that it might be ArpRetryCount and found this page as a result of searching for that term. POOF! Problem solved. The only remaining problem is that my chair is now surrounded by clumps of my hair, pulled out whilst pursuing this brain twister. How exactly do I reattach the clumps to my scalp? I can't afford to lose any more of my dwindling supply of head-fur. Thanks for the info in this thread. It was exactly what I needed... I just wish I could have found it earlier! PS to future readers: this thread is focused on configurations that use DHCP but it applies, too, to people like me who are setting up a network behind a SonicWall and are using static IPs. In that case, your NIC will be configured to not use DHCP but you will find that the static IP you provided is magically (and annoyingly) being trumped by an IP being assigned by ARP. You can do a "ipconfig /all" in a DOS window to see this is the case (look at the IP you are using, the so-called preferred IP and notice that it is in the ARP range of IPs). Also you'll see that "ipconfig /all" indicates that it is using autoconfiguration, despite the fact that you don't want it, and that you can't turn this off with the usual registry setting of IPAutoconfigurationEnabled. However, the simple solution offered in this thead (setting ArpRetryCount to 0) does work and allows the static IP to be used just as it has always been in prior versions of Windows.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 31st, 2007 3:16am

I have a prebuilt system with the Asus P5AD2 Motherboard with integrated wireless connecting to a Linksys 4 Port Wireless G Router. After upgrading from XP Pro SP2 to the Vista Ultimate I was unable to obtain an IP address from my router. It loaded the drivers fine and it also stated that I was connected via the wireless, however I was getting the APIPA address instead of a valid IP address. I followed your suggestion above about editing the registry and it didn't work for me. After doing more research, I found out that there are many people having troubles using the WPA authentication along with AES or TKIP encryption.So Ichanged the routerto WEP and as soon as I did that, my wireless was up and running. I tried bothWPA and WPA2 with AES and TKIP combinations and nothing worked other than the WEP. Cheers!
February 1st, 2007 9:31pm

This solution worked for me as well. The user had Vista Business on a HP laptop. We use a Sonicwall TZ 170 Wireless firewall. After implementing the registry addition the connection worked perfectly!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 25th, 2007 4:05am

Good Evening, I am having the same problem. I can get the PC to connect if I use a static IP but no luck with DHCP. Did you find a solution to this problem? David J.
May 26th, 2008 12:02pm

I was also having this problem, ("Unknown Network" and "Windows has detected an IP address conflict") but only on my wired LAN connection with a Netgear RP614 router. I tried this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233 but to no avail. The ArpRetryCount setting as suggested by davidhall.dc seems to have solved it.Why hasn't Microsoft incorporated this issue in an update? Can't they make registry changes through automatic update?--------------------------Dell Inspiron 1420VISTA Home Premium
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 8th, 2008 8:33pm

Thanks David I did what I saw on your scrap and my Vista worked finally after a week of troubleshooting! God Bless You and your brain!!!
October 3rd, 2009 5:11am

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics