Fix Laptop IP Issues: Help for Two Laptops, Desktop, and Wii

[DaveC426913]

I have two laptops, a desktop and a Wii that have an internet connection via Wifi. One of the laptops keeps losing its IP.

The Wii has been unused for a while because I could not get it to connect. Following the instructions on Wii's Tech Support page, I've changed the IP to 8.8.8.8. It now works. (They do recommend that one does not use this long-term.)

(Here are similar iinstructions, though not the same error: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/ds/results.jsp?error_code=220602&system=Wii&locale=en)

Since that happened, the laptop frequently drops its IP (or whatever computers do to IPs) and it can no longer connect when woken up. It throws a "cannot connect to internet while media is disconnected" error or something like that (I'll get the actual text next time it happens).
.
So I do a
ipconfig / release
ipconfig /renew
And the lappie works again. Until the next time. (I'm going to guess after the next time the Wii is used.)

I'm about 70% certain that the problem is the Wii and the lappie colliding over IP addresses.

Laptop is of paramount concern. How do I fix it so it has a permanent connection (ideally, without actually disabling the Wii.)

 

[Borg]

Have you tried setting the Wii back to using Auto-Obtain DNS? When you perform release and renew on the laptop, you might want to reboot or at least log off and back on again.

Edit: Just to be clear, you have three computers and a Wii connected by WiFi correct? If that's the case, when you perform ipconfig /renew, you are telling your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that you want a different ip address for your entire home. When you do that, the devices need to be able to respond to that. They may do it just fine until they go into sleep mode and then remember the old address when they wake up. If you want to perform ipconfig /renew, I would shut off all devices except one computer, perform the renew, and then turn the others back on so that they can properly set their ip address knowledge. Then see what happens when you sleep one and turn it back on again. BTW, I would definitely set the Wii to auto-obtain its address before shutting it off for this.

 

[DaveC426913]

Have you tried setting the Wii back to using Auto-Obtain DNS? When you perform release and renew on the laptop, you might want to reboot or at least log off and back on again.

I'll try that.

I don't really understand it though. It didn't work when it ws set to auto-config, so I'd just be setting it back to a state thst is known not to work as-is.

However, I also know that my mental model of IP networking is busted, so it's safe to say my assumptions are too.

Edit: Just to be clear, you have three computers and a Wii connected by WiFi correct? If that's the case, when you perform ipconfig /renew, you are telling your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that you want a different ip address for your entire home.

I did not know that. I thought I was renewing it for one device at a time.

Does that mean, in theory I could run the renew from the other working laptop, and it will fix the non-working one? (i.e. when my wife's doesn't work I can fix it from mine without even having to manhandle hers)

If it resets the whole house, why does my working laptop not have this problem? (Obviously, it is able to pick up the new IP address. Soething about her configuration won't do that currently.)

When you do that, the devices need to be able to respond to that. They may do it just fine until they go into sleep mode and then remember the old address when they wake up. If you want to perform ipconfig /renew, I would shut off all devices except one computer, perform the renew, and then turn the others back on so that they can properly set their ip address knowledge. Then see what happens when you sleep one and turn it back on again.

OK, I'll do this.

BTW, I would definitely set the Wii to auto-obtain its address before shutting it off for this.

And this.

Thanks.

 

[Borg]

Does that mean, in theory I could run the renew from the other working laptop, and it will fix the non-working one? (i.e. when my wife's doesn't work I can fix it from mine without even having to manhandle hers)

In general, I wouldn't attempt to use it for this purpose.

If it resets the whole house, why does my working laptop not have this problem? (Obviously, it is able to pick up the new IP address. Something about her configuration won't do that currently.)

Different operating systems handle the change better than others. Even if one computer has the same OS, you could have a difference somewhere in your configuration that's causing a difference in how they handle IP address changes.

 

[DaveC426913]

Both Win 10.

 

[Borg]

Both Win 10.

My condolences.

 

[Borg]

OK, I'll do this.

BTW, you don't need to perform ipconfig /renew again. I think that if you just completely power down all of the devices and restart them, they should be alright. Be sure to set the Wii to auto-config though.

 

[StevieTNZ]

If that's the case, when you perform ipconfig /renew, you are telling your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that you want a different ip address for your entire home.

I would presume if its a dynamic IP address, then it changes without issue. But what about being with an IP who assigns a static IP? Would that still change?

 

[Borg]

I would presume if its a dynamic IP address, then it changes without issue. But what about being with an IP who assigns a static IP? Would that still change?

Static IPs are pretty rare these days. I would assume that you wouldn't be able to renew a static IP address even by sending the command to get one.

 

[StevieTNZ]

As I was unsure of what ipconfig /renew does (after much googling, it only said IP - but is that IP given to the device by the router, or the ISP IP). Asked my friend who is head of IT at a financial firm in Texas and he said the IP that changes is the one assigned to the device by the router.

 

[DaveC426913]

... the IP that changes is the one assigned to the device by the router.

That was what I thought.

 

[Borg]

As I was unsure of what ipconfig /renew does (after much googling, it only said IP - but is that IP given to the device by the router, or the ISP IP). Asked my friend who is head of IT at a financial firm in Texas and he said the IP that changes is the one assigned to the device by the router.

That was what I thought.

Perhaps I'm wrong or there is some confusion between IP addresses and subnet addresses. I thought that the command worked against the ip address provided to the router as opposed to the subnet address. I'll check with my sysadmin for better clarification and wording.

One thing that you can check from this stackexchange question is the addresses being used on your network. From a DOS window, use the following command:
arp -a

This will give you a list of devices that are currently on your network (i.e. subnet) something like this:

Interface: 192.168.1.108 --- 0xb
  Internet Address      Physical Address      Type
  192.168.1.1           00-00-00-00-00-00       dynamic
  192.168.1.102         00-00-00-00-00-00     dynamic
  192.168.1.103         00-00-00-00-00-00     dynamic
  192.168.1.104         00-00-00-00-00-00     dynamic
  192.168.1.107         00-00-00-00-00-00     dynamic
  192.168.1.255         ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff     static
  224.0.0.22            00-00-00-00-00-00     static
  224.0.0.252           00-00-00-00-00-00     static
  239.255.255.250       00-00-00-00-00-00     static
  255.255.255.255       ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff     static

The computers on my home network are the "internet addresses" between 198.168.1.102 through 192.168.1.108. The "Interface" entry shows that I ran the command from 192.168.1.108. The 192.168... addresses are Reserved IP addresses that are used for local communications within a private network. These are all dynamically set by my router and are internal to my home network. You should see something similar for your subnet. It is probable that you have two computers attempting to use the same 192.168... address. I would look to see if one or more is statically assigned also. Since the list shows current devices on the network, you will have to make sure everything is connected to see any conflicts.

One other possibility is a conflict in a MAC address. The Physical Address field is the MAC address of the machines on your network. I've zeroed out my examples but they look something like this (90-7d-ee-10-18-eb). It is highly unlikely but not impossible for one of them to be the same (ignore the ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff entries). If you have duplicates on your network, that would cause conflicts (again, highly unlikely).

 

[Routaran]

Hey guys,
I skimmed through the thread and I have to admit, it's kinda strange what's happening.

First off, /release /renew

What this is does clears the current IP address on the device that the command is run on and requests the local DHCP server for a new IP address. When you run this on your notebook computer, the computer releases its address and asks your wifi router (your local DHCP server) for a new address.
When a IP address is assigned, the router also reserves that address for a specific amount of time for your device, this is called a DHCP lease. This is why, if you check your IP, and then release and renew it, it will likely be the same. Because the time period on the lease has not expired and for the duration of the lease, your device gets the same IP.
EDIT: This is your local IP, not your public IP. It will generally be 192.168.x.x
Your public IP address is located on the high speed modem. You will need to run a release/renew on that device to update the IP address assigned to you by your ISP.

Now, this can also cause problems if some devices have a statically defined IP while others dynamically receive theirs from the DHCP server. As I understand it, Dave had to change his DNS settings to manual (i.e. static, not dynamically assigned by DHCP) on the Wii to get it to work properly. I do not have a Wii so I am not 100% sure but there is a chance that changing the DNS settings may have changed your IP settings from dynamic to static as well.

I'm speculating now.
What can happen is that the lease of your Wii expires and it's address is added to the available pool. The next time your notebook computer boots, the router assigns the notebook the address that previously belonged to the Wii. When the Wii turns on, it uses the static IP it remembered which happens to be the same as the Notebook. There is now an IP conflict on the network and both devices do not work.

What I do not understand is why the auto DNS settings on the Wii would have failed in the first place. Your wifi router acts simply as a relay, it doesn't actually do any DNS resolutions. There should be no need for you to change your Wii's DNS to Google (4.4.4.4 & 8.8.8.8 are the DNS servers operated by Google) The only thing I can think of is that the router/high speed modem was misbehaving and it needs to be rebooted.

This is what I suggest you do.
First, turn off everything. Desktop Computers, Notebook computers, Wii consoles, etc. Then turn off your router and finally turn off your high speed modem. Then wait 1 minute. Then power your high speed modem only. Wait until all the lights that indicate normal operation are lit. In my case my modem will have a steady green light on Internet indicating is connected. Your device may do something similar, you'll need to look at it to find out.

Once you are assured that the modem is connected and online, then turn the router back on and wait till it has a proper connection with the modem. Then turn your devices back on one at a time and set their IP settings back to dynamic (Dynamic IP & DNS). Reboot the device if necessary.

This will make sure that the router is aware of each device and each device is entered on the router's MAC Address table (it maps IP address to MAC so stuff can talk to each other, what Borg posted in his last message) This way, you will have the correct IP/DNS settings on all your devices and there should be no conflicts going forward.