Question IP conflict.

[old.Tohtori]

I keep getting an ip conflict message and i've always just counted it down as me and my roomie using the same network, but i'm curious if it could be a problem and if there is a solution?

 

[ford prefect]

Assign a static IP for every machine on the network?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Network noob here so, additional help on that?

Also, what harm could a static ip do? Etc etc.

 

[Dukat]

Ip addresses are numerical addresses for each device on a network.

An IP address is made up of four sets of numbers which range from 0 to 255 (eg. 192.168.1.1).

Static IP addresses are IP addresses which are set and remain the same every time the PC turns on, as opposed to dynamic IP addresses which change depending on your network's settings.

If two devices on your network have the same static IP address it will cause a conflict, like the one you've got.



Easiest way to sort this out is to press 'windows key' + R, type "cmd" and then on the box that appears type "ipconfig".

On the list of info that appears one line will say IP Address....: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Check what its set to on each device on your network, if any of them are the same you'll get an IP conflict error.



To change them, it'll vary depending on your operating system but get to the Network connections bit.

(on vista: Go to the Control Panel from the Start menu. Go to "Network and Internet" and then "Network and Sharing Center." Go to "Manage network connections.")

From here it should list your connections, choose the internet/network connection you need to change the IP address for and then it should give you a screen where you can set or change it.



When changing an IP address you have to be careful because if you set it wrong you'll effectively put yourself onto another network from everyone else.

For you in this situation, simply ensuring the first three sets of numbers are the same should ensure things work properly (eg. Client1:192.168.1.1 Client2:192.168.1.2 etc)

Ensure subnet mask is set to 255.255.255.0 on all machines, unless you're on a network run by someone else, in which case talk to them

If you have to set it, default gateway will need to be set to your router's IP, or the IP of the device which is providing your internet connection.

 

[ST^]

Your interwebs router should be handing out the IP addresses, and every device should be set to obtain an IP address automagically (I would not use static IPs as suggested above).

If you have have one DHCP server (which should be your interwebs router), and nobody is using static IPs, there should never be a conflict.

On each device, open a command prompt (assuming they are running Windows) and do "ipconfig /all". See if they actually have the same IP first, and if so, check near the bottom what DHCP server it says they are using. If they're using the same DHCP and have the same IP, then fuck knows what's going on.

 

[ford prefect]

I tend to manually assign IP addresses rather than have the router do it dynamically, but then I use media servers ect, so it is handy to know what machine has what IP ect.

 

[ST^]

Then you need to keep track of who has what IP whenever you want to add a new device to the network. I tried it (not because of conflicts, but because we have a lot of external IPs we can use), but when we had to remember what IP my phone or PSP was using it was getting a bit silly.

 

[Dukat]

Of course DHCP is better in Toh's case - setting it to obtain automatically is much preferrable I guess I kinda got too into explaining it and forgot the obvious - I just like to micromanage, plus I have a very small network to look after so its just easier for me this way.

 

[ford prefect]

I tend to have a good memory for that kind of thing and in our house it is only 15 devices. I know which machine/device in on which IP so I know where my NAS is, squeezebox, ps3, macs ect are and where to send relevant data. For exmaple all music and video goes to my NAS and I can ask my NAS to backup my laptops or Iphone/blackberry ect without having to go hunting for IP addresses.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Ah found out what might be the problem.

The router thingy or some such sets the ip address automagically everytime you boot up, but it seems to +1 it every time.

Now i use sleep on my comp and my roomie doesn't seem to -ever- shut down his comp, so if either boots up, it most likely will set the ip to same.

That's a theory.

After a reboot to the head, my comp is now running a diff ip and is a-ok again(princess not wanting to share ips). Just have to see when my roomie boots his comp and then do the same to keep +1 on the bugger

Ofcourse the best solution is to move the computer a new apartment, but financial reasons is limiting my options

 

[soze]

Does ping -a work on a home network or only on one with a proper DNS server?

 

[old.Tohtori]

I can't get my roomies ip, but the comp is at my disposal so it helped to find out that it was indeed same ip.

 

[ramathorn]

Angry IP Scanner : Home - IP and Port Scanner Tool for Analyzing Networks

handy tool for finding what ip's are in use on your network, put in the starting / finishing addresses in you internal range, hit go and it will return info on whats at each address.

 

[MYstIC G]

Use DCHP and if your router is good enough allocate devices set IP's.

This way your PC should auto pick up it's IP address and it should be the same number every time.