Di-link 604 won't give new IP addresses

[patiwacko]

I could not find any specific information about my router issues, so here it goes.

After my Di-link 604 has been on for awhile (a couple of days), the router will not allow any new connections onto the network. Any computer that I try to plug in (ethernet and wirelessly get an invalid IP address of 0.0.0.0). I already set the DHCP release time to be a week, and there are 11 computers on the network list (so it should not be a matter of running out of IP address to give out). I have a SMC 802.11b Wireless access point (SMC2662W) that I use with my network. Before, when I had a different router, the access point will automatically retrieve a new IP addresses to give to wireless devices (laptops) trying to access the network....so I know it is not a problem with the access point...and since I've had ethernet desktops which could not log onto the network, I know it's a router issue.

My Temporary & Extremely Unelegant and Cruede Fix:
Thus far, I have found turning on EVERY single computer that will ever use the wireless and ethernet network on within 30 minutes of a router restart will enable all those computers to forever log onto the network just fine, even if the computer is shut down for days afterwards. The problem comes around when a friend comes and visits and wants to use the internet with his laptop (his wireless card will detect that he has full strength, but he will not be able to surf the web, grab a new IP address, or see the network)....which maybe a blessing in disguise for all those wireless net sniffers using Netstumbler and Airsnort?

I believe the Di-link associates IP addresses with MAC addresses of the ethernet card, because I swapped my working wireless pc card and let my friend use it on his machine, and he was able to access our network.

Background on my network:
1) Di-link Di-604 router connected to a cable modem
2) SMC SMC2662W Wireless access point

Thanks in advance to whomever knows how to fix this problem!

PaT =P

 

[n0cmonkey]

Any firmware updates for the router? If a Windows machine cannot get an ip address when its set to DHCP it should, I believe, default to a 169 address. This is happening on both wireless and wired? If you use static ip addresses everything works fine? Do you have the router setup to only acces some MAC addresses (mostly a feature on wireless products, may not work for wired on this home NAT machine).

 

[patiwacko]

I already updated the router to the latest firmware release by Di-link, but still no luck. Yes, this problem is affecting both wireless and wired machines. I do not have an option to assign static IP addresses to machines, only the option of getting a static IP from the cable company.

 

[CumulusTech]

DI-604P is a piece of crap. Trust me. DHCP will fail on you every few days even w/ firmware 2.3. One of the cooler features was the UPnP w/ firmware 2.0f (but they updated and decided to cut UPnP). In my opinion, at your network scale, you should pick up the Linksys BEFSR41. Or, to future-proof your network, get something that allows multiple VPN pass-throughs. Linksys has worked well for me, but it's not gonna support 30-40 users turning off/on their comps everyday. For some reason, these cheapy routers have IP addressing problems in their logical software. I've asked both companies about this and the answer is always: Let me transfer you to Layer 2. THERE IS NO LAYER 2!

Anyway, if you want a ROBUST network, get yourself some Netgear. Those bad-boys are stable as ****. They cost more, but it's better than having to restart the damn thing every few hours.

Btw, if you're gonna be using anything that needs NAT traversal (external/internal port forwarding), pick up some UPnP stuff. Especially if your users are gonna be usin' MSN messenger for voice and video, you'll need it.

You don't want a static IP. No need paying for something you don't need unless you're trying to do remote mgmt.

Good Luck To Ya!

 

[n0cmonkey]

Its a bad idea to buy products from companies that dont have working search functions on their website... No, there is no need to get a static ip addresss from your provider. Im downloading the manual for the Di-604 now, so Ill see what I can find about turning off the built in DHCP server. One thing that has me confused so far is that the product descriptions have not mentioned wireless networking at all...

 

[n0cmonkey]

Disabling the DHCP server is on page 20 it seems.

 

[Flashram]

I have the Dlink 614+ and was about to post the same problem. All of a sudden my router will not hand out an IP to any computers with a wireless card. If I plug in via ethernet I get an IP instantly. Even stranger, If I have the ethernet plugged in and enable the wireless card on the same PC it will get an IP instantly. But by itself I cannot get any wireless cards to get an IP with DHCP.

I guess I will go buy a new router this afternoon and see if the problem goes away. Right now it's extremely annoying. Too bad because I like the router otherwise.

 

[ScottMac]

Perhaps in the interum, you can shut down the DHCP server on the router, and enable the DHCP server on the wireless gateway/access point (I believe most have it).

At least it'd buy you some breathing space until you can replaces the router (I you are inclined to do so).

Good Luck

Scott

 

[CumulusTech]

Flashram:

Do you have the encryption configured properly on both ends access point and card? If you have WEP enabled at access point and do not have values set in cards, the router will disown mac addresses w/o the correct encryption as foreign. At least that's what I'm thinking.. can someone double check that? i might be wrong. BUT, it seems logical.

 

[patiwacko]

Thanks for all your feedback guys...and gals. I guess this is what I get for buying a $20 router from BB (I jumped on that hot deal with $10 rebate about 2 months ago!). :disgust:

I am actually on firmware 2.0f. I didn't know they updated to 2.3 recently...CumulusTech, is having the option to turn UPnP on/off that much of an advantage? (I would think it's better to just have it on all the time, so I can plug in my darn laptop and my network would detect it! As if I'm having that much luck even w/ that enabled...haha).

n0cmonkey, I thought disabling DHCP will essentially turn the router into a switch? Wouldn't it still grab the IP given by the cable company...but now just not issue a LAN IP address to all computers on the network?

Flashram, On your laptop, can you see the strength of the wireless network? (Because for my situation, I get full bars on my Orinoco card, just no IP address).

ScottMac, I have a "DHCP Client" enabled already on the wireless access point. I don't see any mention of a DHCP Server though.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: patiwacko
Thanks for all your feedback guys...and gals. I guess this is what I get for buying a $20 router from BB (I jumped on that hot deal with $10 rebate about 2 months ago!). :disgust:

I am actually on firmware 2.0f. I didn't know they updated to 2.3 recently...CumulusTech, is having the option to turn UPnP on/off that much of an advantage? (I would think it's better to just have it on all the time, so I can plug in my darn laptop and my network would detect it! As if I'm having that much luck even w/ that enabled...haha).

n0cmonkey, I thought disabling DHCP will essentially turn the router into a switch? Wouldn't it still grab the IP given by the cable company...but now just not issue a LAN IP address to all computers on the network?

Turning off the DHCP server will stop the "router" from giving your LAN ip addresses but will not stop it from being a DHCP client. These DHCP servers built into these home NAT machines seem to be fairly flakey.

 

[ScottMac]

What I was (poorly) attempting to communicate was to shut down the DHCP server on the router, and use one from some other device (figuring that your wireless AP/GW also had one). If you have 2K server up, then light up a DHCP server on that .... whatever.

FWIW

Scott

 

[kylef]

I think there is a misunderstanding here about the difference between getting a static IP address from your ISP and setting up static IP addresses on your private network. The difference is that your ISP is selling you a public (Internet) address, which only the ROUTER will use. The router uses NAT (Network Address Translation) to "hide" the internal IP addresses on your LAN from the external Internet. These internal IP addresses can be assigned however you like (as long as you follow the rules of IP subnetting).

Typically, users will allow the DHCP server built into these routers to hand out internal IP addresses, because it's easy. But it doesn't prevent you from handing out IP addresses yourself. It's just more trouble to do, since you have to manually configure each computer with its own unique IP address, and keep track to make sure that you don't hand out the same address twice.

I own the DI-604 and I'm running firmware 2.0f. For some reason, I haven't had any trouble with the DHCP server. But I don't have a wireless setup like you do, so that may be the culprit. Your wireless access point may be blocking (not forwarding) the DHCP broadcasts that occur when the computer starts up. The DI-604 might not be getting the DHCP requests.

I like ScottMac's solution of using your wireless access point's DHCP server to hand out IP addresses. If it is implemented correctly, it should hand out IP addresses to wired clients as well.

Another solution would be to manually configure static IP addresses for the wireless clients. The DI-604 allows you to specify a range of IP addresses to hand out. I think by default it only hands out 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199. Use the first hundred (192.168.0.1-99) for your wireless clients. The router will still perform NAT as long as it has been set as the default gateway and the DNS server on the static clients.

 

[Flashram]

Flashram, On your laptop, can you see the strength of the wireless network? (Because for my situation, I get full bars on my Orinoco card, just no IP address).

Yep, I see the strength. Just no IP from the DHCP server in the router. I have to manually configure it.

Flashram:

Do you have the encryption configured properly on both ends access point and card?

Yep. WEP is configured correctly. Everything is set up right. Everything was working fine and then the router just stopped handing out IP's. I'm guessing the router went bad. I bought a Linksys tonight and will hook it up tomorrow. I'll let you know if it hands out the IP's right away or what.

 

[Flashram]

The DI-604 might not be getting the DHCP requests

I am using the 614+. In the router config under the DHCP client list the card I am trying to connect with is listed, so I assume the router is getting the request. It also shows the correct MAC address and an IP address. But for whatever reason the client WIRELESS cards will not get the IP automatically anymore.

 

[kylef]

I am using the 614+. In the router config under the DHCP client list the card I am trying to connect with is listed, so I assume the router is getting the request.

Alas, I could not think of a solution for you other than to ask more about your setup. What sorts of DHCP clients are requesting IP addresses, and are there any other machines on your network that might be causing trouble?

You could try playing with the DHCP lease settings in the 614's setup. Try longer leases and shorter leases, and try giving it different IP address ranges to use.

Did you say that the 614 stopped handing out IP addresses suddenly? As in, it used to work but then quit working? Strange...

The only problems I've been having with my 604 has been with BellSouth DSL and my Alcatel aDSL modem. Every few hours the PPPoE connection locks up, taking the router with it. The router reboots and connectivity doesn't come back up for about 2 minutes. The sad thing is that when the router reboots, the 4-port switch built into the router reboots along with it. So if I had an SSH connection open between my laptop and my Linux box (both on the same switch), the connection dies with the router! Ridiculous!

 

[Flashram]

Try longer leases and shorter leases, and try giving it different IP address ranges to use.

I thought about this earlier today and will try it out tomorrow.

Did you say that the 614 stopped handing out IP addresses suddenly? As in, it used to work but then quit working? Strange...

Exactly. I've had it about a month and it worked great until about a week ago or two ago. Within the past few days it has stopped handing out IP's to wireless clients entirely. I've tried with a Orinoco, Dlink, Netgear, and Linksys PC cards or USB wifi adapters. No luck. But if I plug a ethernet cable from the router to PC I get an IP instantly.