Resolving IP address conflicts

What is an IP address conflict and when does it occur?


An IP address conflict happens when two or more devices in a network have the same IP address. This results to one or both of the devices not being able to communicate with the wireless network. An IP address conflict may happen in situations such as: 
 

  • The DHCP server encounters a problem and assigns the same dynamic IP address to two or more different devices. 
What does this mean?  Your router’s DHCP server feature is enabled by default. It has the capability to provide unique IP addresses to different devices that connect to the network. However, the router’s DHCP server may encounter internal errors wherein it is not able to properly track the addresses that it has assigned to various devices which may sometimes lead to a conflict in addressing.
 
  • The administrator of the wireless network assigned the same static IP address to two or more different client devices. 
What does this mean?  Assigning a static IP address can be done manually. An IP address conflict arises if the one who assigned the static IP addresses may have overlooked the addresses that they have used and gave out similar ones to multiple devices.
 

How to resolve an IP address conflict?
 
Resolving an IP address conflict depends on the setup of the network. Read on below to learn what kind of network problem you’re having and what to do to resolve this issue:

 

  • DHCP server problem – If the conflict is caused by the DHCP server, an ideal solution for this would be to release and renew the IP address through the Command Prompt.
  • Static IP address – If the IP address conflict comes from a network with assigned static IP addresses, the administrator may need to review the addresses that were used in the network and verify if there are instances of using similar addresses on different devices. If there are cases of IP address conflicts in the network, then the administrator needs to re-assign unique static IP addresses to the devices in the network. 

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