How To Enable DHCP?

Written by gigmocha in Uncategorized

DHCP is a protocol that allows network devices to assign themselves an IP address automatically. The acronym stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and it makes managing networks easier. In this article, we’ll show you how to enable DHCP on your home computer.

How To Enable DHCP In Windows 10

  1. Navigate to the desktop and press the Windows + X keys. 
  2. Click Network Connections.
  3. Right-click your wireless connection and select Properties from the menu that appears.
  4. Select Internet Protocol Version Four (TCP/IPv4) in this list. Click to highlight it, then click on properties just below these words. This will open a new window.
  5. Suppose all the options are blank and are grey. In that case, that means your computer is set to obtain IP Address automatically. So whenever a DHCP server connects or exists in your network, the PC will automatically obtain IP from it.
  6. If there are no grey options, and some IP is already there, click Obtain IP address manually. This enables the DHCP option.

Enabling DHCP in Windows 10 via CMD

  1. Open a command prompt by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Command Prompt.
  2. Type ipconfig/all and press Enter on your keyboard.
  3. Make a note of the number next to ‘IPv4’ for Wi-Fi or Wireless Adapter, depending on what’s connected at the time.
  4. Enter this command: netsh interface ip set address “name” DHCP. The name is the IPv number you see in the first step.
  5. For example, if you see that the IPv4 number was 808: write the netsh interface ip set address “Wireless Network Connection” DHCP. Press Enter on your keyboard.
  6. Now reconnect to wi-fi or Wireless Adapter (in case it is Wi-Fi). Check for IP configuration of this adapter in the command prompt.
  7. If it is not giving an IP address, try to disconnect. Or connect again after a few minutes or restart the machine.

Reserving An IP Address On A Home Router

  1. Open a command prompt by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Command Prompt.
  2. Type ipconfig /all in the black window that opens up. Press enter to see your IP address information. Note down what it says for ‘IPv4 _ Address’. You’ll need this later when you set up your router.
  3. Now open up a browser window and head to your router’s IP address by typing it into the URL bar of this window. 

For example, if you wanted to go to myrouteripaddress.com, you would type ‘myroutersipaddress’ in the URL bar without quotes and hit enter.

  1. You should now be on your router’s login page. Enter username and password so that your router can gain access. If you haven’t changed them, it will probably be admin/admin or just ‘admin.’
  • Now find an option on this page called DHCP Reservation _ this may also say something like “DHCP Host Name.” You can usually find it in the Advanced section of your router. This option allows you to enter an IP address reserved for a specific device, which means it can never be used again by any other computer on your network, so this is how we’ll set up our DHCP server.
  1. Type the IP Address you noted earlier into one field, type ‘0’ into the other, and then hit save/apply.
  2. This should set your DHCP server up with a reservation for that IP address so that any other device can be on your network. 

How to Check DHCP Status on Windows 10

  1. Navigate to the desktop and press the Windows + R keys. Type cmd in this window and hit enter. This will open a black command prompt window, type ipconfig /all into it, then hit enter again.
  2. You’ll now see your network information displayed on separate lines under ‘Ethernet adapter Ethernet.’ Look for an entry called IPv4 Address. This will show your current IP address and DHCP server address.
  3. If your IPv4 address begins 169.254, it means you’re not using DHCP, and if there is an IP different from those mentioned above, then DHCP is working.

How Do I Fix The DHCP Which Is Not Enabled?

If you see that you did not enable the DHCP server, then you can quickly fix this with our guide. See the step by step instructions for how to fix this on Windows below:

  1. Right-click the Start menu icon and select Command Prompt. Type ipconfig /release in the black window that opens up, then press enter to release your current IP address from its reservation on your router’s DHCP server.
  2. Type ipconfig /renew into the command prompt that appears. Next, this will restart network services with a new temporary IP address that you can use. The router will now recognize this new IP address as yours, so you should be able to access the web interface by typing its IP address into a browser window.

How To Check DHCP Whether Is Enabled In Linux Via Command Prompt

  1. Open the terminal by holding the Ctrl + Alt + T shortcut keys. Type ifconfig into this window and press enter. Look for an entry called ‘inet addr’ next to an IP address, which will be your current IP address. This can also show IPv4 Addresses instead.
  2. Type sudo dhclient -v enp _ name and replace ‘enp_name’ with the name of your network interface, which will be something like wlan0 or eth0 depending on how many devices you have connected to your local area connection. Type this command into a new terminal window, hit enter to renew your IP address, and check the DHCP server allocates it.

Conclusion

DHCP allows you to connect many devices on a local area network by automatically assigning each computer an IP address. This can prove helpful in things like file sharing, where it would be difficult to set up port forwarding rules every time you want access to your computer from another device.

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