DHCP?

[dddaver]

I'm wondering if any of you wise tech savvy folks might be able to help me out here.

My Google searches or the router help don't seem address this problem directly.

Because of circumstance I won't bore you with, and I would imagine though many here at this website have this same concern, I try to "lock-down" my wifi a security as best I can. I have reason to believe my bandwidth was being stolen, albeit in small increments, but if done to many routers can result in huge bandwidth thievery.

So, I have read one of the security measures one can and should take to ensure wifi security is to shut off the DHCP feature on your router. But my problem is that in doing that one of my computers then will not connect to my router. I have turned on and off every other feature on the router and have found that is the culprit. The one that will still connect even with the DHCP off is an Acer and the one that won't connect with DHCP off is a HP.

I have tried deleting almost all HP software on the offending machine, but because of their stupid propriety software I can't turn off EVERYTHING they put on it, or the computer won't work at all. One measure that has worked mostly is enabling MAC filtering.

This DHCP thing is a fairly minor inconvenience, I think, but it seems to leave open a big gaping window. Any suggestions I might try?

 

[PermaBuzz]

If DHCP is disabled, then you will need to assign a "static" ip address to the machine instead.
That assigned IP needs to be in the same network address range and subnet mask as the router.

 

[dddaver]

If DHCP is disabled, then you will need to assign a "static" ip address to the machine instead.
That assigned IP needs to be in the same network address range and subnet mask as the router.

I'm not a computer scientist, just another dumb-ass user. You might as well be speaking Mandarin Chinese. I'll try and do that. Thanks.

I wonder why the Acer will still connect to my router when DHCP is turned off but the HP won't.

 

[dddaver]

If DHCP is disabled, then you will need to assign a "static" ip address to the machine instead.
That assigned IP needs to be in the same network address range and subnet mask as the router.

Thanks. Found out you do that under Local Network>Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)>properties and had to enter the DNS address there too. Windows still said it detected another computer and an IP conflict. Fucking Hewlitt-Packard bullshit. Screw it. I'll just leave the DHCP on. No biggy. Still makes me wonder why that Acer doesn't have to have it on and still connects to the router. Probably it came with the properties set... but no, because then if DHCP was turned on the router it wouldn't connect because of IP conflict I would think, but it does connect, with the DHCP either on or off. Ah, I got the problem surrounded. But screw-it. DHCP on. No biggy. Thanks anyway.

 

[soulfly22583]

First thing - PermaBuzz was absolutely correct in setting up a "Static IP adderss"

However, you need to make sure the addresses are in the correct address range.

For example -

You have a router and two machines. Typically speaking, routers (the type you buy at walmart and best buy) have an IP address of 192.168.0.0 or 192.168.1.0.

If your router has this IP address then you would want to make sure that your computers have something other than that address. I, in this example, would use the addresses of 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.11. You can change the last octet (the 10 and 11) to anything between the number your router has and 254 (You can not use anything above 254 or you will lose all connectivity)

An example of the configuration settings you would use would look like this -

HP:
IP Address - 192.168.0.10
Subnet mask - 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway - 192.168.0.0 (<--- this address is the address your router has, the 0.0 or 0.1 address I mentioned above)

Acer:
IP Address - 192.168.0.11
Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway - 192.168.0.0 (<--- this address is the address your router has, the 0.0 or 0.1 address I mentioned above)

If you set up the addresses like this you can always do a test between the two machines by using the "ping" command with the command line.

An example of "pinging" to test is this -

On your Acer machine, go to "Programs" and look under "Accessories" - open the program called "Command Line"

From the command line that comes up type this: "ping 192.168.0.10"

If you get the message "Reply from 192.168.0.10: Destination host unreachable" then you are seeing problems outside of the addressing.


Let me know if this helped bud. Ill try my best to help you set this all up.

 

[dddaver]

Thanks man, it did help... me decide not to keep on messing with it for now. Mostly because I think I did everything you mentioned here, except that "pinging" part, I'm pinging enough myself. But really because my frustration level is about pegged from Win7 saying it does something, but really doesn't, which has been the case with MS since the '80s when I first had to use them to do my job. Pain in the ass, lying bastards from the get go. They still do the same bullshit, saying shit does one thing, then finding out another is the actual fact, that they did way back then. I've had more than enough. Thanks for trying to help, but I'm kinda pissed as you might be able to tell.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Hehhhehhhheehhheeeee..! Pinging yourself. Give yourself a DOS attack!

IMO, being married to the LAN/WAN engineer that I'm married to, hearing about all the fuck-ups smart people made thinking they could mess with the network, I think you're better off not screwing around with changing shit like DHCP and assigning static IPs within your home network. It is SO incredibly easy to fuck it up.

Your post is reminding me of the refrain we heard yesterday leaving the local Staples from one of the "we repair computers!" guys. "Just do the updates! Stay up on the updates." I had to laugh, thinking about all the Winders updates that fucked me. Oh, no worries! There's an update to fix the security patch that fixed the hole in the wall. WHAT?

 

[BullnAChinaShop]

Turning off DHCP is not going to make you any more secure. That would be like saying a chain lock on your front door is making you more secure. You can't come in unless you PUSH a little!