IP address conflicts is nothing new to network administrators, and this, as simple as it may seem can cause a lot of inconvenience. So what is IP address conflict?
This is a situation where by two systems/device on “the same network” are assigned the same IP address. All devices on a network should have a unique identifier (IP address).
Let’s firstly discuss how IP addresses are assigned:
- Static IP address: In this scenario, addresses are manually assigned to systems/devices by the network administrator.
- Dynamic IP address: Here, addresses are automatically assigned to systems, usually by the network’s DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) server.
Let me ask: Which of the above scenarios is likely to cause an IP conflict? I know what you are thinking, but the truth is, both scenarios can cause IP conflict.
Taking the first scenario, which is by manually assigning addresses. The network administrator may unknowingly assign the same IP address to two systems. Now you would think that the administrator should get a warning message alerting him that a device on the network already has that IP address assigned to it. This is true in almost all the cases. However, a device maybe idle, or hibernated. So when this device comes back up, there would definitely be a conflict.
Also, an address that was manually assigned may be in the same IP address pool that a DHCP server is assigning.
Say a big HELLO to almighty DHCP server!!!
Now, some of the reasons why we have this technology is to help resolve issues of IP conflict, no need to keep a record of already assigned addresses, automatically assign addresses to systems, and easily reassign an address of a system that is not in use… among others.
Truthfully, the DHCP server has almost eliminated this challenge of IP conflict, but there are times when a device on a network, may be idle. Probably the user of that particular system stepped out and the system is in sleep mode. Also, if on the network, there are multiple wireless routers and DHCP has been configured on a couple of them.
RESOLUTION!!!!
Resolving an IP address conflict is relatively easy. Most times, just restarting your computer/wireless adapter would settle the score.
You can also, go to the “Properties” settings of the network adapter (LAN or Wireless) and automatically assign IP address.
If any of these does not work, contact your network administrator for more troubleshooting.
Author: James Ameh
