[FTLOSM]

I have a 4 port Netgear WGR614 v3 Wireless router on Comcast cable, here are the devices using this router (the router is setup with custom ssid and wep protection btw in B mode).

My main PC is hardwired into the router running windows xp pro

My wifes laptop running windows xp home (on dock hardwired 98% of the time)

My daughters PC running windows 98 using a wireless usb netgear wg121 base with antenna.

My Tivo series 2 is hardwired into router as well as my xbox but I rarely sign into that device much less have it on even.

My junker laptop that I use on the back deck of house wireless with chiefmax PCMCIA card slot running windows xp pro.


So all 4 inputs are taken up (wife laptop dock and my main pc, tivo and xbox) and daughters pc and my junker laptop use the wireless B connection.

None of these computers are setup to share anything with each other (no printers file sharing etc) to be honest I would like that feature on my junker laptop and main pc only (both running windows xp pro), but it was hard enough getting them up and going and working for me (not a techie in that respect) I was amazed they even worked once I installed and ran it all, to be honest...


Here is the problem, my wired device computers (wifes docked laptop and my main hardwired pc) get this error message about once a week or so that says


The system has detected an IP conflict with another system on the network. Network operations on this system may be disrupted as a result.

As for my daughters pc and my back deck junker laptop who both use wireless, those have issues too, my junker laptop has this annoying problem with when I let it go into standby it comes back on searches for wireless and can't re-connect to it, I have to restart the unit to get it to re-connect if I walk away from it for more than 20 mins. But I have never had an issue of a popup type IP conflict type thing on that one.

Daughters pc has popup that says almost the same thing as above about IP issues (can't recall exact wording at the moment). She is using that wireless netgear WG121 usb unit. Her pc acts up the most with these popups and IP issues that I can see she has it at least 1-2 times per day.

I guess there are alot of questions within this first post of mine and sorry about that, but the main thing I would like to address is why am I getting all these IP messages and is there a way to stop that or am I just running too much stuff off that one router?

I have updated the router and usb device thru netgears site btw and all the pcs themselves are fully updated drivers and software update wise.

One thing I know that plays HAVOK with my router is my darn 2.4 ghz phones, can't stand how it knocks us ALL out and I have to go reset the modem once someone has a phone conversation on them, I am going to Costco tomorrow and gonna look at just replacing the phones with 5.8 units and toss these 2.4's out the window, not sure if that would be an "issue" with my ip problem popups etc, but sure is one more thing I want FIXED and at least that is something I can do on my own fast and easy.

Thanks for any help sorting thru this ratsnest, I figured if anyone could help it would be in this forum...

Bill

[squidboy]

The system has detected an IP conflict with another system on the network. Network operations on this system may be disrupted as a result.

Howdy, and thank you for the detailed information. You state this happens about once per week. I'm speculating that once the lease expires on those PC's that your router is having trouble renewing a host's IP address. Usually this is caused by an IP conflict...sometimes due to a host set to static instead of DHCP.

Assuming your router is set to DHCP, are all your wired and wireless PC's set to DHCP as well?

[FTLOSM]

Ok don't laugh, (well a bit i guess is ok) but I have no idea what DHCP is or even how to tell if they are or aren't set up with it.

Is that something i need to look into my router mainpage settings for or something in the networking section properties of each pc or???

Thanks for reading and replying, I know my post was kinda long but wanted to give as much detail as possible on it.

yes the 2 pcs that are wired (wifes laptop wired thru her docking station and my main pc box in my room) both get that message about oh, once every 5-8 days id say, sometimes it happens 2 or three times in a day then goes away for another week or so.

Nextime my daughters has the popup ill write down what it is saying, she is wireless thru a wg121 netgear device, has good signal strength can get online fine yet gets this annoying popup thing about ip issues (hers is often maybe 2-3 per day everyday). I wondered since hers is running windows 98 if that might be part of it?

My junker laptop when i boot up seeks and connects to the wireless fine, yet if I close the lid and reopen it 20 mins later it seeks and finds nothing, i go in hit repair nothing, i disable re-enable nothing, i restart the laptop seeks and connects fine again, I can use that thing for 6 hours straight not a single connection popup or issue, ONLY when i walk away and come back (lid open or not) if I leave it alone for 15-20 mins then come back I HAVE to restart the laptop to reconnect - weird.


Bill

[FTLOSM]

I do know whenever my wife gets on that darn 2.4 ghz phone it knocks EVERYONE offline, sometimes when shes done a few mins later it works again sometimes I have to go out unplug the router and sit 20 seconds then replug it in to get it to work again, that phone and router just DO NOT like each other.

I am going to costco today for an eye exam and saw some 5.8 phones there last time from Panasonic I think I am buying a set today if they aren't too much, cuz that knocking us offline everytime the phone rings is VERY annoying.

Bill

[squidboy]

In a mixed environment like that (PC's, Xbox, Tivo, etc), you'll want to make sure there are no IP conflicts. In the ideal scenario, every device is set to DHCP and your router handles all that.

Short explanation of DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A DHCP server (in this case, your router) sits on your network. When a host device (pc, xbox, whatever) is set to DHCP, upon bootup it requests an IP address. Your router responds and assigns it an IP address. This address is good for a set amount of time, usually a few days, as defined by the lease. Other devices requesting an IP get a different one since the router knows each host device must have a unique IP address. When the lease expires a host requests a new address adress. Usually its the same addess, sometime different.

That said, some devices use a static address: a fixed IP address assigned on the device. This is fine, but only if the router knows not to assign another device that same address.

On an XP machine, you'll want to go to Start>Control Panel>Network Connections>(rclick)Local Area Connection>Properties>select Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)>click Properties. Shown in pic attached. For Win98 its slightly different.

The laptop hibernating is tricky. I've had better success with hibernating laptops on 802.11g than b....for wireless that is. Wired it's usually not a problem.

Check your other devices too, the Tivo and Xbox.

[foneguy9]

Here is some additional info on what the DHCP server portion of your particular router does:
IP Configuration by DHCP
When an IP-based local area network is installed, each computer must be configured with an IP address. If the computers need to access the Internet, they should also be configured with a gateway address and one or more DNS server addresses. As an alternative to manual configuration, there is a method by which each computer on the network can automatically obtain this configuration information. A device on the network may act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. The DHCP server stores a list or pool of IP addresses, along with other information (such as gateway and DNS addresses) that it may assign to the other devices on the network. The WGR614 v5 router has the capacity to act as a DHCP server.

Check the IP ADDRESS Range of Your DHCP Server which lives in your DLINK Router:

When you log into the Dlink router main page you will see 'Basic Settings' at the top. If you look at the right hand side column, you will see the Advanced Listing of options. Go to LAN IP setup and Verify your DHCP server IP address range. It will look something like:
192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.8.

From the devices, Make sure that as many devices (Computers, XBOX, etc) that are connected to the network have DHCP assigned. Your Dlink router will 'assign' one of the IP address that you see in the DHCP server IP address range to that device once connected/powered on to your network.

If you will need to Manually assign an IP address to one of your devices, then make sure that it isn't in the range mentioned above. In the example above, you could manually assign 192.168.0.20 and there will be no 'IP conflict'(overlap).
You have from 192.168.0.9 to 254 if you needed.
Once confirmed and done, you'all should be golden.

As to checking the TCP/IP settings on Windows XP, squidboy covered it. For the Win 98 machine I have included some attachments with screen shots.
I also attached how to change the DHCP on the Windows 98 machine that your daughter is using. This is from the Dlink support site.

*NOTE: The first (2) attached pages below are to verify you have TCP/IP setup on the Win 98 machine. Since your daughter can connect to the network and the internet, you should disregard those 2 pages. Continue from Page 3 to 5.