# Hub is not assigning IP address!



## Lfactress (Apr 28, 2005)

Hi!

In my apartment, we have a Cable Internet box, and a cable going from that box into a Hub. Three of us connect our computers to the hub with ethernet cards/cables, and all was going well until we had to replace the Hub (it burnt out). We switched to a different hub, and are having serious DHCP problems. We have an IMAC, a laptop with Win2000, and a pc running XP. 

Here are the issues:
1. Every time we restart the cable box and/or hub, usually only one computer gets an IP address (and can therefore connect to the internet), sometimes 2, but never all 3. 
**If all 3 computers are restarted, and the hub/cable box unplugged and plugged back in, the IMAC always gets an IP address, the XP machine occassionally gets an IP address, and the Win2000 never gets one. 
**The Win 2000 laptop ONLY get's an IP address/Internet connection if it is the ONLY one plugged into the hub. 
**If we unplug/replug the cable box at the same time we restart the Win2000 laptop, the WIn2000 laptop sometimes gets an internet connection, and the IMAC sometimes keeps it's connection, but the Win XP pc always loses it's connection.
**Anyone plugged directly into the hub or the cable box can get an internet connection after restarting both, if no other computers are plugged in.

After 2 days of troubleshooting and no help from the cable company who had us shut everything down, and then plug everything back in again in a particular order, we swapped out that hub and put in another hub we had laying around. Same thing happened.

I have tried disabling, and enabling the connection from the Network and Dial-up Connections screen (Win2000 and XP machines), and no change. When I Try to "Repair" the connection from the same screen, it comes back saying that it was unable to assign an IP address b/c it cannot connect to the DHCP server. When i go to the command prompt - the ip address is 0.0.0.0 , and i can't do an ipconfig /release /renew b/c I get the same DHCP error.

Help!!! We are pulling our hair out! 

Thanks,
Lissa


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## Squashman (Apr 14, 2005)

Specifics really help. Make and model of the hub. Hubs do not give out IP addresses. Since you are not using a router, you would be getting an IP address from your ISP. Do they allow you to have more than two Dynamic IP addresses at a time.

I personally would buy a router.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

I suspect the first "hub" was really a broadband router. :smile: I think if you check the model number of the burned out "hub", you'll find that to be the case.


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## aquaverse (Apr 29, 2005)

johnwill said:


> I suspect the first "hub" was really a broadband router. :smile: I think if you check the model number of the burned out "hub", you'll find that to be the case.


Hello folks, I am one of the roommates.

The original router was a Linksys 5 port Nethub something or other (old). The new one is a Netgear DS104 (4 port). I used the DS104 at my old apartment for over a year without any problems, so I wonder why it wouldn't be compatible with the cable modem at the new place.

We're killing ourselves trying to figure this out. And, of course, the cable company has no interest in helping us because of the third party hub that is involved.

PS. it wasn't the hub that necessarily burned out last week, it was the AC adapter connecting from the hub to my wall socket. Don't know what that means and if that could affect the router. However, as the actress said, we used an entirely different router and the same problem exists. It refuses to give all three of us IP's.
AV


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Most cable companies only give out one address per modem. A broadband router solves this problem and gives your home network firewall protection. If it is a wired network, you can can get a broadband router for under $40. 

Look at this page. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=584&Nav=|c:198|&Sort=0&Recs=10


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## aquaverse (Apr 29, 2005)

Terrister said:


> Most cable companies only give out one address per modem. A broadband router solves this problem and gives your home network firewall protection. If it is a wired network, you can can get a broadband router for under $40.
> 
> Look at this page. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=584&Nav=|c:198|&Sort=0&Recs=10


Thanks for the link. We'll take a look.

Edit: Would this http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=328846&CatId=584 cheap router do the trick?


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## aquaverse (Apr 29, 2005)

Here's the new router we are currently using if it helps.

http://www.compulink.co.uk/~davedorn/reviews/hard/networking/ds104hub.htm


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

The router you pointed to should work fine. I can't imagine how you ever connected all the computers, because what you describe is the classic symptoms of a single public IP address and multiple machines fighting for it.

Buy the router, your problems will be gone.


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

The d-link router at Tigerdirect will do the job. 

The "router" you have now is NOT a router, it is a hub. A hub just shares the signal to the other computers.


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