DHCP problem with Charter modems...

[heat2thefire]

Hi all. I'm a Charter tech in TN and i'm trying to get some info to help out quite alot of customers that seem to been having the same issues. This is nothing that my higher-ups are willing to assist with because it seems that it is a customer issue. I have went to school over computer repair and I hate not being able to tell the customer what exactly is wrong. Here goes... What we are seeing is that the pc in question is locking into a standard public address- 169.254.-.-. No matter what we try, it still remains the same. We have removed the modem from the accounts and reprovisioned them (reset them up on the customer's account) and still the same. If we hook up a different computer to the modem it will come up fine. This issue is that it lacks the gateway and dns numbers to connect to the net. I have even gone as far as reinstalling the nic cards and reinstalling windows. I'm pretty stumped on what to do next because this seems to be happening more and more often and I really want to help instead of telling them it's not Charter's problem. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Chris

[johnwill]

If you have done a total reinstall, and the connection and the cable have been tested with other computers, I'd have to start suspecting the NIC. OTOH, if this is happening to a lot of computers, there's no telling what it might be and if it's a common issue, or each of the instances is unique. There are many reasons for this to happen.

Next time it happens, try one of these repairs on the system in question, here's one for XP and Vista.


TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands.

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.






TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows Vista.

Start, Programs\Accessories and right click on Command Prompt, select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Reset IPv6 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

[heat2thefire]

I tried the one for xp and nothing worked software wise. I replaced the nic and bam...working again. Definately seems like a hardware problem but I had the same thing happen to me about a year and half ago and I fixed it by a total system wipe and reinstall. It happened on two laptops but didn't affect my desktop. I figured that it was some sort of malicious software that was on both laptops. I still have certain customers out there that are having the same issues and Charter doesn't want the techs touching the computers do to replacement if something goes wrong... I can't help but at least try to help them. Thanks for the help and please update the thread if you guys find out anything new to the issue. It just doesn't make sense for so many computers to start being affected by this issue.

[johnwill]

Well, in the absence of any "hands-on" experience with the specific machine, I have to take each situation individually when I'm here. Even a subtle symptom may be significant in these cases, it's hard to evaluate from this end of the wire.

[heat2thefire]

Alright. I'm back again with pretty much the same issues. I'm seeing this more and more in my area of operations and my company just doesn't seem to either care or understand the issue. I can understand it if it was just a pc every month or so, but it's getting to be where it's two a week. I have fixed most by changing out the nic card but I ran into one that did it straight out of the box. The Dell system was no more than a day old. I'm starting to think that there could be a server that is kicking these mac addresses out. My reason for thinking this is that when I install a new nic, there is a new mac address that goes along with it. The same goes with our modems and such. Is there anything server wise that would confirm this? I plan i escalating this issue up my chain of command but with Charter we all know how that works. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Chris

[johnwill]

It could be a switch that is somehow filling up it's MAC address table and won't let a new machine on. Have you tried power cycling the switches between the machine and the server?

[heat2thefire]

I don't have access to the higher level stuff such as the head-end equipment and servers. Pretty much the only option besides getting some extra info online is to escalate the issue higher up the chain and hope that someone actually cares info to check into it. I just don't see how the system is able to kick these mac addresses off the system like it's doing. I understand that when I switch out the nic card that it changes the mac address and so, so I believe it's on that level or maybe something that I'm not seeing. I dunno to be honest at this point... I'm pretty well out of options.

[johnwill]

Well, someone higher in the food chain is going to have to do some tracing to see what is causing the MAC address to be blocked. Have you taken these machines (or at least the NICs) to a different location and/or network and tested to see if they work there?

[heat2thefire]

I myself have not due to the fact that it is not mine nor Charter equipment. I have talked to a pc repair tech that has hooked it up in a different area and has said that it works. I'm considering of taking a router with me to test if it is truly the mac address that is the problem. I had another one today with the same issue. I installed a new nic in it and still 169.254... I really don't get it at this point. If it is really a mac issue then a new nic would have solved that. If it is a software issue within the machine, then who knows. I realize that new and more complicated viruses come out everyday but this would be a stretch to be honest. I do know that the service is working within our modems due to the fact that I hook up a test laptop and get on the net. How would a server actually have control over the mac addresses anyways? I get that we setup everything through a mac address in the modem but how would it stop the network device's mac to stop. Any ideas? Thanks again for all the help!

Chris

[johnwill]

Without knowing a lot more about the actual network, it's hard to even speculate on what is happening here. It sure seems to be an infrastructure control issue, and not a hardware issue.

[heat2thefire]

I have to agree with you there. I'm seeing it not only within the desktops and some laptops, but also with our usb wireless adapters. It's definitely an annoying to the techs and our customers that this has become such a problem. I'm gonna turn in my log of jobs that have the same issues with them to my superiors and see what happens. I will keep you all updated when I hear more. Of course if you guys find out more info feel free to let us know. Thanks for all the help.

Chris

[johnwill]

Sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of this one, but it appears this is a "hands on" type of situation.