Episode 41: DHCP Troubleshooting — Address Leases and Conflicts
When clients can’t get an IP address, everything else breaks—and DHCP is often the culprit. This episode guides you through common Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) issues, including lease failures, scope exhaustion, and IP conflicts. You’ll learn how DHCP works from offer to acknowledgment and where the process breaks down. Misconfigured scopes, incorrect subnet masks, and rogue DHCP servers are all discussed as causes of intermittent or total network failure.
We also walk through diagnostic techniques like using ipconfig, checking event logs, and monitoring DHCP server statistics. You’ll understand how to recognize and fix duplicated addresses, renew client leases, and validate the correct assignment of DNS and gateway settings. This is an essential episode for anyone responsible for maintaining functional client access, especially in dynamic or wireless-heavy environments.
