Self Assigned IP address nightmare

[samh]

Here were the results when I tried the Terminal app Ping

Last login: Thu Aug 2 11:07:49 on console
ping 8.8.4.4Rich-Mitchells-MacBook-Pro:~ richmitchell$ ping 8.8.4.4
PING 8.8.4.4 (8.8.4.4): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
ping: sendto: No route to host

Alright. Try this one in terminal instead. How about

ping 192.168.1.254

 

[richrara]

Here's the results:

PING 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 5
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 7
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 8
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 9
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 10
^C

 

[richrara]

In addition to the above I also pinged the IP address and got the following:

64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.055 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.111 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.113 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.123 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.121 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.110 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.120 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.113 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=0.110 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=0.094 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=0.092 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=0.103 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=0.095 ms
ç64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=0.086 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=0.107 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=0.126 ms

 

[samh]

In addition to the above I also pinged the IP address and got the following:

64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.055 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.111 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.113 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.123 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.121 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.110 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=6 ttl=64 time=0.120 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=7 ttl=64 time=0.113 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=8 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=9 ttl=64 time=0.110 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=10 ttl=64 time=0.094 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=11 ttl=64 time=0.092 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=12 ttl=64 time=0.103 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=13 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=14 ttl=64 time=0.095 ms
ç64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=15 ttl=64 time=0.086 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=16 ttl=64 time=0.107 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=17 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.71: icmp_seq=18 ttl=64 time=0.126 ms

OK. Although your Mac says it's connected to your wi-fi network it doesn't seem to be really connected. Usually this is a problem with the wireless access point but you seem to have already done everything you can for that. So… I'm just not sure what to tell you.

You might try going into Network Preferences > Airport and deleting your wireless network and re-connecting.

Can you connect to other wi-fi networks OK?

 

[kryten2]

What device in your setup has the 192.168.1.254 address? That device is giving out the DHCP leases and settings for the gateway/router. Post a screenshot of those settings. Normally you can connect with your browser to your router by doing something like http://192.168.1.254 in Safari. If it's your Time Capsule or something else that's acting as the DHCP server, go into the setup and post a screenshot of those as well. Makes things easier to diagnose.

Try manual settings :

IPv4 : 192.168.1.253
Subnet : 255.255.255.0
Router : 192.168.1.254
DNS : 192.168.1.254
Configure IPv6 : set to off unless you use it.
Test your settings with :

ping yourself eg ping 192.168.1.253
ping your router eg ping 192.168.1.254

Do a traceroute to your router :

traceroute 192.168.1.254

Do an nslookup of Google :

nslookup www.google.com

Do a traceroute to Google :

traceroute www.google.com

Make sure your wife hasn't turned on Internet Sharing.

 

[hw007]

Hiya,

Try this;

Log into home hub and see if you can see any settings for the dhcp server lease time

If you can change the lease time to 24 hours (what this will do is after 24 hours all ip addresses will get renewed)

I used to have the same issue with self assigned ip address, and this solved my problems.

Mind you I don't have a bt home hub

Hope this might help

HW

 

[samh]

Guys, how do you expect him to log into his Router (the BT Home Hub) if he can't even ping it!?

----------

What device in your setup has the 192.168.1.254 address? That device is giving out the DHCP leases and settings for the gateway/router. Post a screenshot of those settings. Normally you can connect with your browser to your router by doing something like http://192.168.1.254 in Safari. If it's your Time Capsule or something else that's acting as the DHCP server, go into the setup and post a screenshot of those as well. Makes things easier to diagnose.

Try manual settings :
<< snip >>
Make sure your wife hasn't turned on Internet Sharing.

192.168.1.254 is his BT Home Hub i.e. router + wi-fi + switch. He can't ping it so there's no way he can log into it.

We've already tried manual settings as you have suggested.

 

[chown33]

Guys, how do you expect him to log into his Router (the BT Home Hub) if he can't even ping it!?

From his wife's machine, which seems to connect to it just fine.

I'm wondering if the BT Home Hub might have MAC address filtering enabled. Or something like that, configured in the Home Hub itself, that's preventing the connection. Something that can't possibly be discovered by trying things from the non-connecting machine, and will only be apparent by looking at the router configuration.

 

[samh]

From his wife's machine, which seems to connect to it just fine.

I'm wondering if the BT Home Hub might have MAC address filtering enabled. Or something like that, configured in the Home Hub itself, that's preventing the connection. Something that can't possibly be discovered by trying things from the non-connecting machine, and will only be apparent by looking at the router configuration.

Gotcha. I guess my brain didn't go there since his is the laptop that has "always" worked with the AP and his wife's is the new one. But good catch.

 

[kryten2]

Guys, how do you expect him to log into his Router (the BT Home Hub) if he can't even ping it!?

Where in my post did I ask/tell him to log into his router? I didn't. Looking at richrara's posts #12 and #16 he can connect via ethernet. I was curious about his router settings.

We've already tried manual settings as you have suggested.

My apologies.

 

[richrara]

ok so with Krysten's 1st suggestion i.e. entering those settings and trying to connect via airport I got this:

PING 192.168.1.253 (192.168.1.253): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
ping: sendto: No route to host
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 5
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 7
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 8
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 9
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 10
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 11
^C


Doing the traceroute I got:

Rich-Mitchells-MacBook-Pro:~ richmitchell$ traceroute 192.168.1.254
traceroute to 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 * * *
2 * *traceroute: sendto: No route to host
traceroute: wrote 192.168.1.254 52 chars, ret=-1
*
traceroute: sendto: Host is down
3 traceroute: wrote 192.168.1.254 52 chars, ret=-1
*traceroute: sendto: Host is down
traceroute: wrote 192.168.1.254 52 chars, ret=-1
*traceroute: sendto: Host is down
traceroute: wrote 192.168.1.254 52 chars, ret=-1


And the Google traceroute:

nslookup www.google.com
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

Rich-Mitchells-MacBook-Pro:~ richmitchell$ nslookup www.google.com
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached



HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I PINGED FROM MY MACHINE ETC VIA ETHERNET

PING 192.168.1.65 (192.168.1.65): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.046 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.053 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.144 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.102 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.65: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.120 ms

traceroute 192.168.1.254
traceroute to 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 * * *
2 * * *
3 * * *


Server: 192.168.1.254
Address: 192.168.1.254#53

Non-authoritative answer:
www.google.com canonical name = www.l.google.com.
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.147
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.99
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.103
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.105
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.104
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.106

Rich-Mitchells-MacBook-Pro:~ richmitchell$ traceroute www.google.com
traceroute: Warning: www.google.com has multiple addresses; using 173.194.78.106
traceroute to www.l.google.com (173.194.78.106), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 api (192.168.1.254) 75.932 ms 93.425 ms 99.934 ms
2 217.32.146.68 (217.32.146.68) 8.895 ms 8.695 ms 8.792 ms
3 217.32.146.94 (217.32.146.94) 9.216 ms 9.023 ms 9.312 ms
4 213.120.177.34 (213.120.177.34) 9.168 ms 10.076 ms 9.305 ms
5 217.41.168.59 (217.41.168.59) 9.558 ms 10.106 ms 9.276 ms
6 217.41.168.107 (217.41.168.107) 9.867 ms 10.063 ms 9.961 ms
7 acc1-10gige-0-2-0-4.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.97) 9.772 ms
acc1-10gige-0-1-0-5.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.82) 9.903 ms
acc1-10gige-0-2-0-6.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.101) 10.064 ms
8 core1-te0-7-0-7.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.23) 14.514 ms
core2-te0-7-0-17.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.13) 11.560 ms
core2-te0-7-0-5.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.15) 16.807 ms
9 peer1-xe8-0-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.254.173) 10.175 ms
host213-121-193-109.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.109) 10.460 ms
peer1-xe8-0-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.254.173) 10.963 ms
10 195.99.125.21 (195.99.125.21) 10.517 ms
195.99.126.107 (195.99.126.107) 10.677 ms
195.99.125.25 (195.99.125.25) 25.150 ms
11 209.85.252.188 (209.85.252.188) 10.874 ms
209.85.252.186 (209.85.252.186) 11.374 ms 11.167 ms
12 209.85.253.92 (209.85.253.92) 11.456 ms
209.85.253.90 (209.85.253.90) 11.051 ms


ON MY WIFE'S MACHINE I GOT THIS

unknown-70-56-81-91-1f-31:~ nicolademain$ traceroute 192.168.1.254
traceroute to 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 * * *
2 * * *
3 * * *
4 * * *
^C
unknown-70-56-81-91-1f-31:~ nicolademain$ ping 192.168.1.254
PING 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=4.826 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=5.861 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=4.584 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=11.933 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=4.224 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=4.663 ms
^C
--- 192.168.1.254 ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 4.224/6.015/11.933/2.694 ms
unknown-70-56-81-91-1f-31:~ nicolademain$ nslookup www.google.com
Server: 192.168.1.254
Address: 192.168.1.254#53

Non-authoritative answer:
www.google.com canonical name = www.l.google.com.
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.147
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.99
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.106
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.105
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.103
Name: www.l.google.com
Address: 173.194.78.104

unknown-70-56-81-91-1f-31:~ nicolademain$ traceroute www.google.com
traceroute: Warning: www.google.com has multiple addresses; using 173.194.78.103
traceroute to www.l.google.com (173.194.78.103), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 api (192.168.1.254) 73.821 ms 94.996 ms 91.881 ms
2 217.32.146.68 (217.32.146.68) 12.636 ms 13.461 ms 15.110 ms
3 217.32.146.110 (217.32.146.110) 10.322 ms 13.049 ms 9.166 ms
4 213.120.177.34 (213.120.177.34) 14.147 ms 10.254 ms 10.015 ms
5 217.41.168.59 (217.41.168.59) 14.685 ms 10.269 ms 16.171 ms
6 217.41.168.107 (217.41.168.107) 10.271 ms 11.442 ms 10.511 ms
7 acc1-10gige-0-0-0-6.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.90) 10.144 ms
acc1-10gige-0-1-0-6.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.94) 10.803 ms
acc1-10gige-0-0-0-5.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net (109.159.249.78) 10.850 ms
8 core1-te0-0-0-5.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.43) 11.758 ms
core2-te0-15-0-17.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.27) 14.510 ms
core1-te0-7-0-6.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.19) 14.278 ms
9 peer1-xe8-0-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.254.173) 13.408 ms
host213-121-193-109.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.109) 13.251 ms
peer1-xe8-0-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.254.173) 11.524 ms
10 195.99.126.109 (195.99.126.109) 11.863 ms
195.99.126.105 (195.99.126.105) 12.377 ms
195.99.125.25 (195.99.125.25) 11.321 ms
11 209.85.252.188 (209.85.252.188) 11.631 ms 11.418 ms 11.474 ms
12 209.85.253.92 (209.85.253.92) 12.430 ms
209.85.253.94 (209.85.253.94) 12.697 ms
209.85.253.196 (209.85.253.196) 21.911 ms
13 72.14.232.134 (72.14.232.134) 18.629 ms
66.249.95.173 (66.249.95.173) 17.296 ms
72.14.232.134 (72.14.232.134) 137.545 ms
14 72.14.236.191 (72.14.236.191) 17.786 ms 16.792 ms
216.239.49.45 (216.239.49.45) 17.363 ms



So, correct me if you think I'm wrong - but common sense suggests that there is no problem with the router (it's working on my machine via ethernet, my wife's via airport and ethernet - and it's worked for 4 years on mine without any problems and NO changes have been made to it) - it seems there's more a problem somewhere within my system???

Does the above tell you guys anything about what that might be? I think possibly I need to concentrate on making changes on my system rather than the router (which quite frankly can only be switched on and off and have the 'wireless association' reset and both of which I've done on numerous occasions) - would you agree? And if so please suggest what those could be (other than the fixes I've tried already)?

I read that someone had to go as far as completely wiping their harddrive and starting all over again - but I would definitely rather avoid taking this route if there is any way to avoid it??

Thanks
Thanks

 

[samh]

Does the above tell you guys anything about what that might be? I think possibly I need to concentrate on making changes on my system rather than the router (which quite frankly can only be switched on and off and have the 'wireless association' reset and both of which I've done on numerous occasions) - would you agree? And if so please suggest what those could be (other than the fixes I've tried already)?

I read that someone had to go as far as completely wiping their harddrive and starting all over again - but I would definitely rather avoid taking this route if there is any way to avoid it??

Thanks
Thanks

Without being there, it's hard to know for sure. None of us has used a BT Home Hub before, and that complicates things further.

Have you tried as I suggested and removed the saved wi-fi connection in your Network preferences?

Another option will be to remove some Library/plist files but to be honest at the moment I'm not sure which ones. It's been a while since I've had this problem on the Mac side… usually it has been issues on the router side.

 

[richrara]

Yep I removed the connection, deleted the keychain, re-added the connection, re-entered the password and still no luck. Thanks for all your help to everyone by the way, is much appreciated. Hopefully there's still more to come. Apple expect me to pay £42 just to speak to one of their guys on the phone, which in some circumstances would be fine, but when it's a problem that most Mac users are plagued by at some point it seems a massive rip-off. Anyway, I'm getting off the point; if there's any more advice anyone can offer that would be great, otherwise I'm going to have to do a new installation...

 

[kryten2]

You're using a macbook pro right? Have you tried connecting to a public hotspot or maybe a friend's wifi network? Or an ad hoc network connection between the 2 macbooks? If you're successful in doing so the problem is not with your macbook pro. My apologies once again if this has been suggested before.

Info ad hoc : http://www.google.be/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=ad+hoc+network+mac&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=W8ofUKnEGcaGhQe02YGYDw

The fist link on Google takes you through the steps. Second and third are video's.

 

[richrara]

Hi, yes I can connect to BTFON (my ISP's hotspot) without any problems (other than it being mega-slow).

So, if it's a problem with the hub/router - how is it that I'm able to connect to it by ethernet cable without any problems, and everyone else who tries seems to be able to connect to it via airport without any issue?

I just read online a thread where someone else was having the same problem, and they said a complete reinstallation of OSX was the only thing which fixed it - which is what I'm (reluctantly) contemplating at the minute as everyone seems to have run out of suggestions...

Maybe I'll call me ISP first. I'll keep the thread updated as this seems like a nightmare which is most certainly not exclusive to just a handful of Mac users.

----------

Who fortunately may I add offer free support (unlike Mac's £42 per call!!). Thanks to everyone again on here for their help.

 

[richrara]

RESULT!!!

So, here's what I did (on the advice of my ISP's Mac expert):

Unplug the hub for 1 minute

Reset the Wireless Association by holding the 'Wireless Association' button down on the hub for 15 seconds

Delete my network (under network preferences>Advanced>Airport>then select your network and use the minus symbol to remove it).

Then go to the Keychain Access app and delete both instances of the password for that particular network (just select Login first, and then System on the left of the window, and 'passwords' beneath that and then on the right hand side select your network in the list of keychain passwords and press delete).

Then go back to network preferences>Advanced>Airport>press the '+' button>Show networks>Select your network>re-enter the password and hey presto, I was back online!!

I had tried ALL these things as previously noted, but possibly not in this particular order.

It appears that the route of the problem was that at some point I may have entered an incorrect password for connecting, and this tricked my Mac into thinking I could connect to the hub (although I never got an incorrect password alert - presumably as the password was a format my ISP recognised - but not the correct one for my hub - which I would say is a certain flaw on their behalf! A wrong password being entered you should expect to be flagged up when you enter it?)

Anyway - it seems that this particular problem was mainly password related and that by following the above steps in that order I managed to get back online.

I have very little technological know-how and therefore cannot fully explain why this has worked, but it has.

My tips from this mammoth IP address slog would be:

- Call your ISP before anyone else (especially before calling Mac who charge you a small fortune just to speak to them)

- Make double sure you have the correct password (obviously)

----------

Thanks once again to everyone in the forum who offered support and advice.

 

[r0k]

In an interesting coincidence, I had a similar experience to yours yesterday when I returned home from a trip halfway across the country. I was tired and just wanted to rest but my wife's Mac mini couldn't get on the internet through its WIRED connection. I could get on via my Macbook, Ipad and iPhone as could anybody else who was using wireless. All of the wired devices, including all our internet TVs were reporting IP addresses of 169.254.something.

169.254 is the IP address range reserved for "I can't get a real IP address". So I went downstairs and reset our Airport extreme. I figured it wasn't handing out proper IP addresses to DHCP clients coming in wired. I was wrong. Resetting it changed nothing. I then unplugged the wireless "extender" we had in the upstairs bedrooms. Nothing. Lastly, I began to wonder if the switches were acting up. I have 3 8 port gigabit switches. They don't do anything but pass traffic. They don't even have their own IP address. They were the problem. After rebooting all three of them EVERYTHING started working again. I decided to replace them and I have a 24 port Trendnet switch on the way from Amazon. Yeah, I know Trendnet is a cheaper brand but to get a Cisco or higher end Netgear I would have had to fork out more than triple the money.

One thing I noticed in the OP's posts is they kept referring to a "hub". I think they might have meant router. A lot of ISPs offer a single modem/router combo device. You can set it up to act as a modem only or you can leave it set to default and it acts as both modem and router. In the former case, the ISP might try to charge you per IP address. In the latter case, you only get one internet IP address and the rest of your stuff gets a "private" network IP address, typically 192.168.something.

Glad to hear the OP got it all worked out and I'm adding this post only to point out that even a relatively dumb component like a switch can sometimes get in the way.

I guess I'll wind up selling off the 8 port gigabit switches on ebay "as is" once my new 24 port switch arrives.

 

[samh]

In an interesting coincidence, I had a similar experience to yours yesterday when I returned home from a trip halfway across the country. I was tired and just wanted to rest but my wife's Mac mini couldn't get on the internet through its WIRED connection. I could get on via my Macbook, Ipad and iPhone as could anybody else who was using wireless. All of the wired devices, including all our internet TVs were reporting IP addresses of 169.254.something.

169.254 is the IP address range reserved for "I can't get a real IP address". So I went downstairs and reset our Airport extreme. I figured it wasn't handing out proper IP addresses to DHCP clients coming in wired. I was wrong. Resetting it changed nothing. I then unplugged the wireless "extender" we had in the upstairs bedrooms. Nothing. Lastly, I began to wonder if the switches were acting up. I have 3 8 port gigabit switches. They don't do anything but pass traffic. They don't even have their own IP address. They were the problem. After rebooting all three of them EVERYTHING started working again. I decided to replace them and I have a 24 port Trendnet switch on the way from Amazon. Yeah, I know Trendnet is a cheaper brand but to get a Cisco or higher end Netgear I would have had to fork out more than triple the money.

One thing I noticed in the OP's posts is they kept referring to a "hub". I think they might have meant router. A lot of ISPs offer a single modem/router combo device. You can set it up to act as a modem only or you can leave it set to default and it acts as both modem and router. In the former case, the ISP might try to charge you per IP address. In the latter case, you only get one internet IP address and the rest of your stuff gets a "private" network IP address, typically 192.168.something.

Glad to hear the OP got it all worked out and I'm adding this post only to point out that even a relatively dumb component like a switch can sometimes get in the way.

I guess I'll wind up selling off the 8 port gigabit switches on ebay "as is" once my new 24 port switch arrives.

Switches do more than simply act as a giant splitter. They may not have IP addresses (well, yours don't, but some do) but they "do" things. An ARP table could have gotten corrupted, for example. Sometimes around here the power dips or surges just enough to mess the memory of a switch like that without actually rebooting it. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy your new Trendnet 24-port.

As to the OP calling the device a "hub" -- it's proper name turned otu to be "BT Home Hub" -- so he was wright to call it that, but it was confusing for the rest of us.

 

[r0k]

Switches do more than simply act as a giant splitter. They may not have IP addresses (well, yours don't, but some do) but they "do" things. An ARP table could have gotten corrupted, for example. Sometimes around here the power dips or surges just enough to mess the memory of a switch like that without actually rebooting it. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy your new Trendnet 24-port.

As to the OP calling the device a "hub" -- it's proper name turned otu to be "BT Home Hub" -- so he was wright to call it that, but it was confusing for the rest of us.

I agree that a switch can be pretty sophisticated. An old fashioned hub was merely an electrical connection between ethernet wires and did no thinking at all while a switch remembers which ip address (or is that mac address?) is on which wire and directs traffic out each port as required.

As I was shopping for replacements, I noticed that all the "consumer" models were "hold and forward" types which I take to mean they hold a packet then forward it to the proper connection. I shopped around and found models which could handle 32GBPS up to 48GBPS in my price range.

By having 1 4 port switch, 3 8 port switches and 2 5 port switches, there were scenarios where a packet would have to "hold and forward" 4 times or more just to make it from say a NAS drive to an internet TV playing back a movie and most packets have to hold and forward at least twice. Moving to a single 24 port switch plus 2 5 port switches, the most a packet can have to hold and forward is 3 times and most have to hold and forward only once.

old topology:
internet
|
router/switch1 (airport extreme)
|--- switch 2 (8 port)
|--- switch 3 (8 port) --- switch 5 (5 port)
\--- switch 4 (8 port) --- switch 6 (5 port)

new topology:
internet
|
router/switch1 (airport extreme)
|--- switch 2 (24 port)
|--- switch 3 (5 port)
\--- switch 4 (5 port)

BTW, I have excellent power conditioning and battery backup because the power around here is pretty spotty. We had 10 power failures last storm season and after an agressive tree-trimming and rewiring on the part of DTE energy we have only had one this year. BTW, by power failure I don't mean coming home and having to reset the clock in the microwave. I mean the power was out longer than my largest UPS battery could last. I have also set all my DHCP leases to 7 days hoping there aren't any changes to trip over. I started experiencing this most recent problem after returning from 8 days on the road. Perhaps my dhcp leases need to be 30 days.

I settled on the trendnet because it handled the higher speed (sum of all data passing through the hub, not data on a single wire) and a reviewer commented that it was quiet. I got rid of an old netgear 100mbps switch because it sounded like a jet trying to take off. I don't want that sort of stuff in my house.

 

[zswitten]

I fixed it!

After trying ALL these suggestions, I finally figured out the problem: I was typing in the wrong password!

I feel stupid, but OTOH, there was NO indication given that the password I had been typing was wrong. None whatsoever. Just the self-assigned IP message.

So if you're having this problem, make extra triple-sure that you're entering the right password. Maybe take the step of resetting the password to something else, and then using the new password, just to be completely positive you've got the right password.

 

[samh]

After trying ALL these suggestions, I finally figured out the problem: I was typing in the wrong password!

I feel stupid, but OTOH, there was NO indication given that the password I had been typing was wrong. None whatsoever. Just the self-assigned IP message.

So if you're having this problem, make extra triple-sure that you're entering the right password. Maybe take the step of resetting the password to something else, and then using the new password, just to be completely positive you've got the right password.

Right, well, a wifi network isn't (usually) a server that's you're logging into and getting an authentication response. The password functions as an encryption key. If your computer doesn't get a response, it doesn't necessarily know why--could be a bad password, but there are other reasons.

 

[Lance Mabu]

RESULT!!!

So, here's what I did (on the advice of my ISP's Mac expert):

Unplug the hub for 1 minute

Reset the Wireless Association by holding the 'Wireless Association' button down on the hub for 15 seconds

Delete my network (under network preferences>Advanced>Airport>then select your network and use the minus symbol to remove it).

Then go to the Keychain Access app and delete both instances of the password for that particular network (just select Login first, and then System on the left of the window, and 'passwords' beneath that and then on the right hand side select your network in the list of keychain passwords and press delete).

Then go back to network preferences>Advanced>Airport>press the '+' button>Show networks>Select your network>re-enter the password and hey presto, I was back online!!

I had tried ALL these things as previously noted, but possibly not in this particular order.

It appears that the route of the problem was that at some point I may have entered an incorrect password for connecting, and this tricked my Mac into thinking I could connect to the hub (although I never got an incorrect password alert - presumably as the password was a format my ISP recognised - but not the correct one for my hub - which I would say is a certain flaw on their behalf! A wrong password being entered you should expect to be flagged up when you enter it?)

Anyway - it seems that this particular problem was mainly password related and that by following the above steps in that order I managed to get back online.

I have very little technological know-how and therefore cannot fully explain why this has worked, but it has.

My tips from this mammoth IP address slog would be:

- Call your ISP before anyone else (especially before calling Mac who charge you a small fortune just to speak to them)

- Make double sure you have the correct password (obviously)

----------

Thanks once again to everyone in the forum who offered support and advice.

I had similar problems after having tried to extend my Infinitum router with my Airport Extreme, deleting the password in my keychain seems to have done the trick. Is WEP-keys case-sensitive?

 

[libella25]

Hi!

I have a similar problem- my macbook has been connecting to everything I've needed... Except BT. I've had a different ISP (plusnet) but I've moved house and I'm trying to connect to a BT hotspot, and am getting the same "self-assigned IP address" problem. It doesn't even have a password- it should connect and take me to a payment landing page - which my other devices do. But not my macbook. We're waiting for own BT broadband connection, but am I going yo have the same issue? I've tried-
Deleting all WiFi connections
Adding to DNS (on BT's advice)
And deleting keychains

Any thoughts?

 

[coghlan]

Reboot(s) required

My daughter's MBP just had this problem. Some of the keychain deletes end up crashing the keychain utility, but a reboot usually let me continue. Definitely something wrong in the software. It was always self-assigning a 169.*.*.* address, which looks like a public-facing address from the ISP.

I have it working, at least for now, after:

• Deleting the WiFi and ethernet
• Add ethernet, manually assign IP and DNS, reboot
• Delete ethernet, add WiFi
• Manually assign IP and DNS
• Reboot

I think the reboots are the key. You end up wasting a lot of time, running into things that won't work until you reboot, but then they work, especially when working around the keychain utility crashes.

 

[brand]

My daughter's MBP just had this problem. Some of the keychain deletes end up crashing the keychain utility, but a reboot usually let me continue. Definitely something wrong in the software. It was always self-assigning a 169.*.*.* address, which looks like a public-facing address from the ISP.

The only IP address that a computer would automatically self assign itself is a 169.254.x.x IP address which is an APIPA address.

All IP addresses are formatted in the same way that they all look the same whether they are public or private. The only difference between public and private IP addresses are that private IP addresses are not publicly routable. An APIPA IP address in not a routable IP address.