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Torodo's avatar
Torodo
Aspirant
Feb 26, 2024

Nighthawk M6 will allocate IP address on Guest network but not on regualr 5GHz Wifi network

I had a Nighthawk M2 that died and so purchased a Nighthawk M6 to replace it.

Upgraded it to the latest software and firmware versions.

Configured to be 5GHz only WPA2 security

iPad and iPhones x2 connected to it without a drama.

Windows 10 PC would connect to it by Wifi but not allocated an IP address (shows as 0.0.0.0 on the Nighthawk)

Tried resetting both ends, turned IP v4 and IP v6 on and off but nothing worked.

PC previously connected to the Nighthawk M2 via Wifi without any issues.

 

Finally turned on the Guest (5GHz) Wifi and the Windows 10 could connect and was allocated an IP address - yay!

Connected back to the regular Wifi - but the router would still not allocate the PC an IP address

 

Why will the router allocate the PC an IP address on the guest network but not the regular network???

2 Replies


  • Torodo wrote:

    Connected back to the regular Wifi - but the router would still not allocate the PC an IP address

     

    Why will the router allocate the PC an IP address on the guest network but not the regular network???


    I haven't seen these exact symptoms before, but a regular issue in Windows is the public/private setting.

     

    Windows likes to protect us from new networks that might be evil. In  reality, it often shuts us out of safe networks.

     

    One thought is that you could tell Windows that you are on a "private network".

     

    • Network and Internet settings
    • Network Status
    • Change Connection Properties
    • Network Profile
    • Private

    No harm in checking this.

     

    • Torodo's avatar
      Torodo
      Aspirant

      Thanks for the suggestion but no it made no difference whether Windows 10 classified it as a Private or Public network - the Nighthawk M6 will not allocate it an IP address unless the PC connects to the Guest Wifi.