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Mac getting 169 IP for MacOS with RBR750
This problem starting happening last week with no apparent change. My mac is getting 169 ip instead of 192 when it connects to Orbi satellite. All other devices are working ok. Only happens with mac....
Thanks. I was able to ping the other two ip address now. So the ip address assigned in orbi connected devices to concerned mac is unreachable.
Went to Apple support bar today. They ran diagnostics - as expected 🙂 they are saying it is problem with your home network as its when connected to hotspot etc. I am running out of ideas.
Should I try change CTS setting as mentioned in another post? Any other guidance?
vikkiban wrote:
Should I try change CTS setting as mentioned in another post? Any other guidance?
CTS/RTS is a mechanism for dealing with potential collisions in a WiFi environment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11_RTS/CTS
It has nothing to do with whether a device connects to WiFi and gets issued an IP address using the DHCP protocol.
Does this Mac Book Pro have an Ethernet jack on it? There are ways to capture the actual communication between the router and the device if it is over Ethernet.
My goal is to observe the actual data packets between the Mac Book and the Orbi.
There is supposed to be a distinct sequence of packets as the device asks for a DHCP address:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol
With Ethernet, this is fairly easy to capture. WiFi is a lot harder because:
- WiFi is encrypted and thus very difficult to understand.
- With WiFi, the device has to connect to the WiFi network before using DHCP.
Perhaps this tool would enable you to capture the internet traffic and see whether the Mac Book is issuing the proper DHCP request and the router is answering it:
https://osxdaily.com/2015/04/23/sniff-packet-capture-packet-trace-mac-os-x-wireless-diagnostics/
p.s. Sniffing network traffic is not for the faint of heart, but sometimes reveals unexpected things.
For example, my Windows 10 laptop would be working fine over an Ethernet cable. I would close the lid (so the cat could not walk on the keys while I was off doing something else). When I opened the lid again, there would be no internet. Running the network troubleshooter would restore it. Rebooting the laptop would restore it. Physically unplugging the Ethernet cable and plugging in again would fix it. Waiting did nothing.
Capturing the actual packets showed clearly that when I opened the lid:
- the laptop would send a proper DHCP request.
- the router would answer, "Use this IP"
- the laptop would send a request again.
- the router would answer again.
- and this would go on (and on, and on, and on)
Several months later, a Windows software update fixed this issue. The laptop was behaving strangely because the software was flawed. Without seeing the actual DHCP packets, I had no idea. Now, I close the lid all the time and the laptop starts right up again when I open the lid.
Crimpon and Furrye8, thank you for your help and guidance. You guys are great. I downloaded the latest ventura update 13.0.1. The problem seems to have gone away since last night. Let's see how it works out. If it appears again, will try sniffing traffic. I always wanted to do that 🙂
Interesting. Thanks for letting us know. I would mention this to Apple as well. Seems to may have been something hung up in the network/DHCP services on the mac OS that somehow got cleared out by the new update.
I'm Beta 2 now for Ventura.
Be sure to save off a back up configuration to file for safe keeping. Saves time if a reset is needed.
https://kb.netgear.com/000062080/How-do-I-back-up-the-configuration-settings-on-my-Orbi-WiFi-System
