Mac getting 169 IP for MacOS with RBR750

[vikkiban]

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. Tried to reboot orbi and satellites - noting seems to help. sometimes turning off wifi on mac or doing DHCP lease renew fixes it, but then it again connects to 169 (local) after few mins. Any help or pointers will be highly appreciated. No change in modem, router or mac. all have been working fine for months before this problem popped up

[CrimpOn]

IPs that begin with 169.254 are known as "Link Local" addresses which the device assigns to itself when the network does not give it an IP address through the DHCP process:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link-local_address 

This will put the computer into an IP subnet which is not compatible with the Orbi LAN, and thus it cannot communicate at all.

Almost certainly something has changed.  Perhaps the iMac got a software update which changed it from using the hardware MAC address to using a randomized MAC address and the Orbi no longer recognizes it?  Perhaps somehow the iMac has been declared "Blocked" or "Paused"?

[FURRYe38]

So you have the 9 series Orbi system? 

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended. 

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@vikkiban wrote:

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. Tried to reboot orbi and satellites - noting seems to help. sometimes turning off wifi on mac or doing DHCP lease renew fixes it, but then it again connects to 169 (local) after few mins. Any help or pointers will be highly appreciated. No change in modem, router or mac. all have been working fine for months before this problem popped up

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[vikkiban]

Thanks. Details below:

Its Orbi RBR750

1. Firmware:V4.6.9.11_2.3.5

2. Netgear model CM1100

3. Cat6 used between modem and router. 

The issue is only one one mac when connected to orbi network. All other devices get connected ok. On the effected mac, it works fine when connecting to a hotspot.  

[vikkiban]

Thanks for helping. Yes, something must have changed. I am trying to see if mac address randomization is happening. 

[FURRYe38]

That or IP address Limiting as well. 
I have a Mac Book Pro 2018 and have Both Monterey and Ventura loaded. Haven't seen any issues yet.

You might forget the SSID profile from the Mac and then re-connect and let the system re-configure things. 

[vikkiban]

So, mac address randomization is not happening. Checked that and the hardware mac address remains the same. Cross checked under orbilogin.net = under connected devices and it is showed the same hardware mac address for orbi.

2. switched off ip limiting address - no effect. Also tried forgetting network and deleting the concerned plist. but issue remains

Under connected devices (in orbilogin.net), the mac is allocated a valid 192 ip address. Also, it shows mac is connected to a satellite and shows 5GHz connection. Tried to remove the satellite, but thats not the issue. Any other thoughts?  Was checking some other threads, and one of them had a suggestion to change CTS setting - I don't know much about what that setting does. Worth trying? 

[CrimpOn]

If the Orbi thinks that Mac is connected, can you use a different device to ping that IP?

[vikkiban]

its timing out..  i tried to ping ip for other devices and those are ok. However, i have two other family member's laptops connected (and working fine). i pinged the ip for those laptops as shown in orbi connected devices, and they are also timing out. But those devices have connectivity.  Also, the ip for one of the connected laptop as shown in orbi connected devices is actually diff when i go to the wifi details for that laptop. 

[CrimpOn]

Windows has a firewall that has to be set to allow it to respond to ping (ICMP).

Does the Mac have a similar feature? Notice how my firewall is set to allow ICMP-in from the private (LAN) network, but not from the Windows Domain or public networks.

[vikkiban]

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. 

[vikkiban]

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?

[CrimpOn]

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@vikkiban wrote:

Should I try change CTS setting as mentioned in another post? Any other guidance?

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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.

[CrimpOn]

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/ 

[CrimpOn]

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.

[vikkiban]

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 🙂

[FURRYe38]

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