PC Changing IP?

[Jerakl]

so today I lost connection to my home network for a few minutes. When I reconnected it told me that "another computer has the same IP address on this network". So I go to whatsmyip.com or whatever, and whadya know? My IP is different then what it was 2 days ago. I really have no idea what is causing this. I've already had one issue where I couldn't register for something because "Your IP is the IP of a known spammer".

 

IDK if this belongs in networking or not. Thanks!

[Createinator]

Call your ISP

[AustinKZombie]

That issue is caused by your router giving out a local ip twice without it realizing that one pc already has it so the second device becomes useless

 less try restarting your router. also your isp has the right to change your ip at any given time unless other wise stated

 

 

[dalekphalm]

so today I lost connection to my home network for a few minutes. When I reconnected it told me that "another computer has the same IP address on this network". So I go to whatsmyip.com or whatever, and whadya know? My IP is different then what it was 2 days ago. I really have no idea what is causing this. I've already had one issue where I couldn't register for something because "Your IP is the IP of a known spammer".

 

IDK if this belongs in networking or not. Thanks!

You're looking at two different things actually.

 

First, the IP address that "whatsmyip.com" shows, is your External IP Address. This is also known as your Public or WAN (Wide Area Network) IP Address. This is the address that your Modem acquires from your ISP. In the "olden days" of Dial Up and directly connected PPPoE modems, your PC might actually have a WAN IP Address, but this was before LAN's and Routers were common. Now it's almost impossible to find these types of modems.

 

Second, when your PC says "another computer has the same IP address on this network", this is referring to your LAN (Local Area Network). Basically, some other device on your internal LAN is using your IP Address. Unless you've specifically setup any Static IP Addresses in your LAN, then all your devices should be using DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol), which assigns IP Addresses ad-hoc, as needed. Your IP Address can change daily in this case.

 

The best thing to do is open up Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and type:

ipconfig /renew

 

This will force your computer to ask your Router/Modem for a new LAN IP Address.

 

See this guide if you're having trouble:

http://helpdeskgeek.com/networking/release-and-renew-an-ip-address/

 

If renewing your IP doesn't work, then try:

ipconfig /release

 

The guide shows both.