1.

Misconfiguration
Misconfiguration is the cause of as many as 80% of unplanned outages. Reduce the change of making mistakes
by using automation to deploy changes rather than relying on setting parameters manually. Test all
configurations in a lab environment before making changes on your production devices.

2. Security breaches
Security failures and allowing unauthorized traffic can bring down a network due to excess load. Make sure
you have appropriate security controls in place to keep intruders from overloading your network.

3. Old equipment
Every obsolete, unsupported device is a potential threat to your network’s functioning. Be proactive in
planning upgrades and replacing out-of-date equipment.

4. Human error
Perhaps the leading cause of outages are unintentional mistakes. Along with configuration errors, people make
mistakes that can be as simple as pulling the wrong plug or not knowing the proper procedure. Avoid these
errors through proper staff training and proper documentation, including labels on all devices.

5. Incompatible changes
These aren’t misconfigurations or configuration changes made in error; these problems arise when a change
you intend doesn’t work properly alongside your other equipment. Avoid these problems through testing
changes and new devices in a lab setting before placing them in production. You’ll also reduce these issues if
you have good records of your current devices and settings to help you identify incompatibilities in advance.

6. Hardware failures
Any device can fail; make sure you perform maintenance and apply patches as needed to keep devices up to
date and reduce the risk. You can also reduce the impact of any device failure by building in redundancy to
prevent a single point of failure from disrupting the whole network.
7. Power failures
Have backup power supplies to prevent a power outage from shutting you down. Connect redundant devices to
different power circuits to ensure a single circuit outage doesn’t shut down a service entirely.

You can avoid many of these errors by keeping good records and reducing the amount of manual work your
team performs with automation. Monitoring and performing preventative maintenance go a long way to
minimizing the risk of equipment failures that bring down your network.

Prescient Solutions network services include designing, implementing, and monitoring your network to

provide maximum reliability. Our team of experts is certified in leading network and security technology and
has been helping Chicago-area businesses meet their technology goals for more than 15 years. Keeping your IT
operations running is as important to us as it is to you. Contact us to learn how our IT knowledge can solve
your network challenges

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What's an IP Conflict and How Do
You Resolve It?
BYBEN STEGNER

UPDATED APR 08, 2022

What is an IP address conflict? Learn how to fix the

problem if two devices have the same IP address on
your network.
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If you've ever seen a "Windows has detected an IP

address conflict" or "another computer on this
network has the same IP address" message, you
might wonder what this warning means. While IP
conflict issues aren't usually difficult to fix, they are
confusing, especially for those new to networking.
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY

Let's look at what an IP address conflict is, whether

two devices can have the same IP address, and
how to resolve this error when it pops up.

What Is an IP Address Conflict?

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An IP address conflict occurs when two or more
devices on the same network are assigned the
same IP address. To explain why this is a problem,
we must take a step back and look at what IP
addresses are for.

Like a physical home address for receiving mail, IP

addresses act as a way to identify your computer
on a network. Your router uses those IP addresses
to direct network traffic to the right devices. Check
out our explanation of how routers work for more
details on this.

Because of this setup, no two devices on one

network can have the same IP address. If this
happens, the network becomes confused by the
duplicate IP addresses and can't use them
correctly. Think about mail delivery trying to find
the right mailbox if two houses on the same street
had the same number; it's the same way for your
home network.

Keep in mind that we're only talking about private

IP addresses here, which refers to addresses used
on your own network. Public IPs are how the rest of
the internet sees any device on your network, but
they aren't relevant to this discussion about
duplicate IP conflicts.

Since two computers cannot have the same IP

address, how does the duplicate IP error occur?

How Does an IP Address Conflict Happen?

Under most circumstances, in modern home
networks, IP conflicts are rare. This is because of
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), a
system that routers use to hand out IP addresses.

With DHCP, when you connect a new device to your

network, your router chooses an available IP
address from the pool of options. The device uses
this IP for some time until the lease expires, at
which point it has to get a new IP from the router.

Unless your router malfunctions, two devices

should never get the same IP address under this
system. Your router knows which IP addresses are
already in use and won't give them out twice.
More commonly, an IP conflict can occur when
you assign static IP addresses on your network.
Instead of DHCP automatically choosing an
address for all devices, a static IP lets you specify a
certain IP address that a network device will always
use.

If you mistakenly assign the same static address to

two devices, you'll run into a duplicate IP error. This
problem can also arise if you set a device to use a
static IP without reserving that address in your
router. Eventually, your router will try to hand out
that address to another device, creating an IP
conflict.
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Another IP conflict scenario can occur if you have

two DHCP servers on your network (which you
should avoid). For example, you might have your
own wireless router connected to your ISP's
modem and router combo. If both devices are
trying to act as a router, they might hand out
duplicate IP addresses.
Finally, you can potentially introduce duplicate IPs
onto your network when a machine comes back
online after being in standby mode.

For instance, say you leave your laptop in a

hibernated state for two weeks. During that time,
your router may revoke the laptop's IP address and
assign it to another device, like your phone. When
you turn the laptop back on, your computer might
think it still owns that IP address, which results in
an IP conflict with your phone.

This could also occur if you put your computer in

standby mode on another network that uses the
same IP pool as yours, then bring it home and
reconnect to your network. If that IP is already in
use on your network, you'll see an IP conflict error.

How to Fix IP Address Conflicts

Like all home network troubleshooting, the first
step you should take to fix duplicate IP problems is
restarting the affected computer and your
networking equipment.
The IP address error could have been a small
glitch, which a reboot will resolve. Restarting your
router and modem (if they're separate devices) will
re-assign all IP addresses via DHCP.

If restarting everything doesn't work, the problem is

a little deeper. You should next check to see if your
computer is using a static IP address.
Troubleshooting Duplicate IP Addresses on Windows

To check your IP settings on Windows 10,

open Settings and go to Network & Internet >
Status. Click Change adapter options on this menu,
then double-click the name of your network
connection in the resulting window. This process
will take you through a few different dialog boxes.
Error! Filename not specified.

In the Status window, click Properties, followed by

double-clicking Internet Protocol Version 4. This
menu should have Obtain an IP address
automatically selected. If there's a manual IP
address listed, select the automatic option instead
and hit OK.
Repeat these steps for Internet Protocol Version
6 (if applicable) and see if the conflict goes away.
Error! Filename not specified.

On Windows 11, you'll find these options

under Settings > Network & internet.
Select Ethernet or Wi-Fi depending on what kind of
connection you're using, then click your network
name to show more options. Click Edit next to IP
assignment if it's not already set to Automatic
(DHCP), then change it back to this.

No matter your version of Windows, you should

also try releasing your computer's current IP
address and obtaining a new one. Restarting does
this too, but it's still worth a try at this time. To do
so, right-click on the Start button (or hit Win + X)
and select Command Prompt, Windows
PowerShell, or Windows Terminal.

In the terminal window, type the following

command to give up your current IP, followed
by Enter:
ipconfig /release
After this, use the following command to obtain a
new IP address from the router:
ipconfig /renew

This process should resolve any IP collisions by

removing the duplicated IP address from one of the
affected devices.
Troubleshooting IP Conflicts on a Mac

On a Mac, you'll find IP address options under

the Apple menu > System Preferences > Network.
Select the connection type you're using from the
left side, then click Advanced.

On the resulting page, select the TCP/IP tab. If

the Configure IPv4 box is set to Manually, change
it to Using DHCP. Check that Configure IPv6 is also
set to Automatically (if it's not disabled), then
hit OK.
Error! Filename not specified.

To refresh your current IP on a Mac, click

the Renew DHCP Lease button that appears at the
right of this page.
Check Your Router for IP Address Conflicts

If the above steps didn't fix the duplicate IP issue

on your network, you should next log into your
router's administration panel and take a look at the
connected devices. How you do this will depend on
your router model, so we can't give exact
instructions for each case. Have a look at
our router management intro guide for help
understanding the interface.

Typically, you'll find a list of connected devices

under a section titled Attached Devices, Connected
Devices, My Network, or similar. Have a look at
each device and keep an eye out for duplicate IP
addresses.
Error! Filename not specified.

To help narrow this down, you can check the IP

address of your computer by typing ipconfig into a
Windows Command Prompt/PowerShell/Windows
Terminal window or ifconfig into the Mac terminal.
Then you'll know the IP address that's being
duplicated, making it easy to look for in the list.
If you find two devices with the same address,
remove any static IP address settings, or refresh
their IPs in your router to resolve the conflict.

In general, you shouldn't need to worry about static

IPs in simple home settings, so it's best to let your
router handle all this. If you do need to reserve an
IP address for some reason, make sure it's set in
your router so it doesn't hand out a duplicate.
Show Which MAC Address Is Mapped to an IP Address

In case you're having a hard time tracking down

one of the devices with a duplicate IP, you can
check which MAC address is mapped to any
certain IP address on your network. While the
simplest way to do this is using a free tool
like Advanced IP Scanner, you can use the ARP
(Address Resolution Protocol) command to do it
manually.

Open a Command Prompt, then perform the

following:
 1.Type ping [IP address] to establish a
connection with the device you're trying to
track down.
2.Once it completes, type arp -a to show the IP
and MAC address info of all devices your PC
has a connection with.
3.You should see the IP you just entered, along
with its MAC address next to it.
Error! Filename not specified.

Update Your Router Firmware

A faulty router can cause IP conflicts to occur more

frequently and without warning. If you continue to
have IP address errors even after performing the
above troubleshooting, you should update your
router's firmware.

The exact steps to this also depend on the router

you have. Usually, you'll find a Firmware
Update option when you log into your router's
admin panel. This may be under
an Advanced or Tools menu.
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While some routers let you update the firmware
automatically through the management panel,
others require you to download a file from the
manufacturer and upload it to your router. Check
your router manufacturer's website for more help if
needed.

Resolve IP Address Conflicts Peacefully

Now you know what an IP address conflict is, how
two devices could get the same IP address, and
how to fix duplicate IP conflicts. Most of the time, a
conflict won't occur on your home network unless
you've messed around with static IP options. And if
a duplicate IP problem does arise, you can usually
resolve it by setting all devices to use DHCP and
renewing their IP leases.

To go deeper into home networking, you should

also understand MAC addresses and how they
work with IP addresses.

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Understanding IP and MAC Addresses: What Are They Good For?

READ NEXT
RELATED TOPICS

 TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED

 IP ADDRESS

 COMPUTER NETWORKS

 LAN

 NETWORK ISSUES

 HOME NETWORK

 ROUTER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ben Stegner(1816 Articles Published)

Ben is the Editor in Chief at MakeUseOf. He left his IT job to write

full-time in 2016 and has never looked back. He's been covering
tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a
professional writer for over eight years.
More From Ben Stegner
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