Networking & DHCP

[Tim]

I'm having a few problems with DHCP on my network to the extent that none of my devices will acquire an IP address via DHCP however I can set static IPs manually and they work just fine.

My setup is as follows:

Netgear Router (RP114) connected to a Netgear gigabit switch (GS608) which in turn is connected to another GS608 switch downstairs. Two Netgear WG602 access points are connected off this second switch - one upstairs and one downstairs (in repeater mode) to give maximum coverage throughout the house.

Now, if I plug a device directly into the router, it grabs an IP address with no problems whatsoever. If a device is plugged into one of the switches or connected via WiFi, it won't get a DHCP address. (This is how I will normally connect - the only devices that are actually plugged into the router directly are the cable modem and the first gigabit switch).

I would be grateful for any advice. :)

[Weeble]

I assume you've gone through the settings of every device and made sure that they're either providing a DHCP server service, or they're acquiring instructions from the main DHCP server and assigning IPs accordingly?

[Tim]

The switches don't have any web interface (and no IP address either) - they're just there to give me more ports. The WiFi APs only seem to have a function to be DHCP clients and acquire dynamic IPs via DHCP (which I don't want, as they need to have static IPs).

[Markb]

Very very odd, can't think of anything definite what it might be. Only thing I can think of is check the firewalls on each computer / device for any odd settings, but I don't see how that should affect only when plugged into the switches / access points.

[Azzer]

You set the DHCP server in your network device to the internal network IP of the router (the device acting as a DHCP server), so it knows to retrieve the IP from that not the first direct link to your network (a non-DHCP-serving switch)?

Got to ask the more obvious questions first really, so apologies if that's a ridiculously obvious question to ask!

[Markb]

Azzer, you don't need to do that? devices broadcast DHCP requests over the network, you don't need to specify a DHCP server ip.

[Azzer]

Mmm normally I'd agree but I've had problems (not the same as Tim, but DHCP related) with this in the past, on both an old Win 2K system and recently on Vista (pre-updates which seem to have fixed it though)... setting the DHCSP server manually fixed it for me.

[Hobbezak]

Where exactly do you enter the DHCP-server ipadress? :/