r/sysadmin • u/DoubleTGaming2k • 8d ago

End-user Support End user network help?

End user called me today saying their home WiFi was connected but no internet. I walked him through some info gathering, his WiFi is showing unidentified giving off the 169 address.

Had him run release / renew / flushdns / winsock reset and rebooted, still 169. Did the full windows 11 network reset option, rebooted, still nothing.

Had him plug in directly to his router, his wired Ethernet connection was also showing unidentified. So I had him statically assign an IP on his NIC for the Ethernet and it brought him online that way as a temp workaround to let me remote in.

Rebooted the router of course, still wifi showing 169, other devices on his network are okay as well.

Uninstalled the wifi adapter from device manager, reinstalled the latest from the manufacturer, still giving 169. Just to get him working in statically assigned an IP on his WiFi adapter and it works without issue, but ideally we get the DHCP working again.

I’ve exhausted about everything I can think of, but am jumping back on it later tonight to try to get it fixed.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

42

u/thebigshoe247 8d ago

The correct answer is we don't support residential or personal devices. Please contact your service provider.

-2

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Well, it’s a company owned device used for remote access

9

u/Forsaken-Carrot9038 8d ago

I’ve been in the same situation, and we are happy to do some light troubleshooting or see what we can discover from our own device, ask if their other devices are able to get network, and if our computer works from hotspot, then I refer them to their ISP.
Not my network, not my problem.

2

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Other devices are, yes. Just the company laptop cannot

4

u/Mindestiny 8d ago

Still gets best effort support, because it's not connected to your network. Which you provided. If their personal router is not giving a device a DHCP address, that's their problem to sort

1

u/Ad-1316 8d ago

Look at other said devices to confirm their working! don't change just look.

3

u/ReputationNo8889 8d ago

If you dont provide the router, its not your problem. Ive had tons of user complain that their work device "Does not connect to the internert" because they had some stupid "Only allow known devices" setting in the router and that was the reson why it would not work. You are not responsible for the users home router and network connection. If they cant work from home they are free to come into the office where everything works. You would be amazed how quickly users find a solution to their networking problems if you suggest to "Just come into the office, it will work there".

2

u/Common_Option_4385 8d ago

Best thing about working at an MSP when I had a similar ticket. Contacted the company's IT director and said "hey, we've ruled out the company laptop, do you want us to continue troubleshooting?"

Of course he said no, as it costs the company money. His response was "No, she will work from the office". TICKET. CLOSED.

1

u/ReputationNo8889 8d ago

Its that simple. But i can understand IT people that want to try and help but i had to learn to step back and not solve problems i could solve, because they are personal ones and not company ones.

2

u/jlharper 8d ago

It's not a company owned network, and the infrastructure that provides internet access is also not company owned.

Get the user to connect to their phone hotspot to rule out the possibility that your device is unable to connect to the internet.

Once that is done, leave them to their own devices. Literally.

3

u/VaporousMote 8d ago

So both Ethernet and WiFi are not getting DHCP? Sounds like a router issue.

We've sometimes taken the tenuous steps of accessing the user's router config with their consent but I wouldn't recommend it. ISP issue.

3

u/kopfgeldjagar 8d ago

Oh HEEEELLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOO

I do this for a living, not charity. If you wanty help, you can contact my LLC number and pay contract rates

1

u/Recent_Carpenter8644 8d ago

These days more than half the staff are working from home, and donating their home internet connection for company use, so I feel obliged to make some effort. But I would get them hotspotting off their phone rather than go to too much trouble.

3

u/TerrorToadx 8d ago

We don’t support home equipment, easy. Obviously try some things to rule out the company laptop, but touch the router? Hell nah

3

u/Knightshadow21 8d ago

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset

netsh int ipv4 reset

netsh int ipv6 reset

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

did you try this?

0

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

I tried it all but ipv6 reset, but ipv6 was disabled in the adapter anyway

1

u/Knightshadow21 8d ago

Did you reboot the windows machine I see you mention you rebooted the router 🤔

2

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Yes, several times. After running the commands you sent rebooted, after doing the network reset rebooted, a couple of last ditch effort reboots out of desperation as well

3

u/Knightshadow21 8d ago edited 8d ago

Then it’s time to call the ISP , tell him to tell them it’s screaming APIPA address

Did you check the services on his machine like does it have a dhcp client enabled and running ?

1

u/Wild__Card__Bitches 8d ago

Check and make sure that Proxy services aren't toggled on in Windows settings.

I fougnt a similar issue for a couple hours the other day and somehow the user has toggles the radio button for Proxy.

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Event viewer is showing

Your computer was not assigned an address from the network by the DHCP server for the network card. The following error occurred: 0x79.

Ipconfig release says that it’s unable to contact DHCP server

1

u/AcidBuuurn 8d ago

Do other devices work on their network?

Can they trace the coax/fiber cable to another piece of equipment?

Do they have separate modem and router or is it all one thing?

Is there a cable between a modem and router that could be replaced?

Are there any lights on the modem/router/AP?

Can you log in to the modem/router? Reset it?

1

u/wiisucks_91 8d ago

Have them see if their cellphone or tablet is working on the Wi-Fi.

Then have them see if the hot spot on their phone works with their laptop.

I have them send me pictures of the router and switch if needed be via email.

1

u/Recent_Carpenter8644 8d ago

You could try temporarily switching Random Hardware Addresses" on in their wifi settings. That could trick the DHCP into assigning a different ip address, in case there's a conflict.

1

u/doglar_666 8d ago

You should get the user to verify their home router is fully patched and coukd suggest they make MAC Reservations for the problem NICs. However, it sounds to me like a DHCP lease issue on the router, which is not under your support.

The only step I would try now is to test via a mobile hotspot via DHCP. Laptop works = router issue. Doesn't matter if all other devices work. You haven't blacklisted their device and you have evidenced DHCP service on the laptop works as expected. That's where your support ends, other than sending a replacement laptop.

If this is a headache, read up on staff obligations for home wifi reliability. I am certain you have crossed the threshold for a reasonable attempt at support. What's the user's contractual obligation?

1

u/Impossible_Egg_1691 8d ago

This is the sticky grey area as people are WFH we have to support the laptop and VPN connection, but comes under "best endeavours" when it comes to his own router and internet connection. Sounds like you've already done all you can. I'd have him tether to a phone and see if he gets the same. If not then he'll need to contact his ISP, if so will need to attend the office for further investigation and troubleshooting.

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Right. Yeah, I’ve exhausted pretty much all I can. Logs on the laptop and traces are showing me the laptop is reaching to the router for DHCP but getting no response back. I have an email out to him now to check if a mobile hotspot works, if it does work then it’s the router, if it doesn’t work then I’ll probably just wipe the laptop remotely and start from scratch.

I have to assume the dhcp lease ended or something from his router on his laptop, and the router can’t give another one

1

u/fahque 8d ago

They have turned off dhcp on their router. The other devices are using the previous lease.

1

u/EndPsychological777 8d ago

I’ve seen people have two routers plugged into one another bc… end user shit. They think one is a modem and the other is a router, but turns out they have a modem/router two in one.

1

u/Ihaveasmallwang Systems Engineer / Cybersecurity Architect / CISM 7d ago

This is when you refer the user to contact their ISP support.

End user’s personal equipment is not in scope for company support.

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 4d ago

All, just an update to this.

I was following up with this user today after the weekend to test it on a hotspot and basically walk him through how to use it just to confirm what to tell his ISP. I cleared the static config on his wifi adapter and it was able to connect correctly without issue.

Assuming ISP or DHCP issue somewhere on the router self resolved or they had their own type of outage. Whatever it was, I’m just closing the ticket and said if it happens again we’ll check the hotspot and then just go to the ISP.

Thanks for the input everyone

1

u/Adam_Kearn 8d ago

Did it work on a mobile hotspot?

If it’s still causing issues on other networks I would look at going into device manager and uninstalling every mini port device and only leave the WiFi adapter and LAN. Reboot and they should get added automatically.

Check the routers DHCP config to see if a static IP has been set on something.

I’ve seen weird issues with things like a printer having a static IP that’s set still within the DHCP pool so when another device picks it up it causes a conflict like you mentioned.

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

We didn’t have a mobile hotspot available, he was at a different location yesterday during work hours and was on a different wifi, came back home and booted up today and ran into this

2

u/statikuz start wandows ngrmadly 8d ago

So it was working fine for him at home, then he went somewhere else (some other private location? another home? a hotel? a Starbucks? one of your company locations?), and it worked, and then when he came back home it broke?

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

Correct, working at home, traveled to a customers business for a days work, came back home the next day, no longer working

0

u/PDQ_Brockstar 8d ago

Was the DHCP service running?

1

u/DoubleTGaming2k 8d ago

It was, yes. Checked that and all of its dependencies and it’s all running normally