Table of Contents

This article tells you how to Enable or Disable DHCP in Windows, why you might want to, and how to turn it back on if things don’t go as planned. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP, is a common way to give IP addresses and other network settings to devices that are connected to a network.

In home and small business networks, IP addresses can be automatically given to devices like laptops, smartphones, and game consoles. Most home routers and network devices have DHCP turned on by default. But there are times when you have to turn off DHCP and give IP addresses to specific devices yourself.

This can help with more advanced network configurations, like giving a server a fixed IP address or setting up a DMZ (demilitarized zone) for security reasons.

How to Enable or Disable DHCP in Windows

Disable DHCP

Press the IP Assignment’s Edit button in the network properties window.
To disable DHCP, expand the drop-down and select Manual.
Now, toggle on IPv4 or IPv6.
Input the valid IP Address, Subnet Mask, Preferred DNS, and Alternate DNS. Then, hit Save.
Repeat the same process with DNS server assignment.

Enable DHCP

Use Windows + R to launch the Run utility. Here, execute the ncpa.cpl command to open the Network Connections window.
Right-click on your network connection (Wi-Fi or ethernet) and choose Properties.
In the Networking tab, double-click the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
Once a new dialogue box launches, choose the following options – Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically.
Press the Ok button to save the changes.
Repeat the same for Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), and once that’s done, press Ok.

What is DHCP?

DHCP is an important feature that lets you connect your system to public WiFi. In RFCs 2131 and 2132, it says that DHCP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard based on the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP). This is because DHCP and BOOTP have many of the same implementation details. DHCP is important because it makes it easy for hosts to get the TCP/IP configuration information they need from a DHCP Server.

Since this article is about Windows, we have to think about the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Operating System, which comes with the DHCP Server Service, which is an optional networking component. DHCP is built into the new versions of Windows, including Windows 7, 8, and 10. In the next section, we’ll go through the steps to turn on DHCP on our systems.

How Does DHCP Work?

A DHCP server picks up a request from a computer or other device that wants to connect to a network. Now, the server gives it a changing IP address and keeps an eye on how it is used.

Once the device is no longer being used, the DHCP server gets the IP address back and puts it in a pool of addresses. When it tries to connect to the network, this will be given to another device.

DHCP Discovery: Broadcast packet sent by a DHCP client to the DHCP server
DHCP Offer: An information message sent by the server to the client confirming that it has received the DHCP Discovery
DHCP Request: Request message sent by the client device to a DHCP server (from many servers, only one is accepted) to get the offered IP
DHCP Acknowledgement: IP settings sent by the DHCP server acknowledging the DHCP Request

FAQ

What happens if DHCP is off?

Your computer is set to obtain its IP address automatically. This sends a request over the network to a DHCP server to provide the IP and the gateway. Since you turned off DHCP on your router, your computer did not receive a response from a DHCP server. Your computer automatically assigned itself an APIPA address.

Which command will show your DHCP configuration in Windows?

The ipconfig command is used to display information about your network configuration and refresh DHCP and DNS Settings. By default, the ipconfig command displays your IP Address, Subnet Mask, and default gateway.

What happens when DHCP is enabled?

DHCP is a protocol between a client and a server. Servers manage a pool of unique IP addresses and information about how clients are set up. The servers then give out addresses from these pools of addresses. When clients that are set up to use DHCP connect to a network, they send a request to the DHCP server.

Was this article helpful?

Yes0No0