It appears that Comodo automatically adds a second local area network to “my network zones”. I have a Loopback Zone, and a Local Area Network #1 and a Local Area Network #2. The first LAN #1 is 192.168.1.100. The second is 169.254.199.227. I have no idea what the second IP address mask is for.
I can delete the LAN #2 but it just comes back. Any clues? Any danger?
Thanks.
Try this:
Cheers,
Josh
Your LAN#1 address of 192.168.1.100, is a dynamically assigned address. Normal LAN connection stuff.
Your LAN#2 address of 169.154.199.227 is a self-assigned address, when your machine could not get a dynamically assigned address. Either your router was turned off, or CFP was blocking everything, or you had a connection problem (wireless didn’t connect, cable loose, something like that).
Since you mention that LAN#2 keeps showing up after you delete it, I’ll presume some kind of connection problem. Does your LAN setup look something like this:
Internet -------- NAT/router ----------- This PC
Is it a wireless, or wired, connection?
I am behind a router and it is wired (DSL).
I have had trouble with the network not being able to renew its DHCP address but it hasn’t affected connectivity.
This message “Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0007E93BAE1A. The following error occurred:
The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server” shows up in the system event log.
If this is self-assigned is there any significance to the IP address the system picked? I can find nothing on the internet about it and Comodo does not ask me about it.
The self-assigned IP address is something that came into existence back around Windows95. There is a description, kind of, of what happens with WinXP at How to use automatic TCP/IP addressing without a DHCP server | Microsoft Learn
DHCP is the means by which your computer gets its IP address. Since you’re behind a router, and the address you’re expecting to get is 192.168.1.100, that means your router is providing a private LAN address to your PC. That’s the typical router setup. That you are not getting such an address, means the connection between your PC and your router is having a problem of some kind.
Your ISP is providing an Internet address, but that is being taken by your router. So long as you’re able to maintain a connection to your router, you’ll still have your Internet connection.
To find out where the problem is, we need to check a few things in your router setup. But, to do that, first I need to know what kind of router you have, make and model?
I have a BEFSX41 ver 2.1. My firmware version is 1.52.15. I have attached three JPG files showing you my basic setup. I don’t do any online gaming. I aslso attached an IPCONFIG JPG showing you my addresses.
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I read the MS article (should have read it first) and have attached another JPG after running ipconfig /all. The article says I should be able to see an Autoconfiguration IP Address if I am using one.
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Thank you. At the moment you made all those screenshots, everything was apparently working normally.
Looking into the router user guide downloaded from Linksys, it seems the router has a logging facility (login to the router, Administration → Log). If logging is disabled, it needs to be enabled, and set for “All” so that all available logging options are turned on.
In checking the Linksys support site for the user guide, their search options also gave pointers to their support forum, which turns out to be much like the Comodo forums here. For the Linksys wired routers, the link is http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board?board.id=Wired_Routers
Just taking a real fast browse over that forum and its recent topics, I’m getting the sense there is some underlying hardware or firmware problem with the BEFSX41 causing dropped connections. You may want to inquire in the Linksys forum, if we can’t turn up anything here with regards to your LAN setup.
Your router has a 4 port hub built into it. We need to check some basic physical wiring, by having your PC be plugged into a different port. That’s a fairly simple test of hardware. I’m a LAN admin on the dayjob. I’ve had hubs and ports, and even plain wire, fail. A real pain to run down, as it’s a process of elimination.
Are there other PC’s on your LAN? If so, do they show the same kind of DHCP addressing problem?
Just as a full check, is there anything in your CFP firewall log? (Open CFP, Firewall → Common Tasks, Firewall Events)
You are getting an APIPA address, if you want to prevent this from happening you must assign an IP to the loopback interface manually.
I’ve switched wires and ports and bypassed the router, played with the services, turned off and on the firewall, hooked up a second computer all in an effort to figure this out. In general, I am assigned an APIPA address every time I go through a boot – on either computer no matter what my hardware / software configuration is. The router software adds a twist to it by not letting Network Connections work properly and connect. I have the latest LinkSys firmware. Regardless, I can get a good internet connection. I am forced to conclude this is a normal operation and no threat exists. There may be an issue between LinkSys and XP but not fatal and not worth pursuing.
Thanks for your time and I learned something else.
That things are working, is good news.
But why things are working, is something that has me seriously confused.
In general, I am assigned an APIPA address every time I go through a boot -- on either computer no matter what my hardware / software configuration is.
That pretty much confirms that there is some kind of router problem, with an identical effect on multiple machines.
Regardless, I can get a good internet connection.
But that you get a connection with an APIPA address, isn’t supposed to happen, if the router is doing it’s address translation/routing properly. This may be a secondary symptom of some kind of corruption in the router “route table”. This is the thing that confuses me. There should be only a limited range of LAN addresses that can be translated in NAT, unless there is some kind of “universal NAT” taking place. I’ve never seen an end-user router do something like that.
But, as you say, it’s not fatal. Things work. Yet not working as expected would imply there may be an unknown risk of something else not working as expected.
At the very least, I’d keep an eye on the CFP logs, for all machines you have, to watch for unexpected traffic. Hardware NAT/routers function as a firewall, but with an anomaly in the routing function, it could be that hardware firewall has an open gate somewhere. Caution is advised. But it does work, so good to go, it seems.
I’ll hold this topic open for the next couple of days, and then I’ll lock it for reference. If it needs to be re-opened, just PM any of the moderators.
I finally got XP to stop assigning an APIPA address. The issue had to do with me disabling too many services. Specifically, I disabled Workstation. I have a standalone machine and didn’t think I needed it. Black Viper (blackviper.com) was right - this service is necessary for other things to function. Thanks for your time. I mark this issue as resolved.
Interesting. I had not run across anything like that before, so that’s not something I would have thought of. I’m happy that you found the solution. And thank you for the information. That will likely prove useful for others who have similar questions.