Member Avatar for amanda.goodwin

I have Windows Vista Premium and cable internet through Charter Communications. All of a sudden my ipv4 address reverted to a 169. I called their technical support and we walked thru several possible solutions such as release/renew, resetting the connection from their end, resetting my modem which is connected directly to the pc with no wireless router. It would not release, stating that there was a need for elevation. And it would not renew, stating something about timing out due to inability to communicate...dhcp...blah blah. I tried changing the cable line, splitter, got a new modem. EVERYTHING. So they said they wouldn't be able to have a tech come out until the 14th because of Gustav and Ike's impact on our region. This was slightly a problem as I begin college courses online on Monday, October 13th. They never gave me a time so I called back. I was then told that someone on Charter's end had cancelled the appt. without my knowledge or consent. It had to be rescheduled for Friday, the 17th!! To attempt to appease me, she gave me a$20 credit off my bill. But that means I'll be out for the ENTIRE FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES. I REALLY need to see if I can fix this myself as I can't miss the first week. Please help.
oh, fyi:
I reset the tcp/ip stacks. I turned off firewall when appropriate. I even tried restoring to an earlier point.

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For context, reported a Windows Vista machine showing a 169.254.x.x address while the cable modem appears online. A 169 address is APIPA: Windows auto-assigns it when it fails to obtain a DHCP lease. The short checklist below focuses on isolating whether the problem is the PC or the ISP, what to run on Vista with proper elevation, and what to tell Charter if the lease/provisioning needs to be reset.

As suggested, swap in a second computer and test the modem. Important: when moving devices, power-cycle the modem (remove power for 30–60 seconds) before connecting the new machine so the provider sees the new MAC and issues a fresh lease. Wait a couple of minutes for lights/negotiation. If the other PC gets a normal (non-169) address, the fault is local to the Vista machine; if it doesn’t, the ISP must clear the DHCP binding or re-provision the modem.

On Vista run an elevated command prompt and collect/report results. To open an elevated prompt: Start -> type cmd -> right-click cmd.exe -> Run as administrator. Run these commands in order, reboot after the netsh resets, then re-run the renew step:

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
(reboot)
ipconfig /renew

If the problem persists, check Device Manager for the NIC (update or reinstall the driver) or try a different NIC/USB-to-Ethernet adapter to rule out hardware. When calling Charter, provide the MAC shown on the modem and the output of ipconfig /all and ask support to clear any DHCP lease for that MAC and force a provisioning refresh. As a temporary workaround while waiting for a tech, consider tethering via a phone for the first week of classes.

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Member Avatar for OlyComputers

This sounds like it has to be on their end, do you have another computer (maybe a laptop) you can hook up to the modem and see if it works? If changing a computer doesn't fix it it's almost certainly not something that you'd be able to fix as most cable modems are locked up pretty tight as far as settings a user can change.

That said I would call back again, repeatedly if necessary, and demand they give you a sooner appointment. Tell them that this is an emergency and they canceled the appointment without contacting you. If they wont budge tell them that "you're sure you could get DSL installed before Firday".

Member Avatar for amanda.goodwin

Thanks so much. Only thing I might be able to do is have my sister in law bring her tower over....my laptop has not arrived as of yet.

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