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My Linksys Dual-N Band Wireless router is not assigning IP addresses to my wireless devices.

I accidentally reset the darn thing and now I forget what my settings were for the type of security mode and encryption.

It says it can connect to the SSID with WPA2-Personal and WPA-TKIP or WPA2-AES encryption, but it doesn't get an ip address.

Any ideas?

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Dani AI

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Good catch by — SSID present but clients not getting a lease is a fairly common symptom that can come from a few different places. was right to point people at the router’s web UI, and ’s reminder to confirm SSID visibility is a great first elimination step. Below is a compact, practical checklist and a few explanations so others with the same symptom can find the fix faster.

  • Start wired: connect a PC to a LAN port and log into the router’s admin page (check the device label for its address). Confirm the DHCP server is enabled and the lease range has enough free addresses.
  • Verify client-side: on the problem device make sure the Wi‑Fi adapter is set to obtain IP automatically; then release/renew the lease (commands below).
  • Wireless-mode/security interactions: some radio/security combinations (eg. TKIP vs AES, single-band vs mixed modes) can force legacy fallbacks or trigger firmware bugs. If changing the radio mode fixed it here, try “Auto”/“Mixed (b/g/n)” plus WPA2‑AES (CCMP) and retest.
  • Access controls: temporarily disable MAC filtering, guest/AP isolation, or a separate guest SSID — these can prevent normal network access.
  • If wired clients get addresses but wireless don’t, focus on the wireless mode, encryption, and firmware; if nothing helps, update the router firmware and reapply settings.

Quick client commands to check/renew leases:

Windows:
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Linux:
ip addr show
sudo dhclient -r
sudo dhclient

(On macOS: open System Settings → Network → Advanced → TCP/IP and click “Renew DHCP Lease”.)

Final notes: after you recover service, change the admin password and save a backup of the router config so a future reset is quicker to recover. If the problem recurs with a particular radio setting, keep that noted — it can indicate a model-specific firmware issue to report to the vendor.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Since you reset the device, you will need to go into the setup page (using the default admin account "admin" - no password I think, or "admin" if needed) and reconfigure the router again. For most Linksys routers that would be 192.168.1.1

Member Avatar for JorgeM

Are your clients at least picking up the SSID being broadcasted?

Member Avatar for Dani

Yes, they were. They just weren't being assigned an IP address.

After working on it for like a friggin' hour, I finally figured it out. Had to set the Radio Band from Standard to Auto.

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