How to enable DHCP in Windows 10

1. Introduction
2. Steps to enable DHCP in Windows 10
3. Read also

Introduction

The majority of corporate and origin networks are configured for DHCP, which automatically assigns an IP address to your computer.

DHCP is the acronym for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP is nothing more than a network management protocol used on TCP / IP networks. A DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network configuration settings to each device on a network to communicate with other IP networks.

A DHCP server allows computers to automatically request IP addresses and network settings from the Internet Service Provider (ISP), reducing the need for a network administrator or user to manually assign IP addresses to all network devices. The computer or other device on the network must have an IP address.

Your computer must have an IP address or Internet Protocol to connect to the Internet. There are two types of IP addresses, static IP and dynamic IP. In case of static IP, the IP address of your computer is always fixed and does not change during the different internet seasons. But if your ISP supports dynamic IP address assignment with DHCP, you can take advantage of dynamic IP addressing on your Windows 10 PC. In this case, using Dynamic Host Control Protocol, your Windows machine 10 will automatically obtain a dynamic IP address from the DHCP server.

The DHCP server keeps the record of available IP addresses and assigns an IP address of the available IP address pool to the devices from which it receives the DHCP request. There is a time (by default, it is 24 hours) of each IP assignment. After this time, the device (computer) must send another request to the DHCP server to renew the session. The DHCP server then assigns another IP address to the device. So, if DHCP is enabled, your computer will receive different IP addresses in different Internet seasons.

If DHCP is not enabled in your Windows 10, follow the steps below. The following article will help you enable DHCP in case it is not enabled. This approach is applicable on Windows 8 as well.

Note: When you disable DHCP and use a static IP address, make sure you know and enter all the correct settings. If you enter incorrect settings, your Internet or network connection will no longer work.

Steps to enable DHCP in Windows 10

1. First, access Control Panel then click on Network and Internet then on Network and sharing centre

2. Now select the network to which you are currently connected. Click on the "Connections" menu and select your own Wi-Fi / Ethernet connections.

3. Now, a connection status window will appear. Click Properties.

4. In the Connection Properties window, check the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) option and select Properties.

5. Select the “obtain an IP address automatically” option and the “obtain DNS server address automatically” option then click OK.

All is done. DHCP is successfully activated in Windows 10. If the manufacturer of services takes DHCP in charge, you can then take advantage of a dynamic IP address.

If you would like to disable DHCP and define manually your network settings:

1. Select “Use the following IP address” option

2. Enter then the appropriate values for the IP address, the subnet mask and the default gateway. You need then to select the “use the following DND server addresses”. You can also enter a value for the alternative DNS server if you want to.

How can I tell if I'm using DHCP?

A simple way to determine whether you are using DHCP or not is to use the ipconfig / all command from the command prompt. When entering this command, for "Ethernet LAN Connection", one of the lines will indicate whether DHCP is enabled as shown below.

DHCP enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Read also

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