Wifi has self assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the interner

[Ckkb808]

I've recently purchased a netgear n300 router and have been unsuccessful in setting it up, although set up was suppose to take minutes... I'm now going on my second hour of trying to get it set up.
When first connecting the "genie" installation guide appeared and prompted set up. I followed the directions, and then... nothing.
Now it says "Wi-fi has the self assigned IP address 169. (And so forth) and will not be able to connect to the internet.

Please help me.
I am beyond frustrated.

 

[badshoehabit]

See if this helps. https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/fix-self-assigned-ip-addresses-in-os-x/

 

[MacInWin]

I've recently purchased a netgear n300 router and have been unsuccessful in setting it up, although set up was suppose to take minutes... I'm now going on my second hour of trying to get it set up.
When first connecting the "genie" installation guide appeared and prompted set up. I followed the directions, and then... nothing.
Now it says "Wi-fi has the self assigned IP address 169. (And so forth) and will not be able to connect to the internet.

Please help me.
I am beyond frustrated.

What is "it" that has reported the self assigned IP? The router, your Mac, what?

Also, what Mac, what version of the OS, have you tried Ethernet, who is your ISP? We need more information to really be able to help.

 

[lclev]

Having set up several netgear routers I will tell you the "user friendly" setup genie never worked for me. I have also found the WPS for wireless setup causes more issues than it solves especially if you plan to have devices such as wireless tv devices or printers accessing it. You do not say if this router is also handling your connection to the internet or if there is another device from your provider doing that and this router is connected to it.

I use the manual method which is confusing. The 169.xxx.xxx.xxx IP address means the device is seeing no connection to any other device - internet or router so it is self-assigning an IP address. If this is a computer that means the router is not handing out IP addresses using DHCP. Setting your router up manually is not easy and I have not been able to find any directions with pictures to help walk you through how. One thing you could try is to reset the router - there should be a pin hole or reset button on the back that you will press for at least 15 second until lights on the front start blinking, that will set it back to factory and you can start over with the "genie". I am not saying that will help but it can't hurt.

If you can't get it working, you might be better served to call Netgear tech support or the tech support of your internet provider if it is their device.



Lisa

 

[Ckkb808]

The router has reported the self assigned IP. I am running Mac Sierra.

 

[MacInWin]

If the router itself is reporting self assigned, then you are not connected to the internet. Check the connections between the router and the modem (box from the Internet Service Provider), and then check the modem itself, if you can. What IP is your Mac reporting when connected to the router? Even if the router cannot find the internet (and has, therefore, self assigned) the DHCP server IN the router should be assigning valid IPs in the range of your internal network, typically either 192.168.x.y or 10.0.0.x.

 

[Ckkb808]

The IP starts with 169. and so forth. Which I've been told is the default IP for a self assigned IP. I can't get to the actual modem unfortunately because I live in a dormitory on base. Which leaves me to contact my provider here on base. I was borrowing a router from a friend which worked prior to buying this new one (netgear). And I can't hardware an Ethernet cable to my Mac laptop because of course, it doesn't have the Ethernet port. Extremely inconvenient.

 

[MacInWin]

OK, we're slowly unveiling the problem. It helps if we know as much as possible as quickly as possible, but we're getting there.

From your post about "on base" I take it you are living in a dorm on a military base somewhere and that the dorm has network capability that is attached to the base's network, and through which you think you can get to the Internet. So basically, it's like this:

Internet ------- Base Router ---------Base network in Dorm-------Netgear router - - - - - Mac

where the ----- is wire and the - - - - is wireless.

Assuming that's close to correct, and assuming the Netgear is reporting that it is not connected to the Internet and is using a self-assigned IP, then the base network or the base router is the fault. The Netgear router is not "seeing" the base router, which assigns numbers to attached devices in the base network (including the Netgear router, supposedly). If it's a military base, that would NOT be surprising, as letting just anything connect to a military network could be a serious security issue. So, assuming that the base policy is to allow devices to be attached to the network, and assuming that it's ok for an unsecured router to be attached, then you may need to contact the controller of the network to see if they are even supporting dynamic IPs or if the router needs a fixed IP that they assign. So, at this point, you may need to make that call to the base operator to see what you need to do.