How to disable DHCP

In this article, Make tech easier will explain how to disable DHCP and how to re-enable it if you change your mind.

How DHCP works

Most modern network equipment is configured to act as a DHCP server by default. These devices, like your home router, will listen for new devices on the network that are requesting an IP address. They will then specify and make sure that the address is reserved, not assigned to anything else.

On the other hand, most computer and mobile device operating systems are also set by default to act as a DHCP client or to request an IP address from the DHCP server as soon as they connect to the network. This is what allows you to simply plug in an Ethernet cable or connect to a wireless network and stay “on the network” – no fuss or complicated configuration.

Reasons for disabling DHCP

But in essence DHCP means that your device can carry different addresses over time and there are several reasons why you might not want this. A good example is if you are running a server, such as a self-hosted web server.

You will need a consistent way of contacting that server and the easiest way to get there is by giving it a static IP address i.e. you will actually configure the machine yourself using the IP address. On the plus side, this means you have control over which address your machine gets. However, you will need to be careful with those configurations, especially when it comes to not duplicating any addresses.

Disable DHCP for a connection in Windows

If you are running a regular home network, devices get their IP addresses through the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). This means that they are assigned an IP address when they connect to the network and in fact, they may get a completely different address the next time they connect.

Whether or not the device uses DHCP is a per-connection setting. In other words, if you disable DHCP for your wired connection, all wireless connections will continue to use DHCP until you do so.

To disable DHCP for connections in Windows:

1. Press the keys Win + X, then select Settings.

2. Click the item Network & Internet.

3. Click the network connection (wired or wireless) (such as Ethernet) that you want to configure, and then click the button. Properties.

4. In the connection details section, you will see the section IP settings. Click the button Edit that you will find there.

5. In the dialog box Edit IP settings, the connection will most likely be configured as Automatic. Click the drop-down menu and change it to Manual.

6. You should see two display toggle switches, one for IPv4 and one for IPv6. You can enable either or both, the procedure is the same for each option. For example will click the switch for IPv4.

7. A series of new fields will appear. You will need to fill in these fields, including at least IP address (Of course the address you want the machine to have), Subnet prefix length (this describes the network layer, try 24 Here and if that doesn’t work, switch over 16), Gateway (your router’s device address, most likely 192.168.0.1) and Preferred DNS (you can use the DNS provided by your ISP, or try Google’s DNS if you can’t find: 8.8.8.8).

8. Click Save to make changes.

Note: You can also set the same settings for magnetic network connections Control Panel> Networking and Sharing Center> Change adapter settings. Select the desired connection and click the button Change settings of this connection. Then click on options Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) (but don’t deselect the checkbox) and click the button Properties. This will give you a dialog box similar to the one you saw in Settings, in the “old” Windows style. Note that you can set IPv6 in the same way.

Re-enable DHCP in Windows

While disabling DHCP can be a little tricky, it’s much easier to re-enable it.

1. Go back Settings> Network & Internet, and click the button Properties for network connection.

2. Click the button Edit in section IP settings for connection.

3. Dialog box Edit IP settings will contain your previous profiles. Click the drop-down menu at the top of the dialog box and convert it from Manual come back Automatic.

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