Assigning Alternative IP Addresses

One of the most common network-related delays occurs in the last moments of the system startup. The majority of computer users use dynamic network card configuration. There is nothing wrong with this feature, but under certain configurations, the user can experience delays when getting an IP address.

Every time you turn on your computer, it has to set up the IP configuration. Often, this setup can result in your computer pausing for moments during the loading process. The delay is a result of your PC waiting for the DHCP server (a DHCP server dynamically assigns addresse to computers connected to a network), which is the provider of the network information, to respond. In other situations, a user can experience a delay when a DHCP server is not present on the network.

If you use a dialup connection to the Internet, your computer will rely on getting a dynamic IP address from your service provider when you connect. When you first turn on your computer, it will search for a DHCP server to get an address for the local networking components of the operating system. This is occurring when your computer is still in the early boot stages and is not connected to your dialup ISP (Internet Service Provider). Because you are not connected to a network that has a DHCP server, such as when you are dialed up to your Internet provider, your computer may experience a delay, as the computer is searching for a DHCP server when there really is none available.

This hack will only work for users that have network cards and modems installed. It does not apply to users that just have modem connections to the Internet.

One easy solution to this problem is to assign alternative information to your network card. This task is actually pretty easy, as it does not require any major tampering. Follow these steps to specify an alternative IP configuration for your computer:

1. First, get into Network Properties. This can be accomplished by going to the Control Panel through the Start Menu.

2. Once you are in the Control Panel, make sure that you are in the Classic View,
and open Network Connections. If you are not in Classic View, just click the button on the left that states Switch to Classic View.

3. Now that you are in the Network Connections window, you will see a list of network adapters on your computer. Right-click the icon to which your network connection is hooked up and select Properties.

4. Doing so will launch a new window that lists the different protocols installed on the network card. Click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to select it. Then click the Properties button.

5. Once the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties window is displayed, click the
Alternative Configuration tab. This is where you will have to enter in your data.

6. First, you will have to click the User Configured radio button to allow the text boxes to be edited.

7. Next, type in an IP address for your computer that will be used for the sake of speed in the event that your computer cannot get a DHCP address because you are using a dialup Internet connection. I recommend you use 192.168.1.X. Replace X with any unique number for each computer between 2 and 254. The exact IP address numbers that you choose do not matter. You just want to have a valid IP address filled in so that your

computer does not waste too much time looking for a DHCP address when there is no DHCP server giving out the address on your network.

8. Then, type in 255.255.255.0 as your Subnet Mask.

9. Your Default Gateway should be set to 192.168.1.1 because that is a valid gateway address. As I mentioned earlier, the exact numbers do not matter. We just want to have the computer assign some value instead of spending time searching when it will not find a DHCP server.

10. Then, enter in what your DNS servers should be. You can ask your ISP what they should be. But this information really isn't essential, as this configuration will almost never be used to connect to the Internet. It is just a default fallback in the rare case that you are having networking trouble. Feel free to leave these fields blank, as well as the WINS fields.

11. Click the OK button and then click the OK button for the network properties screen.

That's it; you are now finished.