I'm running into a weird issue after upgrading a laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 11 using an enablement package. The laptop is able to receive a valid DHCP lease from the PXE scope without a hitch, but when I try to connect it to the user network, it ends up getting a 169.254.x.x address instead, which means it can't get an IP from the DHCP server. Both scopes are functioning correctly for Windows 10 laptops; they can get leases without issue. The user scope is a /23 and has plenty of free IP addresses available.
I've confirmed that there are no routing or IP-helper misconfigurations on the router. I've also checked that the DHCP service is running on the laptop, and Event Viewer has no logs indicating a DHCP failure. The only difference I can see is the OS itself. I've compared the scope configurations, and everything seems identical. Can anyone offer some insights or troubleshooting steps?
5 Answers
What happens if you disable PXE unexpectedly? Does it manage to pull a DHCP lease then? It might help narrow down the issue further.
You should check the DHCP server logs located in System32DHCP. They might give you a clue if it's trying to assign an IP before failing.
Consider running a packet capture to see if your computer is even sending out a DHCP discover. If you see that, check for responses from the DHCP server. Also, can you try connecting with a static IP to rule out any other issues?
It sounds like you're saying that the laptop gets a DHCP lease from the PXE VLAN but not from the user VLAN? If so, that definitely complicates things, but it's not entirely unexpected with the OS change.
Exactly! I just get that 169.254 address on the user VLAN.
Check if the WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery service is disabled. Sometimes group policies set it to disabled, and that can interfere with DHCP. It usually works fine when set to Manual, so give that a shot!
I'll look into that, but since the PXE scope works, I'm not sure it’s the issue.
I checked those logs—they're empty for the user scope.