Any way to shorten Alternate IP config timeout in Win7

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GushpinBob

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I currently use a laptop that is on a static IP at home but a dynamic IP at the university. Because of this I rely on Windows' own Alternate IP configuration if it's unable to receive an IP address via DHCP. However, I'm tired of waiting two minutes at home before being able to do anything that requires internet access i.e. web browsing, email. Is there any way I can shorten this duration Windows takes to figure out that it's on a network that uses static IPs?
 
Is there a reason you can't do DHCP at home? Most broadband routers now do reserved DHCP, meaning you can get the same IP every time, without having to set anything up manually. That would also avoid the issue you're currently having. I've been doing reserved DHCP on all my LANs for close to 10 years now, and don't know what I'd do without it.
 
That'll probably work. I'll have to check my router to see if it supports this.


Just to humor me, I am still wondering if this DHCP timeout in Windows is adjustable.
 
the answer appears to be "no"

I found an MS KB regarding changing this in NT 4, which just required adding a registry key. But nothing since.
 
Welp, I was hesitant about it in the first place, but I managed to switch the home network from static to DHCP w/ some machines assigned reserved addresses. Pretty painless, TBH, and no more wasting time waiting for the laptop to connect to the internet. :)

Why I was so hesitant? Well, my firsthand experience with DHCP was with some first-gen WAP made by DLink almost 10 years ago. That probably says enough as to why I favored using static IPs on the home network for the longest time, and during that time I haven't paid attention to the advances of consumer (and DIY) routers and how they handled dynamically assigned IPs. I'm actually happier with the new setup as opposed to the old one. Thanks!
 
GushpinBob said:
Why I was so hesitant? Well, my firsthand experience with DHCP was with some first-gen WAP made by DLink almost 10 years ago. That probably says enough as to why I favored using static IPs on the home network for the longest time, and during that time I haven't paid attention to the advances of consumer (and DIY) routers and how they handled dynamically assigned IPs. I'm actually happier with the new setup as opposed to the old one. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Heh, my first broadband router was a D-Link DI-704, probably also around 10 years ago. While all the Linksys routers at the time simply said to switch everything over to static IPs to use port forwarding, the DI-704 actually had reserved DHCP (which I don't recall ever having any problems with). That was one of a number of small issues with Linksys that led to my general dislike of them.

Glad the reserved DHCP option worked out for you, and it's even better that you feel it's an upgrade over the old setup.
 
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