An IP address conflict is  a problem that happens when two different computers or devices on a common subnet are assigned (or configured) to use the same IP address. Two different devices on a two separate subnets may have a different IP address, but two devices on the same subnet may not have the same IP address. The IP address is used to help differentiate the different devices on a subnet, and because of this can not be assigned to more than one device.  These limitations come from the effects of NAT (Network Address Translation).

A IP address conflict may be resolved by assigning the conflicting device (that is, the one that has the same IP as another device on the network) a new IP address either manually or automatically. The difference between manually and automatically is that with manually the user can choose what the IP address should be (i.e. 192.168.0.145) whereas with an auto-selection, the network just slaps on a randomly generated IP address.

You may be informed of the IP address conflict in several different ways. One way is that the network would just keep going on and neglect warning the user that something was wrong. In this scenario, the IP conflict would just cause poor connections, and the user would have to manually figure out what was wrong. Today, this is not the case (thank goodness). What happens in modern systems is that the control panel for the conflicting device with usually be disabled and will tell the user that the IP address conflict needs to be solved. Before it would make you play a guessing game, but now it is more advanced in that it can tell you exactly what was wrong.

How to avoid a conflict

If you would like to try and steer clear of any future IP address conflicts, you can take some of the following tips. For starters, if there is an option to automatically assign an IP address and you are on a smaller network, then opt for that. The router or network device will make sure to keep everything separate and unique to the best of it’s ability. Another tip would be to monitor all of the devices IP address with a database software, as this can make sure to keep everything nice and tidy as well. If you feel the need to annually assign an IP address to a device on the network, make sure to try “pinging” the IP address first. If you get a response, then you’ll know that something is already using that particular IP address.

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