What Is DHCP Lease Time And How To Change It

An essential element of your network

When you connect to a local network, either byWiFi or ethernet, a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server on your network router will issue your device with an IP address. This gives your device an ID that allows other devices to locate and connect to it. Usually, this IP address lasts for around 24 hours before it expires.

This is due to the DHCP lease time. This allows a local network to reallocate IP addresses from devices that have been disconnected for a while to other devices, freeing up IP addresses for other devices that may connect (unless you give them astatic IP).

What Is DHCP Lease Time & Should It Be Changed?

Unless otherwise specified, a typical network router will assume that any connection made to it is temporary. Your device is assigned an IP by the DHCP server with a lease time attached. If your device isn’t seen after that period expires, the lease expires, and the IP address is freed for other devices to use.

The DHCP lease time is the time given for a lease to remain active before it expires. As we’ve mentioned, 24 hours is the usual lease time issued by networks for connected devices, but this is a standard value that might not be appropriate for your network.

You can change this value, however. If you’re running an open or public network for others to connect to, you might expect a large number of short-term connections. This is where a smaller lease time would make sense, keeping the pool of free IP addresses replenished and allowing new devices to connect.

The lease time you use depends on your own needs. You could use an hour for a restaurant WiFi network to 12 hours for a guest office network, for instance.

You’ll need administrative access to your network router to be able to change these settings. While you can view the current DHCP lease time on your PC or Mac, changing it will require access to your router.

How To View DHCP Lease Time On Windows 10

You can view the DHCP lease time for a Windows PC by using theWindows PowerShell, the replacement for the command line on Windows 10.

From this information, you can determine the lease time. In the example above, the lease expiry time is exactly 24 hours after the lease was first issued. This period may be shorter or longer for your connection, depending on your own network configuration.

How To View DHCP Lease Time On macOS

On a Mac, you can view DHCP lease time using the built-inTerminalapp.

The DHCP lease time will be shown here as a base-16 hexadecimal value. You’ll need toconvert these valuesto a standard decimal number. For instance, the connection above has a hexadecimal DHCP lease value of0x15180. Thisconverts to86400, the length of the lease in seconds, which is equivalent to24 hours.

Changing DHCP Lease Times On A Local Network

It isn’t possible to change the DHCP lease time in your device’s network settings as this is controlled by the DHCP server that allocates IP addresses, which is usually your network router. You’ll need to have administrative access to your router to change this.

You can usually connect to your network router by typinghttp://192.168.1.1orhttp://192.168.0.1in a web browser while connected to the network. You may need to check the manual for your router to determine if this is the correct way to connect, as well as determine the admin username and password to log in.

Once you’ve signed in, you’ll need to look for the appropriateNetwork/ LAN SettingsorDHCP Settingsarea in your router’s settings menu. If you can’t find this, consult your user manual for further advice.

The DHCP lease value is named in various ways. For instance, on a TP-Link router, this value is called theaddress lease time. You can set this in minutes for this type of router, up to a maximum of2880(the equivalent of48 hours). Other routers will have longer or shorter maximum lease periods.

Change the value accordingly, then save your settings. Once the DHCP lease value has been changed, the new lease time will be issued to your devices accordingly.

How To Renew a DHCP Lease

If you’ve changed your DHCP lease time, you can force any connected devices torelease the existing IP leaseand renew it. This will allow any changes to your DHCP lease information to be applied immediately.

This will take a few seconds to complete. Once completed, your IP address will update to confirm your IP address, but you’ll need to runipconfig getpacket en0(replacingen0with your own connection) from the Terminal app to check the current lease time.

Correct Network Management In Windows 10

The DHCP lease time allocated to devices on a network is an essential component in how your network works. If you’re struggling with IP address conflicts, however, you may find that it’s better toassign a static IP to devicesthat you use regularly.

Many of these settings need to be configured on your network router, but Windows will allow you to change network settings yourself—just be prepared for conflicts if your settings don’t match your router. This might prevent you fromseeing other computers on your network, so be sure to double-check any settings you modify first.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio

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