How to Fix DHCP Lookup Failed in Chromebook

Trying to connect to your home network but you are greeted with a DHCP lookup failed message on your Chromebook?

Chromebook is a Linux-based device that runs ChromeOS, developed by Google. Just like other devices, it can also encounter a couple of hiccups and problems as you use the device.

One of the most common issues reported by users is the problem of connecting to a wireless network. Users are often greeted with a DHCP lookup failed error whenever they try to connect to their home or office network.

 

 

Your Chromebook may encounter this kind of problem due to an outdated operating system, broken firmware, or problems with your router and Internet Service Provider. 

Today, we are here to help you out. In this guide, we are going to show you a few solutions that you can easily follow to try and fix the issue with the DHCP lookup failed in Chromebook devices. 

Let’s get started.

 

 

1. Check Your Internet Connection. 

Since this kind of issue is related to your network, it is best that you check first your internet connection before doing any troubleshooting techniques on your Chromebook. 

It is possible that your router is having problems communicating with your Internet Service Provider’s server which causes the DHCP lookup failed error on your device. 

To get started, you should restart your internet connection first by removing the power cable from your internet router which is normally located at the back of your router. After that, wait for at least 5 to 10 seconds before plugging the power cable back into your router.

 

 

Now, try connecting to your router to see if the issue has been resolved. On the other hand, you can try connecting your other devices like your phone to your network to see if it will encounter the same error with your Chromebook.

If all your devices are unable to connect with your router, then it is possible that the problem is with your ISP. In this case, it is best that you contact their customer service hotline to report the issue with their internet service. 

However, if other devices connect to your network without any problems, then you can proceed to the next method to start troubleshooting your Chromebook.

 

 

2. Restart Your Chromebook. 

If your Chromebook is not functioning properly and unable to connect with your network, then it is possible that the DHCP lookup failed error can be caused by a temporary software glitch. 

To fix this, you can try restarting your Chromebook. This will ensure that the operating system is loaded properly on startup. 

  1. On your Chromebook, click on the Notifications menu located at the bottom right corner of the screen. 
  2. After that, click on the Power button to turn off your device.

 

  1. Lastly, wait for the device to completely power off, then press on the Power button to turn on your Chromebook normally.

Now, wait for your device to completely boot up, then try connecting to your internet connection to see if the DHCP lookup failed error message would still appear. 

If your Chromebook still won’t connect with your network connection, you can try reconnecting to your WiFi connection.

 

 

3. Forget Your Wireless Connection. 

The next thing that you can try to fix the DHCP lookup failed error on your Chromebook is to forget your current network connection and try reconnecting to it. 

It is possible that you may have entered the wrong password for your WiFi that causes the connection problem on your Chromebook.

To forget your wireless connection, you can follow the steps below.

  1. Open your Chromebook and click on the Notifications menu at the bottom right part of your screen. 
  2. Next, click on the Gear icon to open the Settings menu.

 

  1. After that, scroll down to the Network section and click the arrow button beside your current network.
  2. Lastly, click on the Forget button and try reconnecting your Chromebook to your internet router.

 

Make sure to enter the correct password for your wireless connection and check if the DHCP lookup failed error on your Chromebook would still appear.

 

 

4. Use Google Name Servers. 

DNS servers play an important role in converting the web site’s IP addresses into readable hostnames. 

If your Chromebook cannot properly connect with the current DNS servers set on your device, then it can return as a DHCP lookup failed error on your Chromebook.

You can possibly fix this by using Google’s own DNS servers. 

  1. On your Chromebook, tap on the Notifications menu and click on the Gear icon to open the Settings
  2. Next, scroll down and find the Network section. 
  3. After that, click on Wi-Fi to open the Settings menu for Wireless Connections. 
  4. Now, click on the arrow beside the name of your Wi-Fi connection. 
  5. Lastly, open the Name Servers drop-down menu and select Google Name Servers.

 

After using Google’s DNS servers, try reconnecting to your network to check if the DHCP lookup failed error would still occur on your Chromebook.

 

 

5. Change the Sleep Settings of Your Chromebook.

There is a known glitch on Chrome OS in which WiFi would not reconnect automatically when you put your Chromebook to sleep. The workaround for this problem is by restarting your Chromebook every time you put it into a sleep which defeats its purpose as you would need to boot up your Chromebook once again. 

Now, this bug on Chrome OS was already fixed by Google, but you can still try changing the sleep settings on your Chromebook in fixing the DHCP lookup failed error.

  1. On your Chromebook, click on the Notifications menu and click on the Gear icon to open the Settings
  2. Now, click on Device and tap on Power
  3. Lastly, change the Idle settings to Turn off Display but Stay Awake and turn off Sleep When Lid is Closed.

 

Now, restart your computer and try connecting to your network connection to check if the DHCP lookup failed error would still occur when you close the lid of your Chromebook or when you leave it on idle for a couple of minutes.

 

 

6. Extend the DHCP Range of Your Wireless Router. 

If there are a lot of devices connected with your home network, then it is possible that your router’s DHCP settings have a limit and no other devices would be able to connect once the limit is reached.

This may cause the DHCP lookup failed error on your device as you already exceeded the allowed number of devices connected to your network. 

To fix this, you can try extending the number of devices allowed to connect on your network. Keep in mind that the steps in doing this may vary depending on the model and brand of your internet router.

  1. Open your browser and access your router’s web portal by entering its IP address. For our case, it is 192.168.1.1.

 

  1. Next, enter the Username and Password for your router.
  2. After that, find and navigate to the DHCP settings of your router.
  3. Lastly, set the DHCP range to 100 – 253. This will make room for more devices to connect on your wireless network.

 

Now, try to connect to your Wi-Fi router to see if extending the range of your router’s DHCP fixed the issue with DHCP lookup failed in Chromebook.

However, if you are still encountering problems with your network, you can proceed to the next method below.

 

 

7. Update Your Chromebook. 

DHCP connection issues can also be caused by bugs with the current version of your ChromeOS. In such a case, Google may roll out an update anytime soon to address the issue with DHCP lookup failed errors on Chromebook devices. 

To check for an update on your Chromebook, check out the step-by-step guide below.

  1. Firstly, connect your Chromebook to the internet by using an Ethernet cable since you are unable to join a wireless network. 
  2. Next, open the Settings on your Chromebook
  3. After that, click on About ChromeOS on the side menu of the Setting’s main page.
  4. Lastly, click on the Check for Updates button and wait for the update to complete if available.

 

Now, restart your device and try connecting to your wireless network to check if the DHCP lookup failed problem on your Chromebook is resolved. 

However, if you are still having problems connecting to your network, you can try disabling your WiFi extender if you have one. You can skip the next method and jump to Method 9 if you are not using any WiFi extender on your network.

 

 

8. Disable Your WiFi Extender. 

For some unknown reasons, Chromebooks have difficulty connecting on networks that use WiFi extenders to boost the signal of your wireless network. Users report that the DHCP lookup failed error did not occur when they turned off their WiFi extender and connected directly to the router. 

Google may roll out an update in the future to fix this issue on WiFi extenders. For the meantime, the only thing that you can do is disable your Wi-Fi extender and connect directly to your internet router or connect your Chromebook using an Ethernet cable.

 

 

9. Reset Your Router. 

Another thing that you can try to fix the connectivity issue on your Chromebook is by resetting your router’s configuration back to its stock settings. It is possible that you have changed some critical settings on your router which causes the DHCP lookup failed error in your Chromebook. 

To reset your router, you would need to find the reset button which is usually located at the backside of your router. Now, press and hold the button until all the lights on your router turn off. On some routers, you might need to use a tool like the end of a paper clip or an earring to poke the reset hole on your router.

 

 

Alternatively, you can also go to your router’s web portal and manually reset the settings if you are not comfortable poking the back of your router.

 

 

10. Run Google’s Network Diagnostic Tool.

If none of the methods above worked in fixing the issue with DHCP lookup failed on your Chromebook. You can try running Google’s network diagnostic tool to scan and fix issues with your current wireless network.

  1. First, download the Connectivity Diagnostic Tool on your Chromebook
  2. Now, follow the on-screen prompt to install the Diagnostic Tool on your Chromebook.
  3. Lastly, launch the Diagnostic Tool and it will automatically scan and attempt to fix network-related issues with your Chromebook.

 

After that, restart your Chromebook and connect to your wireless network to see if the DHCP lookup failed error would still occur on your device. 

This ends our guide on how to fix the DHCP lookup failed error message on Chromebook devices. If you know other ways on how you can possibly fix this specific issue on Chromebooks feel free to share it in the comments section below and we would be happy to give you credit once this article gets updated. 

 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

 

 

 

Author

  • John Sixto

    John is a staff writer at Saint and comes from a SAP ABAP development background. He has a Bachelors in IT and has been writing since 2018, with over 500 posts published. He loves to build PCs and has a deep curiosity in understanding how different components and configurations work. John spends hundreds of hours at a time, researching and testing the software and apps, before he proceeds to write about it. LinkedIn X (Twitter)

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