Ethernet has a self-assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the internet...

[TheRealNick]

So I regularly use my iPhone for internet access on my Mac. (Retina 5K, 27-inch Late 2015)

I also plug in my Xbox through the ethernet port and share the connection. I've never really had an issue but yesterday I received the error "Ethernet has a self-assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the internet..." I cannot seem to fix this.

I tried plugging my laptop in instead of the Xbox and received the same message, so it is not just the Xbox. I also tried three different cables just to be sure it wasn't the cable, same message.

Does anyone have any further ideas on how I can fix this?

Big Sur is 11.1 11.4 and I don't know if its makes a difference but the iPhone is an XR running iOS 14.5.1

Many thanks!

 

[mystery hill]

Have you tried manually setting the IP address instead of using DHCP?

 

[chrfr]

Big Sur is 11.1,

Not a guaranteed fix by any means, but I'd update to 11.4. There have been lots of bug fixes built into Big Sur between 11.1 and 11.4.

 

[TheRealNick]

Not a guaranteed fix by any means, but I'd update to 11.4. There have been lots of bug fixes built into Big Sur between 11.1 and 11.4.

Thanks for suggesting that, not sure why I didn't try that in the first place as it makes perfect sense but unfortunately it hasn't worked.

 

[mystery hill]

Does the ‘iPhone USB’ network also have the Location set to Automatic?

 

[dumiku]

So I regularly use my iPhone for internet access on my Mac. (Retina 5K, 27-inch Late 2015)

I also plug in my Xbox through the ethernet port and share the connection. I've never really had an issue but yesterday I received the error "Ethernet has a self-assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the internet..." I cannot seem to fix this.

I tried plugging my laptop in instead of the Xbox and received the same message, so it is not just the Xbox. I also tried three different cables just to be sure it wasn't the cable, same message.

Does anyone have any further ideas on how I can fix this?

Big Sur is 11.1 11.4 and I don't know if its makes a difference but the iPhone is an XR running iOS 14.5.1

Many thanks!

View attachment 1787215 View attachment 1787216​

Have you tried manually setting the IP address instead of using DHCP?

Did you try this, should be a temp fix, also try disconnecting your iPhone and connect it again?

 

[chabig]

The list on the left is a prioritized hierarchy of interfaces. The Mac will look for an internet connection beginning at the top interface and working down. Since you have an XBox at the top of the list that can’t provide internet access to your Mac, the message you see makes perfect sense. Drag iPhone USB above Ethernet and you should be fine.

 

[TheRealNick]

Have you tried manually setting the IP address instead of using DHCP?

Did you try this, should be a temp fix, also try disconnecting your iPhone and connect it again?

Thanks for your help, I have tried disconnecting and restarting a number of times with no luck.

I'm not sure what address range I can use to set a manual address so I'm not sure how to go about doing it without conflicting with anything... or am I overthinking things here?

Does the ‘iPhone USB’ network also have the Location set to Automatic?

I will check this when I am able to do so in about an hour! I did try setting the Ethernet location manually which didn't work but I've not touched the iPhone USB section.

 

[TheRealNick]

The list on the left is a prioritized hierarchy of interfaces. The Mac will look for an internet connection beginning at the top interface and working down. Since you have an XBox at the top of the list that can’t provide internet access to your Mac, the message you see makes perfect sense. Drag iPhone USB above Ethernet and you should be fine.

Actually thinking about it I think the two were the other way around previously, I'm not at my Mac right now but I will try that shortly!

 

[TheRealNick]

The list on the left is a prioritized hierarchy of interfaces. The Mac will look for an internet connection beginning at the top interface and working down. Since you have an XBox at the top of the list that can’t provide internet access to your Mac, the message you see makes perfect sense. Drag iPhone USB above Ethernet and you should be fine.

I've now had chance to try this, I set iPhone at the top of the 'Set Service Order' menu and I really thought that would work, but no, it is still displaying the same thing:

Does the ‘iPhone USB’ network also have the Location set to Automatic?

I have now double checked this and it is set to automatic. I tried changing both to custom locations and it didn't work.

Have you tried manually setting the IP address instead of using DHCP?

I've tried setting the IP address to the one that was being allocated (I think) under the Ethernet connection, again no luck. I don't know what other IP address(s) I could try setting it to.

In case anyone is wondering, I can't connect the Xbox directly to the iPhone as a hotspot because, apparently, there seems to be a bug in the Xbox that prevents it... And I could put the Xbox on the home network but if I showed you all the speed of my home wired connection everyone would understand why I absolutely need to use my phone for downloading games. (~2-3Mbps on the phone line vs ~15-50Mbps on the phone, depending on the time of day. still terrible I know... but better...)

 

[dumiku]

Thanks for your help, I have tried disconnecting and restarting a number of times with no luck.

I'm not sure what address range I can use to set a manual address so I'm not sure how to go about doing it without conflicting with anything... or am I overthinking things here?

You're iPhone IP under System Preferences->Network should act the router address for instance 170.20.10.2 then you set the Ethernet address to 170.20.10.3 and the router address to 170.20.10.2.

Above is an example to get the real IP to use run the command below in the Terminal and look for en0,en1,en2,en3,en4 and check the one with an active status the IP address is the one you should use as a router address like I said above and increment the last set/number in the IP by 2 or 3 that's the IP you will assign to the Ethernet. normally it should be something like 10.234.30.2. If you don't know about the IP address you should probably look that up.

check this article: How manually assign an IP address, you'll probably need to do the same on the Xbox.

 

[sgtaylor5]

Check your router or wireless access point: the DHCP function may not be working right. DHCP assigns IP addresses to downstream devices, like iPhones and Xboxes. If DHCP isn’t working, then your downstream devices will self-assign IP addresses.

Try rebooting the router.

 

[diggy33]

Have you tried just deleting the Ethernet adapter, and then add it back?

 

[Fishrrman]

I would POWER DOWN everything (completely off, not just "a restart"):
- Macs
- Router(s)
- ISP interface/modem

Then, RE-power, in order:
1. ISP interface/modem
2. Router(s)
3. Macs.

 

[allthings]

Is there a solution to this? I'm also getting this error. Not coincidentally a spectrum guy came to my place last night and gave me a new modem.