Besides computers, other devices such as smartphones and printers also have dynamically assigned IP addresses. The DHCP lease time is an option that controls how long these addresses will remain active. Would you like to know how to change your DHCP lease time or how to check it? Or do you want to know how to renew the DHCP lease time of your network adapter? If so, read on.
What is the DHCP lease time?
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A DHCP server on your network manages the assignment of an IP address after a specified period of time. This period of time determines the validity of an IP address, which is referred to as DHCP Lease Time. A DHCP lease is valid for 24 hours by default.
Here, we will use this method to specify the DHCP lease time through the router interface. This is because DHCP leases are controlled by the router, and a Windows device does not have a native interface for configuring them. DHCP leases are managed by the server, and your computer is just a client. In any case, you can find out when your IP address is set to expire using the command line.
How to Change DHCP Lease Time on Windows 11/10
As we have already mentioned, DHCP leases are set to 24 hours. There are however other default DHCP lease times, including 8 hours and 12 hours, which are used by other routers or equipment. If you want to change the DHCP lease time, you will have to adjust your router’s DHCP settings. Here are the steps to do so:
- Open your default web browser.
- Type the router’s address into it and press Enter. The most common router IP address is 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, but some routers may use a different IP address.
- Sign in with your router admin credentials.
- On your router’s web interface page, go to the left pane and click on LAN under Advanced settings.
- Then click on the DHCP Server tab.
- Under the DHCP Server settings, you’ll find a setting called Lease Time.
Note: Instead of minutes, hours, or days, DHCP lease times are typically specified in seconds.
- Type the time you want for the router’s DHCP lease in seconds.
- Click the Save button to apply your new settings.
You may need to reset your router after making the changes. This usually occurs after a few seconds. Once the IP lease time has been changed, you can open the command prompt and verify it.
