Laptop wireless adapter inactive & "DHCP faied. APIPA is being used"

[kloerose]

Hi there! I have an assignment for school where I have to configure various devices in Packet Tracer but I am stuck on the laptop. When I turn on DHCP on the laptop, it says "DHCP failed. APIPA is being used." What does this mean? Also, when I go onto the laptop desktop and go to configure the wireless, it says the adapter is inactive. How do I fix this? I have attached my file and any help is appreciated. Thank you

If this isn't the right place, please direct me to where is.

[thomas-bucaioni]

Same here, probably missing something obvious...

[Enes Simnica]

hello @thomas-bucaioni and @kloerose /  Even though the question is from 2023, I see that it has not been answered yet, so I will gladly answer it. The message "DHCP failed. APIPA is being used." means the laptop didn’t receive an IP address from a DHCP server, so it defaulted to an APIPA address (169.254.x.x). This usually happens when:

1. There's no DHCP server on the network.
2. The device isn’t connected to the correct network.
3. The interface (wired or wireless) is not active.

As for the "adapter is inactive" message on the wireless settings tab, it typically means the wireless interface is not turned on. Here's how to fix it: Click on the laptop, go to the physical tab. 2. make sure the wirelesss nic is connected. 3. After inserting it, power up the device. Check if the adapeter is active of the PC wireless, connect to the correct ssid and MAKE sure that ur router or wireless AP has Dhcp enabled..... hope it helps, and if it didn't, give me access to the lab, and I'll fix it...

-Enes

If this post solved your problem, kindly mark it as Accepted Solution. Much appreciated!

[thomas-bucaioni]

Hi Enes,
Maybe the Packet Tracer version I'm using is buggy: 

• Packet Tracer 8.2.2
• running in a VM: Linux 5.15.0-139-generic #149~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP

No matter what I do, the wireless adapter remains Inactive:

[Enes Simnica]

hello @thomas-bucaioni YEP, thats likely a Packet tracer 8.2.2 bug. If u have time, try to:

• Insert the wireless NIC - physica lab
• power cycling the device
• and check the ssid and dhcp settings....

If still shows inactive, TRY version 8.2.1 or 8.2.0 which are more stable........ and if nothing works give me access to the topology. 

OR TRY CISCO VIRL: WHICH SUPPORTS WLC, AP ROUTERS AND SWITCHES, BUT IT DOESNT HAVE GUI LIKE PACKET TRACER BUT IT IS FULLY REAL CONFIS.... AND IT REQUIRES LICENSING. OOOOOR EVEng= WHICH SUPPORTS REAL WLCs 9 LIGHWEIGHT APs IF U HAVE IMAGES, IT DOESNT HAVE GUI OR VIRTUAL WIRELESS NICs LIKE PT, BUT IT IS REAL WORLD......

hope it helps G!

-Enes

[thomas-bucaioni]

Eventually... In my case the error was that the AP needs an access port on the switch, and not a trunk port.
As soons as I reconfigured the port from trunk to access, the laptops got their IP addresses