Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows a computer to receive its IP address, gateway and name servers automatically when it connects to the network, bypassing the need for a user to reconfigure that information at each new location.
The University of Chicago provides DHCP to the residence halls, the wireless network and subnets in several buildings including Stuart, Walker, the Chicago Theological Seminary and Center for Integrative Science. DHCP is also available in several public areas in libraries and commons.
Many departments also provide DHCP locally. Any questions or concerns about DHCP provided by others than NSIT should be addressed to the adminstrators of that system.
IT support groups who would like to use NSIT's DHCP service should send e-mail to dhcp@networking.uchicago.edu to arrange that service
Using NSIT DHCP
- Make sure your computer is set to be configured via DHCP.
- Open web browser and go to any web site.
- You will be automatically redirected to a login page.
- Log in with your CNet password.
- Once you have authenticated, you will need to reboot your machine.
- Until required to re-authenticate, you may access the network through any TCP/IP application (web browser, ssh client, mail client, etc).
- Authentication for DHCP is required annually.
Hostnames in DHCP
Each IP address available for DHCP has an associated hostname. Since a DHCP user may be assigned a different IP address each time the network connection is re-established, we provide a dynamic naming system as well, in which a hostname based on the hardware address of the computer is always associated with the current IP address of that computer.
For example, if your hardware address (also known as ethernet address or mac address) is 00:0d:93:8a:21:de, your computer can always be found as 0-d-93-8a-21-de.dhcp.uchicago.edu (you must drop the leading zeros in each address pair). This is particularly useful for remote access or administration of computers.
