Constant DHCP requests...

[Jeff Justice]

I know this list is for the ISC DHCP, but I am having a DHCP problem that I was hoping someone could shed some light on.

I have a device that hooks to our network that gets its address via DHCP.  When it is first powered on, it sits there for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes without a problem, but then the network light starts flashing constantly.

I ran a Wireshark trace and discovered that I was getting a constant stream of DHCP Requests from the device followed by the router sending an ACK.

What led me to ISC's DHCP was that I thought I would install it on a server on our network, turn off our router's DHCP to see if the problem changed.  It didn't.  I am still getting flooded with the DHCP request/ack.

I have had a conversation with the device manufacturer who says they can't find any problems with their device.  They sent me a replacement which has the same problem.

This leads me to believe that there is something in the programming of the device that isn't handling the DHCP server's response correctly, or there is a problem with my network or maybe even a switch?

I'm not sure what steps to take at this point to solve this.  I can't put the device in production until I have figured out the cause.

Any ideas?

Jeff