How can I get Windows ICS to assign IP addresses?

Hello I have a Windows 11 Pro system with two Ethernet connections, one built in (Intel I225V) and one USB 3.0 to gigabit Ethernet adapter (Asix AX88179).

I set up ICS to share the internet from the Intel to the Asix adapter but the client is not receiving an IP from the DHCP server. On a whim I setup a static IP in the 192.168.137.x range with a gateway of 192.168.137.1 (The expected ips that ICS sets up) on the client and the Internet connected instantly but if I leave the settings to automatically receive addresses then the connection is dead.

It seems like the ICS DHCP server isn't working or something, so how can I get client devices to receive IP addresses from the ICS host?

I also tried the same thing on a Win 10 laptop sharing it's wifi connection and the same thing happens, no DHCP assignment and setting a static IP on the client works instantly.

Thank you!

Wouldn't you want to bridge the two connections? can you elaborate more on what your end goal is?

I am assuming that because you want to have two nics on one computer by the sounds of it then you would just bridge the two connections together, that is if it sounds like what i think you are trying to achieve which is network redundancy and balance loading type stuff.

What are you trying to accomplish here irrespective of the DHCP issue?

I think remove internet sharing from the equation its just adding confusion to the scenario when thinking about your end goal. Setup a VPN connection in windows with all your credentials and target ip.

You may need to set the routing for the adapter you want to use as the VPN adapter so do route print and route to see which nic has higher priority as you may need to adjust this. You would have to disable the VPN nic each time you are done so the normal nic becomes the main one again or just remove the second nic all together.

SSH and SFTP are also options because realistically you should trust all endpoints inside your network unless you doing something real sensitive then these two methods should offer enough obscurity.

I guess it really depends on your requirements so you would need to elaborate further again.

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if all you are trying to achieve is more security inside then maybe look at subnetting your devices and then routing tables so you can talk to which device/s you need to, removing the need for VPN really.

Its still kind of hard to offer advice without more information, like actually what it is you want to do.

HankMcCoyX said:

I'm trying to provide temporary VPN (that doesn't work on the router level) access to every device on my network whether it be a computer or a simple iot device.

My experiments have been simple sharing of the internet so far (no VPN) although doing the same static IP trick did work when sharing from the virtual VPN adapter.

What is the make and model of the router?

Would the VNC protocol work for your application? Like the software TightVNC or UltraVNC. There are VNC Android Apps, too!

Having the VPN in the router would be most practical otherwise you need to leave that computer on 24/7, unless this is only temporally of course. You might also want to investigate something like ZeroTier One.


This article might help, but I think your issue is NAT...