There are several reasons that can lead us to need a new IP address both on our Mac and ultimately on any computer. Although it is true that one of the most common is related to the following message: “Another device is using your IP.”
This is a much more common incidence than you think, and it is normal for it to occur in DHCP networks, when, for example, the router is turned on and the different devices connected to the network begin to connect again.
Depending on whether they were already turned on or not, when they request an IP from the router, it is possible that it ends up assigning an IP address that was originally already being used by another device that was not connected but was turned on, which already had an IP previously assigned, but not functional until then.
This can generate different conflicts, such as preventing the connection of that particular device from working correctly and as it should, generating instability or even problems to connect normally to the network.
In any case, and when warning messages of this type appear, one of the most effective solutions (especially when this incident has occurred on more occasions), is to assign a fixed IP to those most problematic devices, something very useful when we want to continue maintaining our DHCP network.
However, and if you don’t want to go as far, it is also possible to solve it by obtaining a new IP address , without changing between dynamic or static IP.
Getting a new IP address in macOS
Obtaining a new IP address will help to “force” the router to forget the IP address that our Mac is currently using, providing it with a different one.
To do this, we must click on the Apple icon , which we will find located in the upper left corner of the screen, which will open the menu, and then click on System Preferences .
Now click on Network and then on Advanced… . Now we click on TCP / IP , click on Renew DHCP lease , and finish the process by clicking OK , which will help the changes to be saved.
This will give our Mac a new IP address, instead of trying to continue using the one that was already assigned, in addition, to a different device.
However, if despite the changes we still continue to see the same message, we can choose to deactivate and activate the WiFi connection , which would help to reset the system.
