Home Network IP Conflict

Hey,

Recently i've been having a problem after we got a new router.

Whilst my computer is running and my dad switches his on/connects to the internet, i get a message coming up in the system tray telling me there is a IP conflict with another system on the network.

It doesn't seem to be doing that much however i do lag a lot when he starts to use his pc, and occasionally the internet just dies completely and you have to restart the router, however i'm not sure the latter problem is due to the IP conflict but i don't know a lot so heh.

Should i attempt to fix this/what would i need to do?

The routers a netgear wireless-n thing, not home atm so cant really remember i'll put it up if its necessary. Also both pc's are running XP.

Thanks in advance.

Make sure that if both computers have a static IP that they have different ones. If your dads machine has a static ip it may be using the same one your computer is using. Try starting his machine up first then turning on yours and see if you get the error. As far as the connection just stopping try logging into the router and checking it for firmware updates.

How do i go about doing this? I'm pretty useless at the whole pc thing, and thanks for the input.

It's amazing these days, Library at your finger tips. I'd advice you read up on how to assign static/dynamic and or how to enable DHCP, read this and also read your routers manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address

Make sure you use DHCP on both computers and that your router preferences has DHCP enalbed and offers enough IP addresses.

Hope this helps?

Cool, thanks for the advice.

Got me some reading and head scratching to do!