I need to change my IP add… I have trying doing the release/renew thing, also tried unplugging the modem for 12 hours but it did not work. The help page says we do not have static IP addresses, so I email tech support and they say because it is a dynamic address it cannot be manually changed. Wtf?
IPCONFIG /RELEASE /RENEW is about the only option you have. You don’t have control of their DHCP server so there’s not much else you can do.
Why do you need to change yours? Have you been naughty? 
IPCONFIG /RELEASE /RENEW is about the only option you have. You don’t have control of their DHCP server so there’s not much else you can do.
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I tried the release renew thing. I guess I can try it again. Is it supposed to work right away?
The server that provides your dynamic IP address is free to give you a different IP address each time or to give you the same IP address every time until the heat death of the universe. Some servers are programmed to give you the same IP address, whenever possible, as this is considered a feature by people who are trying to run server processes on a computer with a dynamic IP address.
No. Most, if not all, DHCP servers will try to reassign the same IP address to a computer whenever possible.
I’ll also echo engineer_comp_geek question about why you think you need a new IP address. Is there a specific problem you’re experiencing?
You are mistaken about what this means. Not having a static IP means you aren’t guaranteed one. With the service level I have with my ISP DSL, I am not guranteed a static IP. If I want a guaranteed static IP (say, to run a server), I have to pay more. However, the ISP can keep me on the same IP as long as they want at their discretion. On my system, the router maintains connection with the ISP 24/7 regardless if I turn my computer off. My IP changes only rarely. Likely on purpose. If for some reason I wanted to change my IP, I could intentionally pull the plug to the phone line and hope I got a new IP.
There may be ways, depending on the details of your connection (computer networking is about nothing but details), but if you’re not knowledgeable about networking, chances are high you’ll f*ck up your connection, it’s not exactly good etiquette and doing so probably won’t achieve anything, anyway.
If whatever you did merits a subpoena to your ISP, you’re SOL. The logs are there. Brace for impact.
If you’re just afraid of being filtered or somesuch, chances are the entire DHCP address range will be blocked, anyway.
If you’re afraid someone will find you and beat you up, the ISP won’t hand out account details to anyone but law enforcement. Chill.
It can also depend on the type of connection (ahem!) and the way the ISP does things.
E.g., if you have a cable modem and you also change the MAC address of your network device (easy for a home router, easy to impossible for a network card) you could then be assigned a different IP address on reconnecting. Assuming the ISP isn’t too fussy about unknown MAC addresses using their network. (Mine is.)
If you have dialup, they may be using your phone number (caller id). But I doubt it plus it doesn’t make sense, etc.
With DSL you are even more likely to be wedded to your ISP address.
In short: your chances are slim and none.
Nobody wants to suggest changing the MAC address of the requesting device? That should guarantee a new IP address from the DHCP server…
Many ISPs register MAC addresses. If you change the MAC address, your ISP may refuse to talk to it at all.
This tends to be true here. However, I waited and then haggeled to get DSL here. After long being unavailable, the telco website said DSL was now available to me. I called the local telco, and said I was about to sign up for a cable modem, but I noticed that DSL might be available in my area, and asked if this might be possible? I was quickly told yes, and the representative then went into hard sell mode. Recognizing opportunity, I started to haggle. I managed to negotiate a deal where the telco paid me $50 cash on the barrel to sign up for a year, with free installation. After hesitating and checking with a supervisor, the sales person gave me this. Not only did the telco send me a free modem, they also sent a tech out to the townhouse complex I live in to condition my line. I heard him outside the door, and even struck up a conversation with him. Competition for high speed is so great here I actually was able to haggle a deal. I recently haggled the price down to $20 a month for a 1 year contract. Highspeed DSL here is possible at less than dial up ISP prices. Unless I want to repeatedly try to connect on dial up. No worry about this with DSL. The router keeps the connection up 24/7.
So I am officially a “nobody” now?