Unidentified network/169.254 ip

could be a bios issue, you said the power went out? try resetting the bios to optimized defaults and restarting, i noticed that after a blackout my computer acts retarded until i reset the bios and then i have my beast back.

Always take ISP statistics with a grain of salt, it could be that your modem was in fact affected by the power outage, but you would have connectivity to the router at least, so we'll just overlook this issue for now.

If it is in fact the Dlink card, you could be in for some headache... I've had Dlink pretty religiously in the past, in fact, every one of my gigabit switches are by Dlink, and after numerous outages they are still running fine... however, they aren't as delicate as a PCI card... Have you tried bypassing your router?

Maybe the router was nuked by this outage and it limped along until it was finally unable to carry on with its mortal wound. This is of course, assuming you are using a router...

I recommend resetting your BIOS, save any tinkerings and overclocks in a profile and then reset the bios, then apply optimized defaults, this should reset any errors and mistakes caused by the outage. newer motherboards have a lot better surge protection, and many PSU's of mid to high range have great surge protection which can be had from power outages.

Good luck!

I see your motherboard is an ASUS, mine too is an ASUS, additionally i notice yours is capable of UEFI, are you installed using UEFI? I highly recommend using UEFI boot OS installed onto a GPT partition, this will maximize performance and offer a much better OS to hardware communication. I use UEFI with my ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z and i noticed that my HDD in GPT now boots faster and loads faster than when i was using SSD's in BIOS MBR mode... just a helpful tip.

Could also offer easier solutions to your NIC issues in the future... but first try the reset option.

have you tried cold booting your modem?
unplug everything from the modem wait 30s plug in power, wait 10s, connect coax cable, wait 1m, then connect ethernet back into modem, connected to computer of course...
do you have any other devices to test the modem with? laptop? another desktop? if so, copy and paste the statistics of the signal here so we can have a looksie, be sure to hide any personally identifying ip addresses of course.

Normally the address xxx.xxx.169.254 is a cable/adsl modem address, I am thinking your problem is not your pc.
what model modem/router do you use?

general rule of thumb, read all posts...

169.254.x.x Is auto IP not a router address, the host is self assigning as it isn't getting an IP from DHCP. Are there any link lights on the NIC? Is the NIC seen under "device manager" I would say if it isn't even recognised then you have faulty adapter.

you try assigning a static IP to basically force your way through?
Do you know your old IP?
try the array of standard/default subnet ranges, usually when standalone connected you'd be like 5 or 10 and the rest is like 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x

That's the default consumer DHCP subnets, maybe your nic/modem is being retarded and forgot how to do either or, so give that a shot, could also be a setting in the modem, like, DHCP got disabled somehow and now it ain't assigning, or it isn't picking up a signal, etc etc, try pinging 192.168.100.1 that is usually the modem internal ip, if you can ping that, you should be fine... just pick a subnet and roll with it see how it goes.

What nigelivey said.
Most certainly a faulty NIC, NIC driver or Ethernet Cable
169.254.... is the Default IP Windows assigns you when nothing is connected to your NIC.

Check if a connection is displayed under "network adapters"
Check if.you can ping said IP & the 127.0.0.1
But I can guarantee you to 99% that the problem is not the modem in that case unless it's LAN port is defective - which basically never happens.
You can check if your NIC/port is alright by connecting your computer to a router that you might be able to borrow from a friend or neighbour for a minute. Your NIC should be assigned an IP address by that router.
If it's not it's most certainly a problem with your NIC/NIC's driver

try resetting the modem, your modem doesn't have much for features of protection, and readily opts for hardware faults in the documentation. you can see where to and how to reset your modem, and check the lights status, do they blink or are they solid on?

What Isokolon is saying is impossible, the only ip windows will "self assign" is 127.0.0.1 or "local host" -see your Hosts file.

You can try assigning your own ip, to see if maybe its just not receiving an IP, but from what i can tell, if it says "unidentified network" the NIC still works, it just can't catch an IP to identify the network with. I've had that issue a few times with my server VM's... nasty little hiccup when trying to setup game servers, but simple to fix none the less.

curious, did you restart your computer between adapter uninstall and reinstall?

"What Isokolon is saying is impossible, the only ip windows will "self assign" is 127.0.0.1 "

Kamikazi2142 - perhaps before being critical of other peoples advice, learn about the topic. This is Networking 101.


In a computer network, a link-local address is a network address that is valid only for communications within the network segment (link) or the broadcast domain that the host is connected to.

Link-local addresses are not guaranteed to be unique beyond a single network segment. Routers therefore do not forward packets with link-local addresses.

For protocols that have only link-local addresses, such as Ethernet, hardware addresses assigned by manufacturers in networking elements are unique, consisting of a vendor identification and a serial identifier.

Link-local addresses for IPv4 are defined in the address block 169.254.0.0/16, in CIDR notation. In IPv6, they are assigned with the prefix fe80::/64, although being defined as the block fe80::/10

@Kamikazi not true.
127.0.0.1 is the internal IP of your NIC
But windows assigns you an external IP no matter if it's connected to a network or not (put very simplified)
This is the IP.mentioned above.

Resetting the modem will do nothing. It probably won't hurt but won't resolve the problem.
There's no.physical connection to the modem so it can't be a software bug on the modem. Otherwise he could ping the modem's IP.
Thus it's either the NIC, the Ethernet cable or the port on the modem, the ladder is the most unlikely except for when this modem is 8+ years old.
Setting the IP manually is therefore also in vain since he can't reach the gateway. It's basically as if he hadn't plugged in the cable.

I used to work for an ISP and saw this problem more often than I can count.

In your specific case it might be the LAN cable. They do break sometimes.
If it's an old modem might be the LAN port on the modem. Contact your ISP.
But your ISP won't send you a new one before you tested your LAN cable and tried hooking up another device to the modem that shows the same error.

exactly, how do you not get that?
not sure why you're just going into depth about what i was saying, but ok... not sure if you understand how to work the bit depth on ip's but v6's with fe, pretty much the same as 127.0.0.1, its a local host address.

also... whats the deal with full on quoting my posts, chill out, not like you can't just scroll up and read it. And i'll thank you for ceasing to attempt to insult me, i've had a horrible couple weeks, which all started with a panic attack on veterans day when i went to pickup a free veterans day burger and since then i've been fighting like hell to not have another episode, yet my friends and doctors all expect me to go out in public again like there's nothing wrong, and i just can't do that...

...yeah... i'll just see myself outa the convo here, i feel like i'm being attacked for saying something the wrong way...

Its not that you said something the wrong way, you are giving improper advise. What you said is just plainly wrong. It's obvious you know something about networking but in which case I cant understand how you don't know what a 169.254 IP address is.
This has nothing to do with a loop back address, the client is set to receive IP via DHCP but that request is not being met. The host self assigns a 169.254.x.x /16 address. Yes I'm fully conversant with IPv4 and IPv6, binary,hex etc etc, its how I make a living that doesn't change the error in your advise.

Turn DHCP off on your router plug your host into it, release and renew and you will end up with this address.

Sorry about your burger troubles, no one is trying to upset you here.

i'm sorry, i'm just slowly losing my intelligence... i used to be the go to for such problems in the neighborhood now no one understands me, and i get more and more frustrated over it. It does feel like i'm being attacked every time someone says "that is clearly wrong and you don't know what you're talking about" i've spent years learning this and practicing almost all of what i'm saying.

Just forget i even said anything, Networking and Communication Management... wasted education on a failing brain.

Relax man, it's all good.

i'm curious though, if specifying an IP would work for him in this situation as it would seem the DHCP isn't assigning one, or if resetting the modem fixes anything...
if we don't here from him i'll assume he fixed it one way or another, I admit i'm guilty of not remembering to leave a comment on whether or not my issue was resolved. I'm assuming silence is usually a sign of "it works now, thanks"

There are plenty of reasons why DHCP might be failing, at the host level or the network level. It's a port based service so firewalls and antivirus come into play as well as the services themselves on the router and host.

Where is your DHCP server?

C:\Users\Kamik>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-V6HU6G9
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82583V Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 60-A4-4C-60-FF-C8
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5437:d4f:d8e7:2ac1%18(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.223(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 28, 2016 10:28:40 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 28, 2016 11:28:39 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 90219596
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1F-8A-D7-FF-60-A4-4C-60-FF-C8
DNS Servers. . . . . . . . . . . : 24.196.64.53
8.8.8.8
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : mshome.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : ASUS PCE-N53 300Mbps 11n dual band Wireless PCI-E card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 30-85-A9-F3-72-74
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 30-85-A9-F3-72-76
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Tunngle:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : TAP-Win32 Adapter V9 (Tunngle)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-1D-25-A9-2C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 5C-F3-70-79-6F-55
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{F24BE5E0-F475-4365-AAE7-F77CA50A81A0}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:90d7:3452:f4:b8a6:383d(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3452:f4:b8a6:383d%15(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 318767104
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1F-8A-D7-FF-60-A4-4C-60-FF-C8
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:\Users\Kamik>

ugh, looks like i forgot to turn off my IPv6 crap...