How long should a client wait for a DHCPOFFER?

[Frances Albemuth]

On 10/13/06, Aaron Bennett <abennett at clarku.edu> wrote:
> Frances Albemuth wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> >  This isn't so much an issue or question specific to the ISC DHCP
> > server, but more a general question.  I'm having trouble finding an
> > authoritative source or even a general understanding regarding
> > guidelines for how long a client should wait to hear a DHCPOFFER.  I'm
> > dealing with a particular vendor of consumer class routing devices
> > whose DHCP client implementation isn't tolerant of any delay (e.g.
> > DHCP relay, a la Windows 95, I suppose).  I would like to have
> > something to direct them to in hopes of persuading them to modify the
> > wait time in their next firmware release.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2131.html
>
> I think the relevant section is:
>
> > The client times out and retransmits the DHCPREQUEST message if the
> >      client receives neither a DHCPACK or a DHCPNAK message.  The client
> >      retransmits the DHCPREQUEST according to the retransmission
> >      algorithm in section 4.1.  The client should choose to retransmit
> >      the DHCPREQUEST enough times to give adequate probability of
> >      contacting the server without causing the client (and the user of
> >      that client) to wait overly long before giving up; e.g., a client
> >      retransmitting as described in section 4.1 might retransmit the
> >      DHCPREQUEST message four times, for a total delay of 60 seconds,
> >      before restarting the initialization procedure.  If the client
> >      receives neither a DHCPACK or a DHCPNAK message after employing the
> >      retransmission algorithm, the client reverts to INIT state and
> >      restarts the initialization process.  The client SHOULD notify the
> >      user that the initialization process has failed and is restarting.
>
>
> --
> Aaron Bennett
> Sr. Unix Systems Administrator
> Clark University ITS
> abennett at clarku.edu     |     508.781.7315
>
>
>