ARP and DHCP same address to different device

arpdhcp

On my work network, when I go to my DHCP server, then open DHCP > domain_name > IPv4 > Address Leases, I found that 192.168.160.7 is assigned to a iPad device (connected via Wifi).

When I use command prompt and type "arp -a" I found that 192.168.160.7 is mapped to a MAC address which is a desktop computer.

How is this possible? How do I know which device really has that IP?

Thank you in advance!

Best Answer

It is possible your PC has an old ARP entry in the table. If the PC did not perform an ARP request for this IP address recently, while the IP was assigned to a new device.

If you ping the address, your ARP table should update with the new MAC address after the original ARP entry has expired due the aging timer.

This is of course, providing you do not have an IP conflict and the desktop has a static IP address assigned while the DHCP gave out the same IP address to another device.