Methods and devices configured for IP address conflict detection and resolution upon assignment of WAN IP address

1. A method of configuring a device couple to a network gateway, comprising:

upon the device being assigned a Wide Area Network (WAN) Internet Protocol (IP) address by the gateway device, the device iteratively:

determining whether a LAN IP address of the device conflicts with the assigned WAN IP address by determining whether the LAN IP address of the device is on a same subnet as the WAN IP address assigned to device;

determining whether the assigned WAN IP address is within a predetermined secondary LAN IP address range;

changing the LAN IP address of the device to a different subnet if the assigned WAN IP address is within the predetermined secondary address range; and

changing the LAN IP address of the device to a host number within the predetermined secondary IP range if the assigned WAN IP address is not within the predetermined secondary LAN IP address range.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining comprises the device interrogating the gateway device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein interrogating comprises one of issuing a “Ping” command and invoking a “traceroute”utility.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device is initially configured with a default LAN IP address and wherein determining comprises determining whether the default LAN IP address conflicts with the assigned WAN IP address.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising overwriting the default LAN IP address of the device with the changed LAN IP address.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising testing whether the device is configured for communication with the gateway device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising routing network traffic between at least one client device and the gateway device.

8. A device configured to couple to a gateway device, the device being configured, upon being assigned a Wide Area Network (WAN) Internet Protocol (IP) address by the gateway device, to iteratively:

determine whether a LAN IP address of the device conflicts with the assigned WAN IP address by determining whether the LAN IP address of the device is on a same subnet as the WAN IP address assigned to device;

determine whether the assigned WAN IP address is within a predetermined secondary LAN IP address range;

change the LAN IP address of the device to a different subnet if the assigned WAN IP address is within the predetermined secondary address range; and

change the LAN IP address of the device to a host number within the predetermined secondary IP range if the assigned WAN IP address is not within the predetermined secondary LAN IP address range.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further configured to interrogate the gateway device upon being assigned a WAN IP address h the gateway device to determine whether the LAN IP address of the device conflicts with the assigned WAN IP address.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the device is configured to interrogate the gateway device by issuing a “Ping.” command or by invoking a “traceroute” utility.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is initially configured with a default LAN IP address and is further configured to determine whether the default LAN IP address conflicts with the assigned WAN IP address.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is further configured to overwrite the default LAN IP address of the device with the changed LAN IP address.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further configured to test whether the device is configured for communication with the gateway device.

14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further configured to route network traffic between at least one client device and the gateway device.