What it means
The DHCP server offered an address but the client never accepted it.
Why it happens
- The client does not receive replies: VLAN mismatch, wireless issue, or the client sits behind another DHCP server.
- The address pool is exhausted or the offered address conflicts.
- A device that sends DHCP by mistake (IoT, broken NIC).
How to fix it
- Check that the client is in the same VLAN/bridge as the DHCP server.
- Look at /ip dhcp-server lease for conflicts; enlarge the pool.
- If the MAC is unknown, find the device by vendor (MAC lookup).
Useful tools
MAC lookup · IPv4 subnet calculator
Other MikroTik errors
- login failure for user admin from 198.51.100.7 via ssh
- pppoe-out1: terminating... - authentication failed
- pppoe-out1: terminating... - peer is not responding
- ether2: bridge port received packet with own address as source address (64:d1:54:00:00:01)
- dhcp-client on ether1 lost IP address 203.0.113.25 - received NAK from dhcp server 203.0.1