[GH-ISSUE #5730] external ip address change makes netbird unable to connect #11696

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opened 2026-08-05 01:30:32 -04:00 by saavagebueno · 1 comment
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Originally created by @mikebakke on GitHub (Mar 30, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/5730

I have just changed ISP to a provider who changes my IP address very frequently and whenever it changes, netbird has real issues dealing with it.

After the change, if I do netbird status it says connected but an attempt to connect to another peer fails with no route to host. Issuing netbird down/up does not resolve, the solution appears to be to systemctl restart netbird on both client peers, after which everything will start working again.

What confuses me is that the addresses of both peers inside my LAN are netbird assigned and do not change when the external address changes so why can these 2 peers not connect as they originally did?

It makes sense that the mgt server will be unreachable until I sort the DNS for the URL, but why does this matter when both clients are up with their original internal IP?

I'm likely going to try hosting the netbird server side on a fixed IP VPS but honestly have little confidence that will help if the clients themselves are reacting to an external change directly.

Much confusion.

Originally created by @mikebakke on GitHub (Mar 30, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird/issues/5730 I have just changed ISP to a provider who changes my IP address very frequently and whenever it changes, netbird has real issues dealing with it. After the change, if I do netbird status it says connected but an attempt to connect to another peer fails with no route to host. Issuing netbird down/up does not resolve, the solution appears to be to systemctl restart netbird on both client peers, after which everything will start working again. What confuses me is that the addresses of both peers *inside* my LAN are netbird assigned and do not change when the external address changes so why can these 2 peers not connect as they originally did? It makes sense that the mgt server will be unreachable until I sort the DNS for the URL, but why does this matter when both clients are up with their original internal IP? I'm likely going to try hosting the netbird server side on a fixed IP VPS but honestly have little confidence that will help if the clients themselves are reacting to an external change directly. Much confusion.
saavagebueno added the triage-needed label 2026-08-05 01:30:32 -04:00
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@pacjo commented on GitHub (May 23, 2026):

Hi, I found this to be the issue with default networking configuration on NixOS. Changing dns service to systemd-resolved fixed the problem for me. Simple as adding this to configuration/module:

services.resolved.enable = true;

DNS works instantly after changing networks and after some time netbird notices the change too.

<!-- gh-comment-id:4526207363 --> @pacjo commented on GitHub (May 23, 2026): Hi, I found this to be the issue with default networking configuration on NixOS. Changing dns service to systemd-resolved fixed the problem for me. Simple as adding this to configuration/module: ```nix services.resolved.enable = true; ``` DNS works instantly after changing networks and after some time netbird notices the change too.
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Reference: DYNR/netbird#11696