You are troubleshooting an IEEE 802.11 wireless client device that cannot connect to the wireless network. You notice the client utility shows good signal strength but will not connect to the network. After opening a command prompt and typing the ipconfig command, you notice the IP address is 169.254.12.50. You suspect the IP address is not valid and could be causing the problem. What potential problem could cause this IP address?

A potential problem that could cause this is if there's an issue with the DHCP.

Explanation:

Firstly, without a valid IP address your computer cannot use the network. Some of the problems can that can make an IP address invalid, are address conflicts with other computers and network configuration problems.

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is the network service in routers that offers a convenient way to automatically assign IP addresses to computers joining a network.  So when the IEEE 802.11 wireless client device connects to the wireless network, it should be assigned an IP address automatically. However, DHCP-generated addresses can sometimes cause problems. This happens when Windows assigns the IEEE 802.11 wireless client device an address before your Internet router does. The IP address may be invalid if it conflicts with the network's address range. Therefore, making the device not to connect to the wireless network.