VM does not get an assigned DHCP address when using Wifi Bridging in VMware Workstation

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware Workstation 17.x Pro (for Windows)
• VMware Workstation

Issue/Introduction

• VMware Workstation 17 or newer, configured Network bridging using a physical wifi networking adapter
• Installed VM does not receive an assigned DHCP address.
• Packet captures on host OS and guest OS show no DHCP packets received from DHCP server

Environment

• VMware Workstation 17.x
• VMware Workstation 25H2

Cause

• This issue is caused by setting within 3rd party access point hardware.
• The access point is limiting MAC address assignment and causing the packets to be dropped. 

Resolution

• Investigate 3rd party access point for Wifi and verify nothing is preventing MAC address changes or DHCP leases from being sent to the host or guest OS.