I've noticed the same thing and I've done a similar change in the /etc/network/interfaces file. change: "allow-hotplug eth0" to: "auto eth0" I'm not sure what is causing the problem and don't know which package to file a bug against. I'm assuming that "allow-hotplug eth0" does a cable check on eth0's NIC and if found brings up eth0. Whether it is doing the dhclient I don't know. Anyone, any ideas?