Connecting Vista Home to wired network

[theniteowl]

Hi All.
I am trying to work on a friends PC. Never worked on Vista before.
I cannot connect to my switch based local network/internet connection. It always shows the network as unidentified.

Trying to add a new network only gives me options for connecting to an internet connection requiring password/ID or wireless. It gives no options for connecting to an existing wired network and the machine does not have Wifi.

The only existing network setup is PPPOE. It seems to only want to connect directly to a DSL or Cable modem and not an existing network.

Ideas? Probalby simple but this is my first exposure to Vista.

At my age I still learn something new every day, but I forget two others.

 

[linney]

Is there any firewall blocking the connection?

Windows Vista Networking

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa905087.aspx

How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;325487

File and Printer Sharing in Windows Vista

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/evaluate/vista_fp.mspx#E5B

What operating systems are running on either machine, are they both Vista?

 

[theniteowl]

Still no luck but I have not gone through all the information in all of those links.
I think the problem though may be related to the fact that the built-in ethernet adaptor is 1Gig and it is connected with a standard Cat5 cable to a 100Mb network.
Network status shows a 100Mb connection but with no access to anything.

It just strikes me as odd that when I try to add a new network the only option I have is PPPOE.

At my age I still learn something new every day, but I forget two others.

 

[linney]

If you run the Command IPconfig /all on both machines it will report to you the IP settings of both machines. If you post the results here we can verify that they look correct.

Is the second machine a Windows 7 machine using "Home Networking"? Is the switch you mention faulty? Is the cabling faulty?

This is old but it covers what you mentioned about speed of adapter.

WinXP Connectivity Issues
Slow Logon to Windows 2000 Domains
FAQ779-4017: Slow Logon to Windows 2000 Domains

Running this command may help too.

Netsh Winsock Reset

 

[aich69]

Some good links from linney there so well worth a look at those before moving on.
The least likely thing here is that the gigabit NIC is having trouble working with a 100mb switch, I've yet to see a pc/laptop with a 1000mb only NIC/that can't work with 100 or even 10mb. Providing the NIC is actually fit for work I think you can forget the NIC.

I used to have a handle on life... but it broke. Cpt. Red Bull

 

[theniteowl]

From what I have read a Gigabit NIC requires Cat 5e or 6 cable and may not work with a standard Cat5. I have not found anything definitive on it though and what the results might be with a standard Cat5 cable.

The machine appears to be infected with something. It came with Norton 360 which will no longer run and I need to install something else and bring it up to date.

At my age I still learn something new every day, but I forget two others.

 

[firewolfrl]

you have to be kidding?
cat5e is fine with a gigabit system...I have run it for years with no issues at all

now what limits you is if you use a 100mb network switch

I use routers and switches that are rated for 1000mb

now the real issue is your spyware

 

[aich69]

echo firewolfrl... no issues with gigabit NIC's and Cat5e cable.

Infected with something

Get rid of Norton asap... I wouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't the thing causing the networking problem, it's a total nightmare at times... even seen it cut off internet connection completely because it saw it as a threat! You'd be as well to Google 'Norton removal tool'... Symantec (the makers of Norton) produce their own tools to get rid of their AV products 'properly'.

I used to have a handle on life... but it broke. Cpt. Red Bull

 

[theniteowl]

Cat 5e is what is recommended. My cables are Cat5 having been around for quite some time and do not meet the 5e specs.

I have a LinkSys 100MBit wired/wireless router running DD-WRT firmware. I also have a 100MBit switch attached to the router for additional machines but I am not sure if this particular cable goes through the switch or directly to the router. Actually I am not sure if it is a switch or a regular hub I have there but I could try going directly to the router.

I did not want to remove software that came pre-installed as it is not my computer but I will just tell them the software was infected and had to be removed.
I can install Symantec Endpoint Protection which covers a lot more than the Norton 360 would.

I may just give in and go buy a Cat5e or Cat6 cable as well. I would assume no changes in pinout and that the newer cables would work on a 100Mb network.



At my age I still learn something new every day, but I forget two others.

 

[firewolfrl]

really don't think its cable now the switch or hub is an issue...
is the router rated for 100mb or 1000mb? that will make a difference for the internal LAN but really has no affect for the internet access

ugh! Norton...dump it

and to tell the truth I think you have something else going on...check the cable for bends, kinks and/or metal fasteners

here is a great website on the comparisons of cat5 cable

http://discountcablesusa.com/ethernet-cables100.html

It might seem that CAT5 and CAT5e are the same. Pretty much they are, the CAT5e specification simply included some additional limits over the CAT5 specification. The reality is that most CAT5 cable is in fact CAT5e cable just not certified as such

 

[tlcscousin]

Do you have a router?
You say a switch based network which suggests that it goes from a modem (cable or ADSL) to the switch if indeed it is a switch then you can be running into no IP's available because you have as many as your ISP has allocated to you, or being PPPOE they might filter by MAC address allowing only the ones you registered with them an IP.
If indeed you do have a router your router might have MAC filtering on.

 

[theniteowl]

Cable Modem --> 100Mbit wifi/wired router --> 100Mbit hub. I have no 1Gb devices in the house so never upgraded.

The cable is fine as I use it on a regular basis for hooking up machines to work on them and I can swap it to other machines and they work fine.

I will have to check if the specific cable in use is connected through the hub or directly to the router.

The router is setup for DNS and there are plenty of open IP addresses. I tried even to setup a static address for the PC by it's MAC address but my router does not see the device which tells me there is no communication off the PC.
The PC shows a 100Mbit connection with limited/no access and still has a default IP address in the 169. range.
I have not tried running IPConfig on it yet but will give it a try tonight. Was not certain if that program was still available in Vista.

The computer likely has a lot of spyware crap causing issues which is why they wanted me to take a look at it. It could have caused damage to the networking so I cannot get connected but I just do not know much about Vista.

At my age I still learn something new every day, but I forget two others.

 

[firewolfrl]

check and see if another computer works on that lan cable
if it does then it may be a failed network card


lol kinda reaching but what the heck ...can't hurt to check

 

[tlcscousin]

I have almost the same setup cable modem to router router to a 100MB switch. I had vista and now windows 7 connected to the switch using a gigabit network card. Never had that kind of issue, although i have seen times when network cards will not negotiate with different devices.I have had luck setting the link speed duplex to a fixed 10MB half duplex on network cards that wont talk to dome devices themselves.If when forced 10MB half duplex it does get an IP then its just some incompatibility with the setup or possibly a NIC starting to have issues.

 

[goombawaho]

Forget network card being gigabit and forget network cable IF it works with another PC/laptop. Disable/remove Norton to see if it is causing the issue.

 

[linney]

Have you tried a reset of any Router?

If you purchased a Crossover cable you could test the machine with a connection directly into the back of another computer and bypass switch, modems, routers etc.

Sometimes weird things are caused by software that you are running. Norton has been mentioned already. Bonjour Service is another things that can cause problems, even some Nvidia Chipsets come with hidden firewalls.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929135

Testing from "Safe Mode with Networking" might be worth a try too.

 

[tlcscousin]

If you go into the command prompt and do an
ipconfig /renew
What error if any do you get?

 

[franklin97355]

As the others have said "It's not your network!" you are only talking at 100M across your network and 100M can use cat5.

The answer is "42"