Ethernet cable unplugged - when its not 1

[jksmi]

Hi,

I have a problem with connecting to a router - the icon in the system tray is reporting the network cable is unplugged, but its not!? This is what I've tried so far (its actually my father-in-law not me so this was all done over the phone)...

* It was working fine but then just disconnected and wont reconnect (only had it a week).
* he's running Windows XP Home (SP2) and trying to connect to a modem router.
* he tried another cable with no luck, and using a laptop and same cable and can access the router.
* he reset the router to factory settings.
* he rolled back to a previous system (when it was working)
* he spoke to the manufacturer who checked the BIOS and it said that card was enabled
* without doing anything else the connection worked - until about 10 minutes after he'd hung up!
* In the connection properties the adapter is enabled and working.
* The ip settings are all set to dynamically configure (cant remember the exact wording, but ip addresses don't have to be manually typed in)
* Power saving is set for Windows to manage (I did see another post suggesting to turn this off, so I will pass on!)
* There are no flashing lights on the LAN card when the cable and router are plugged in, but the light on the router does pulse slowly.
* I tried disabling and reenabling the connection but that made no difference (repair was greyed out).
* I tried disabling Windows firewall but that made no difference.
* I tried ipconfig release and renew but messages stated that could not perform actions while disconnected.
* ipconfig /all did return the network name, etc.
* I tried pinging the router but no reponse.
* I tried reinstalling the drivers, but that made no odds.
* the factory default for renewing the ip address is 1/2 day

I've had something similar happen to me at work before, so I guess it might be a common problem, but I haven't a clue how the engineer fixed it!?

Any help would be great...



HTH, Jamie
FAQ219-2884

 

[TimRegester]

This sounds like an issue with autonegotiation the port on the router and the port on the pc cannot agree a speed and duplex mode so they cannot connect and there are no lights for the connection.

Enter the properties for the network card/port on the pc and set the speed to 100Mb full duplex. See if that gets a connection. If not and if it is possible, (using a laptop and the web interface) set the router port to 100 full as well. If neither works try the same procedure for 100 half if that still does not work then either the network port on the pc or the router are badly designed and do not follow standards so replace the pc or router.

 

[jksmi]

Thanks, we'll give it a go...

HTH, Jamie
FAQ219-2884