No ethernet connection

[techgeek34]

I have a Dell laptop that is wired and wireless. I have both connections in my office. I have a docking station also. When I am unplugged (ethernet wise) I am able to hit the office network. When I am plugged into the docking station I am able to connect also. But when I plug into the ethernet port on the laptop itself, I am unable to connect. Any ideas?

 

[LawnBoy]

Sounds like a good plan to me... When on the docking station you have wired, when not docked you have wireless. The laptop is probably configured to not allow both at the same time, as it would create a loop in the network.

 

[wahnula]

But when I plug into the ethernet port on the laptop itself, I am unable to connect. Any ideas?

Go to Start/Settings/Network Connections and make sure the onboard NIC is enabled. In my old Dell laptop there was a separate NIC in the docking station and another in the mini-PCI slot.

If you have an SBS 2003 network (or Server 2003 I will guess) at work your NIC must be configured to get to the server's NIC, not an automatic setting. Check each NIC's Properties especially TCP/IP Properties. Copy over any DNS or IP information from the working, wireless NIC.

SBS2003 will not set up any client PC that has more than one NIC enabled, but once the client is set up that restriction is lifted. I have the exact situation now but with an Asus home-brew laptop.

In fact, I tossed my docking station because its NIC was only 10/100, not the 10/100/1000 gigabit NIC like the laptop's RJ-45 port. Best of luck.

Tony

 

[CorruptedLogic]

In my experience, newer Dell laptops disable the onboard wired NIC as a powersaving "feature" when they are not docked or connected to AC power. You can disable the "feature" but it has caused me several headaches in the past. Also, having both the wired NIC and the wireless NIC enabled at the same time, connected to the same network, is never a good idea. Bad things happen (like you get really weird connectivity issues!).

HTH!

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