Help with Network Cable Unplugged???

level of computer experience: Novice


Hi could anyone help me out?

I decided to tool around with my network so i could file share between my pc and laptop (which didn't work cause i don't know much about this stuff) and now on my laptop LAN doesn't work. the Local area connection says it pretty much works but it says "network cable unplugged" so technically it doesn't work. The wireless card works (u.s. robotics)it says it gets a strong signal to my router (netgear mr814). Ive tried uninstalling the network adapter (start>control panel>system>hardware>device manager) but it just reinstalls itself automatically and still says the same thing. What do i need to do to get it to connect to the net again? Everything on my PC still works fine its just the laptop that is having issues

thanks a bunch
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1. the results of an ipconfig when you are connected via wireless:

I'm getting the Autoconfiguration Ip address starting with 169

when i typed ipconfig/release it says
no operation can be performed on local area connection while it has its media disconnected.

Ethernet adapter local area connection:
Media state : Media disconnected


when i typed ipconfig/renew it says
no operation can be performed on local area connection while it has its media disconnected.
An error occurred while renewing interface wireless network connection: an operation was attempted on something that is not a socket


so then i followed this link

i got up till the "Click on 'start' then 'run', type the following: netsh int ip reset log.txt Click 'ok'" info

So far everything still says that "network cable unplugged" What am i doing wrong?

I'm guessing that you're WEP/WPA security is messed up.

If you've read the second sticky you know that a 169 IP address means the PC self-assigned one because it couldn't talk to the router.

However, let's make sure this is a wireless configuration issue and not a laptop issue. To determine this, connect the laptop to the router via a wired ethernet connection and reboot the laptop.

If you have a successful network connection, we have successfully isolated the problem to being one of wireless configuration.

The easiest way to resolve this is to go to the second sticky and follow the step-by-step instructions for establishing a wireless network. Make sure you do a hard reset on the router (this is important) and also make sure you use the wireless configuration tool supplied by the manufacturer, not the windows Wireless Zero Configuration utility (This is also important as the WZC is problematic)

souperbait00 said: I'm pretty sure the router is working because the card shows a strong connection and the wireless network connection is enabled and working perfectly.


EDIT: ok connecting the cat 5 to my router has made the LAN work.Good. So we proved that its not a PC software issue. Post back when you've reconfigured your wireless connection from a clean slate

double post

ellory said: souperbait00 said: while the cat5 has enabled the LAN to work. i cant seem to get IE or aol etc to connect to the net from working offline.

is this a problem or should i just try the instructions you said and move on.You have a problem and should not move on until we figure out what has caused this and how to resolve it.

It may have something to do with the other web page you linked to earlier. Some of the advice there is bad and may have compounded your problems

Please post back with specifics of what AOL is doing. Try a ping to yahoo or another website and post back the results

eek didnt see this post before i downloaded the firmware on my pc to the netgear router. i unplugged the router and have also restarted it and the laptop. so far it doesnt seem to have fixed the issue.

You are still putting the cart before the horse. Please do an "ipconfig /all" and post the entire results here. The fact that the wireless monitor says you have a strong connection doesn't mean a thing. It is only a measure of recieved signal strength and only tells you that the wireless card in the router is working. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether the laptop is actually connected or not.

I'm lost.

Please connect back to a wired connection. Post back with the results on an ipconfig /all. Also verify you have internet, AOL, etc. connectivity

Let's make sure your can connect over a wired connection before we move on to wireless

mogalapr said: Do you have any fire wall on this computer? May be you need to configure your fire wall. Like if you have your firewall set to block all or something like that that pretty much is the problem.A firewall shouldn't prevent assignment of an IP address.

Frankly, though, I'm having a very difficult time understanding exactly what happened originally and what steps are being followed now - and the effect they're having.

souperbait00, no offense intended, but absolute precision is required for remote troubleshooting in the fashion that we're operating.

I'm thinking that you should find a friend or hire someone locally to help you

ellory said: mogalapr said: Do you have any fire wall on this computer? May be you need to configure your fire wall. Like if you have your firewall set to block all or something like that that pretty much is the problem.A firewall shouldn't prevent assignment of an IP address.

Frankly, though, I'm having a very difficult time understanding exactly what happened originally and what steps are being followed now - and the effect they're having.

souperbait00, no offense intended, but absolute precision is required for remote troubleshooting in the fashion that we're operating.

I'm thinking that you should find a friend or hire someone locally to help you

I'm giving you all the info and have written down every step ive done from the stickys you have told me to go to. not sure what you think i'm not letting you know.

Assuming this is from a wired connection, your entire IP connection is somehow broken. More puzzling is that you reported that you had LAN access when you were connected via wired ethernet. Which is impossible with this 169 address.

Again, no offense intended, but I'm just not understanding - maybe its just been a long day for me and I'm just not getting.

Regardless, I'm clearly not helping and will leave this to others

Best of luck

OP! Could you also see in the router settings if you have limited the number of IP addresses to 3 in your router.

How did you try to share? Did you use window network setup? Did you indicate that this computer would connect to internet from a different computer? What was the setting that you choose to share files? Could you share files at any point of time?

mogalapr said: How did you try to share? Did you use window network setup? Did you indicate that this computer would connect to internet from a different computer? What was the setting that you choose to share files? Could you share files at any point of time?

I used the network setup wizard & wireless network setup wizard on my pc. i remember that when i used the wireless network setup wizard they had me download some file to the laptop and when i went to open that file on the laptop thats when i saw that the LAN didnt work and said it "network unplugged"

mogalapr said: It should be like 1 to 100 or something? The default setting is 100. But in case you have changed the settings! Do you have any security settings in place? Please tell me if you have a firewall.

dont think netgear has that.

firewalls on which the pc or laptop? both have some but neither has been changed.

souperbait00 said: mogalapr said: It should be like 1 to 100 or something? The default setting is 100. But in case you have changed the settings! Do you have any security settings in place? Please tell me if you have a firewall.

dont think netgear has that.

firewalls on which the pc or laptop? both have some but neither has been changed.

Firewall on the PC.

Which fire wall is that? Can you shut down the firewall and try connecting to the internet?

souperbait00 said: mogalapr said: Which fire wall is that? Can you shut down the firewall and try connecting to the internet?

i have windows xp firewall and also avast!

Lets make sure:

You are on wired connection right now.
You have shut down all the firewalls on your computer that you have problem with.
Did you rerun the network setup wizard from control panel as said earlier?
In the internet options in control panel go to Connections > Lan setting and uncheck all.

I feel bad when some one leaves with issue unresolved in FW paticulary when it is trivial.

drodge said: Just for clarity sake, plese reiterate one more time. The desktop is working fine and can get to the internet, correct? The laptop is the only system having these issues?

correct

If so, there are only two overarching possabilities: either the router isn't haanding out DHCP addresses or the laptop either isn't requesting one or isn't accepting the one it gets. Since the desktop was able to get one, I suspect it's the laptop that's the issue. The easiest way to get to the root is to forget the wireless for the time being and focus on the wired.

Physically remove the wireless card from the laptop and do not reinsert until the wired network is working again. Next, reboot the machine. Go into the hardware manager and remove the NIC. Then reboot again and let the system find the NIC. Then reboot the router. Lastly, plug the cable into the router and do another ipconfig /all. You should have an address that starts with 192.168 and you should see the router's address in the default Gateway box. If not, you have other issues and we can diagnose 1 step at a time.

Also, please answer the firewall issue. I've never seen a default firewall config stop a DHCP request, but I suppose anything is possible. Also, I assume that you are possitive that you have a good cable and that it's a stright through, not a crossover.

I have stopped both firewall. let me follow your above instructions and see if they work.

I have dealt with this issue many times so I'll jump in here and hope I don't land on anyone's toes. There are many possibilities that come to mind.

1) When I use a CAT5 with my Dell Latitude, after I log into Windows 2K, it takes a long minute for the hard drive to stop thrashing and the Windows Local Area Connection icon to notify me that the network is connected in the system tray (icons on the bottom right of the screen). I open IE but I don't get the Internet right away. IE has to "detect the network settings". If I open IE before the DHCP address is assigned, then I can't go online. If your network card has a solid orange light and an intermittent blinking light, then you should be okay. Give it some time and check the lights on the NIC. Sounds ridiculous but it's the least invasive. If this does not work, go to the next step.

2) Assuming you have WinXP, open Control Panel -> System. Click on the "Hardware" tab and then the "Device Manager" button. Do you see any items in the Device Manager window with a yellow question mark or red exclamation point next to it? If so, please list them. If not, go to the next step.

3) Shut down your desktop. Disconnect the CAT5 cable from your desktop and connect it to your laptop. Try to use your laptop to connect the Internet. If this does not work, go to the next step.

4) Open the Control Panel. Open Network Connections. Right-click on Local Area Connection and left-click on Properties. Click on TCP/IP and the Properties button. Click on the radio button next to "Use the following IP address". Reconnect your desktop to the router. Run "ipconfig /all" on your desktop to fill in values for the following.
(assuming your router is 192.168.1.100 and your desktop is 192.168.1.101)
IP Address: 192.168.1.102
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.100
Click on the radio button next to "Use the following DNS server addresses".
Use the DNS values from the "ipconfig /all" or as provided by your ISP.
Open IE and see if you can access the Internet.
You may need to restart your laptop for the changes to take effect.

5) Disconnect the cable from the desktop and manually change the IP address on the laptop to 192.168.1.101 as previously described. Try to access the Internet again.

If none of the above works, then it's possible that the NIC card on your laptop has failed. We've ruled out the network cable, the router, and Windows. Wireless is more difficult to resolve. Hmmm, a US Robotics card to a Netgear router. First, try the above and post back.

Glad its working. Note though, that the very first post on Nov 14th - two weeks ago identifed misconfigured WZC as the cause and recommended the manufacturer supplied tool be used. If that simple step had been performed, this issue would have been resolved within 9 minutes !

on Nov/01/2005 9 minutes after the first post - ellory said: make sure you use the wireless configuration tool supplied by the manufacturer, not the windows Wireless Zero Configuration utility (This is also important as the WZC is problematic)