STILL confused with IPCONFIG !!!!!!

[timmy toad]

Hi all, continuing on from an earlier thread, i have now revisited the friend with NO Internet connection on his computer. I am still trying to ascertain that it is his Network PCI card that does need replacing.
So i now type in IPCONFIG on his PC Tower and his Wife's Lap Top and the result for the DEFAULT GATEWAY is exactly the same !
I type in the DEFAULT GATEWAY IP address into the browser window on each computer, as expected the Lap Top could see the Router while his PC Tower could not.
So how does the PC Tower know where/what the Default Gateway is with IPCONFIG but NOT from a Browser window ?
Furthermore i now see his cable connection into his router is YELLOW, while i can plug my Lap Top into the same router socket and it goes GREEN and i can browse the Internet like normal on my lap top.

please see atached photos, Vista powered Lap top is on the left, the PC tower is on the right !!.

tim
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[ChristianJapan]

Often Yellow means 1000MB/s while green indicate 100MB/s connection speed.
That sounds ok to me (is the laptop a bit older ?)

The IP config for the PC can easy be manually configured with the gateway predefined; that could explain the same (correct) setting.

Do you know if the router support DHCP (dynamic IP assignment) ?

Did you tried the same cable for both computer (to make sure one cable is not a cross-over cable).

Does the router support fast Ethernet (1000MB/s) ?

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Just see the images: laptop is on wifi while PC is on cable ?
Can you connect the laptop via cable and resnap an image ?

The router might have different address setting for wifi and cable connection

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Can you make a snapshot of the network setting of PC ?

[timmy toad]

Wowee Buddy that is one helluva lot of questions, and i am NOT going to be very helpful because i cannot answer many of them at all, DAM.

The Vista Lap Top (is a lot newer than the PC tower) was connected wirelessly when i took the picture, i could have used the cable, but i didnt know how to turn off the wireless connection, i pressed the button but nothing happened !, as it wasnt mine i didnt want to mess it up LOL.

Oh yes i tried different cables in different sockets etc. this made no difference.

It was my lap top (mac book pro about 18 months old) that i connected to the router with a cable and got the green light.

The router is a SuperHub supplied by Virgin Media, i dont know any other specs for it, sorry.

Dont know about DHCP either sorry, about all i DO know is, if it is the PCI Network card, i can replace that with my eyes shut LOL.

I am afraid his house is a fair distance from mine !, and he knows absolutely nothing about his PC Tower, he just uses it LOL.

Tim

[ChristianJapan]

This one ?

http://help.virginmedia.com/system/s...MER_TYPE=Cable

Sorry, only one question this time

[timmy toad]

Originally Posted by ChristianJapan

This one ?

http://help.virginmedia.com/system/s...MER_TYPE=Cable

Sorry, only one question this time

Wow, that is excellent, that explains the Green/Yellow lights thanks.

I still need to understand why he doesnt get the Internet !!!

Tim

[jared_kipe]

When you connected your laptop to the ethernet from the router did you turn off your Wifi? Otherwise you might have still been going through your Wifi connection.

Do you have a spare DVD+dvdburner? Or possibly a 4+GB USB thumb drive? If so I would suggest burning a linux live-cd to boot off of and test the hardware. The card could be bad, but I think it is more likely a configuration issue somewhere.

[DJLC]

First, have you...

1) Checked to be sure the TCP/IP settings on the tower match those on the laptop? (Probably Automatic — to check, Control Panel -> Network -> Right-click connection, Properties -> select TCP/IP -> Properties.)

2) Run ipconfig /renew to see if it gets an IP from the router?

3) Run ping 192.168.0.1 to see if the tower can receive communication from the router?

If you can't ping and you don't get an IP when you renew, it's probably the network interface. If you can ping and you do get an IP, it's probably a configuration issue in the browser or router.

[timmy toad]

Originally Posted by jared_kipe

When you connected your laptop to the ethernet from the router did you turn off your Wifi? Otherwise you might have still been going through your Wifi connection.

Do you have a spare DVD+dvdburner? Or possibly a 4+GB USB thumb drive? If so I would suggest burning a linux live-cd to boot off of and test the hardware. The card could be bad, but I think it is more likely a configuration issue somewhere.

Hi jared, i did check i was definitely connected to his router LOL.
Linux, wow i hadnt thought of that one, i have a few more alternatives to try now, but that could be a last resort, thanks.

tim

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Originally Posted by DJLC

First, have you...

1) Checked to be sure the TCP/IP settings on the tower match those on the laptop? (Probably Automatic — to check, Control Panel -> Network -> Right-click connection, Properties -> select TCP/IP -> Properties.)

2) Run ipconfig /renew to see if it gets an IP from the router?

3) Run ping 192.168.0.1 to see if the tower can receive communication from the router?

If you can't ping and you don't get an IP when you renew, it's probably the network interface. If you can ping and you do get an IP, it's probably a configuration issue in the browser or router.

Ok DJLC i shall try all those things in that order.

BUT what IF i get the same IP address after RENEW ?. i really do need all the information i can get LOL

I shall however report back in a day or two thanks one way or the other.

tim

[DJLC]

If you get the same IP, proceed with the ping test. Windows *should* clear out the values if it doesn't receive a reply from the router. The router may issue the same IP if your lease hasn't expired.

The more important test is the ping command. If you can't ping the router, you're getting nowhere.

Looking at the screenshots you posted originally, I'd bet you have a bad ethernet card. It says "Media Disconnected," but you report that it's hard wired. If another ethernet cable doesn't work, that's probably your issue.

[Ap0ks]

Also try an ipconfig /all

Then check that DHCP is enabled on both machines and the DNS servers match for the relevant connections. The DNS server would normally be set to the "superhub".

[timmy toad]

Originally Posted by DJLC

If you get the same IP, proceed with the ping test. Windows *should* clear out the values if it doesn't receive a reply from the router. The router may issue the same IP if your lease hasn't expired.

The more important test is the ping command. If you can't ping the router, you're getting nowhere.

Looking at the screenshots you posted originally, I'd bet you have a bad ethernet card. It says "Media Disconnected," but you report that it's hard wired. If another ethernet cable doesn't work, that's probably your issue.

Thank you very much indeed for your Help, i would much preferred it if i could have brought the dammed thing home with me, as it is, i have to keep phoning him up to see that he is in AND got the kettle on !

Cheers

Tim

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Originally Posted by Ap0ks

Also try an ipconfig /all

Then check that DHCP is enabled on both machines and the DNS servers match for the relevant connections. The DNS server would normally be set to the "superhub".

Thank you buddy for your input to my problem, I shall try the other suggestions first if i may, those two very BIG words you mention, i havent got my head around what those mean yet, hopefully i wont have to LOL.

Tim

[jared_kipe]

Originally Posted by timmy toad

Hi jared, i did check i was definitely connected to his router LOL.
Linux, wow i hadnt thought of that one, i have a few more alternatives to try now, but that could be a last resort, thanks.

tim[COLOR="#808080"]

People may overlook disconnecting the wifi to check connection over ethernet. Pinging the router or something is not a sufficient check.

The linux idea is actually very easy as long as you have a thumbdrive for it. There is a program you can download on macos and linux called unetbootin that will handle downloading the distro and putting it on a thumb drive.

I'd probably suggest Fedora for it. Its also the only really good way to tell almost without a shadow of a doubt if the issue is hardware vs WindowsConfiguration.

[monokakata]

Originally Posted by DJLC

Looking at the screenshots you posted originally, I'd bet you have a bad ethernet card. It says "Media Disconnected," but you report that it's hard wired. If another ethernet cable doesn't work, that's probably your issue.

I agree. "Media disconnected" is explicit and I've never seen it for a software problem. It's also possible that the particular port he's using on the router is bad. I've seen a router that was generally OK but one port was bad.

So I'd suggest moving the cable to another port on the router, first, leaving everything else the same.

Then, a different known-to-be-good cable.

In the US (I'm guessing you're in the UK or a commonwealth country) plain old PCI ethernet cards are very inexpensive. Is your friend capable of ordering a card and installing it? I see them on Amazon for $10-$15 and it might be easier on you and your friend to bet that money on the chance that the card's bad.

In my experience supporting other (non-technical) people, it's a lot easier to walk somebody through a physical operation than a software operation.

[jared_kipe]

Originally Posted by monokakata

I agree. "Media disconnected" is explicit and I've never seen it for a software problem. It's also possible that the particular port he's using on the router is bad. I've seen a router that was generally OK but one port was bad.

So I'd suggest moving the cable to another port on the router, first, leaving everything else the same.

Then, a different known-to-be-good cable.

In the US (I'm guessing you're in the UK or a commonwealth country) plain old PCI ethernet cards are very inexpensive. Is your friend capable of ordering a card and installing it? I see them on Amazon for $10-$15 and it might be easier on you and your friend to bet that money on the chance that the card's bad.

In my experience supporting other (non-technical) people, it's a lot easier to walk somebody through a physical operation than a software operation.

It appears that one screenshot is of a computer running Win7 or Vista with wireless connected to the router on 192.168.0.3. And a completely different computer running WinXP on wired ethernet connected to 192.168.0.4
The only 'media disconnected' I see are related to separate interface devices that are probably literally disconnected. (aka the opposites of the connected interfaces)

[monokakata]

Originally Posted by jared_kipe

It appears that one screenshot is of a computer running Win7 or Vista with wireless connected to the router on 192.168.0.3. And a completely different computer running WinXP on wired ethernet connected to 192.168.0.4
The only 'media disconnected' I see are related to separate interface devices that are probably literally disconnected. (aka the opposites of the connected interfaces)

Indeed you're right. That was careless of me.

[timmy toad]

Howdy folks, thank you for your continued help, i can VERY happily report that i have NOW fixed it, a lot easier than i EVER imagined LOL.
I got it home and did the basic stuff with IPCONFIG and PING and found they gave perfect results, which immediately pointed to a Software issue, so i did a System Restore and perfect result, the Internet connection was immediately restored.

Tim

[ChristianJapan]

Good to hear and thanks for the feedback

[jared_kipe]

Originally Posted by timmy toad

Howdy folks, thank you for your continued help, i can VERY happily report that i have NOW fixed it, a lot easier than i EVER imagined LOL.
I got it home and did the basic stuff with IPCONFIG and PING and found they gave perfect results, which immediately pointed to a Software issue, so i did a System Restore and perfect result, the Internet connection was immediately restored.

Tim

Great, though I personally think a System Restore is a little heavy handed. Windows networking configuration (or rather misconfiguration) is pretty arcane to me.

[Supa_Fly]

Let's start basic.

First ...
Check if the router is to generate a DHCP range of addresses from the service provider, then check BOTH machines that their indeed getting IP & DNS automatically, not pre-assigned.

Check the network properties for each LAN/WLAN connection depending on how their connecting.

I have 2 of the same model laptops in front of me using Win7 Enteprise Edition and BOTH have the Default Gateway which is normal; and one machine is on a domain group the other is not.

Secondly,
you may need to simply reset the cable/dsl modem and plug on workstation directly to it. This will eliminate the router and confirm the service provider allows 1 machine to connect. Then plug out the LAN of the first PC and test the next. If this second machine does NOT connect without restarting/resetting the modem then the ISP only allows 1 connected MAC Address and normally you'd need to call them to reset the connection on their end (Rogers/Cogeco in Canada are FAMOUS for this crap)!

PS: You may need to do this with the first workstation since its MAC Address may not be registered/allowed to connect to the modem, since the router's MAC is.

Now if all is good rest the router and connect it to the cable modem. Then connect both workstations and should be good.