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phildexter

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 22, 2004
47
0
I'm using a powerbook G4 to connect, and plugging a LAN cable into my modem which is also linked to my pc. It says in the "Network status" tab that the ethernet cable is connected and that I am connected to the internet, yet when I open explorer, safari, etc. they all say "this server could not be found" I've tried everything I can think of and I'm starting to go a little crazy, lol. Any help would be great. thanks!
 
I was thinking of turning the firewall off, but I'm really worried about viruses, etc and don't fully understnad Proxys, etc.......
 
phildexter said:
I'm using a powerbook G4 to connect, and plugging a LAN cable into my modem which is also linked to my pc. It says in the "Network status" tab that the ethernet cable is connected and that I am connected to the internet, yet when I open explorer, safari, etc. they all say "this server could not be found" I've tried everything I can think of and I'm starting to go a little crazy, lol. Any help would be great. thanks!


Lets make sure you have your terminology correct.

Is your Ethernet line connect to your MODEM or your ROUTER?

Depending on which, this will entail different things.

If you are connected to a router with the PPPoE connections already setup, then you need to switch your Ethernet settings (in the Networks control panel) to TCP/IP and choose DHCP.

Otherwise if you're connected to your modem you need to configure your PPPoE settings in the same panel instead.
 
phildexter said:
I'm using a powerbook G4 to connect, and plugging a LAN cable into my modem which is also linked to my pc. It says in the "Network status" tab that the ethernet cable is connected and that I am connected to the internet, yet when I open explorer, safari, etc. they all say "this server could not be found" I've tried everything I can think of and I'm starting to go a little crazy, lol. Any help would be great. thanks!

More details please:

What is your Internet connection type? cable modem, DSL, dial up???
You mention another PC. Is there a router in the mix? ethernet hub?

You describe connecting the PBook to the PC via your PB modem?? None of which make sense.

Something like this would be my recommendation:

PBook
\
Router-DSL or cable modem-Internet
/
PC

Things to look out for:
-many ISPs require the MAC address of the computer. Most routers can 'spoof' the MAC address to allow sharing the Internet connection.
-watch out for straight through vs. cross over ethernet patch cables. Computer to computer connections need cross-over cables. Computer to network device (hub, router, cable modem) connections use straight cables.
-enter DNS info in the router config. If you can't get to any websites, try entering this: http://17.112.152.32/ it should get you to Apple.com. that will tell you if DNS if mis configured.
 
Ok I'm using Cable broadband, my pc is connected to the modem or router, I'm not sure what it is exactly which sits ontop of my pc, with a USB cable connecting it to the PC, the internet runs fine on my PC at the moment. However there is an Ethernet port also on the modem/router?? which I was told I could just connect my powerbook to and access the internet this way. So when my pc is off, I can use my Powerbook and when my powerbook is off I can use my pc, I hope this is making sense to someone, lol. Now then, when I connect my LAN cable or ethernet cable from my powerbook to the modem/router it detects it and everything lights up green, excellent! and my powerbook says I'm connected to the internet, I just can't get pages to load or anything :( The unit that sits on my PC, which runs the USB to my PC and the Ethernet cable to my powerbook is called an SB5100 SURFboard cable modem, hope that's of some help to people.
 
I really would try turning the Mac firewall off first (System prefs - Sharing) to see whether this fixes it....
 
phildexter said:
The unit that sits on my PC, which runs the USB to my PC and the Ethernet cable to my powerbook is called an SB5100 SURFboard cable modem, hope that's of some help to people.


That's your modem, not your router. Unfortunately I don't know as much about cable setups... so I can't really help you there. If in fact it is using PPPoE, then you need to reconfigure your network settings for PPPoE and provide the username/pass, THEN use "Internet Connect" to dial into your PPPoE broadband connection.
 
I think the modem works in that it can be connected to by USB OR by ethernet. Get a router, ther are cheap these days. Connect the modem to the router with ethernet and the computers to the router.
 
yippy said:
I think the modem works in that it can be connected to by USB OR by ethernet. Get a router, ther are cheap these days. Connect the modem to the router with ethernet and the computers to the router.

Yep. If you connect both the Mac and the PC through the modem, they are essentially fighting for the single IP address that you cable provider gives you through the modem.

Throw a router into the mix (a cheap wired one can be had for $30 - $40 dollars) to distribute that single IP address to multiple devices. pncc gives a nice text "graphic" of how to hook it up. Note that an ethernet hub will not fix the problem.

You may need to either clone the MAC (not Mac) address of your PC or name the router the same as your PC (depending on how your cable provider recognizes what's connected to the modem), but both of those can easily be done by the router.
 
I think I had the same or similar problem. I have NTL (uk cable company) broadband. My ibook was set up and then I set up my work PC. After several months my ibook just stopped working, same error "server not found". In the end I reinstalled the broadband CD on my ibook and it worked again straight away.
 
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