Manually try changing the speed and duplex of your NIC on your PC, as it could be an autonegotiation issue with your NIC which is causing the problem. Step through the following scenarios and see if link is restored - working from the lowest common denominator

10 M - Half Duplex

10M Full Duplex

100M Half Duplex

100M Full Duplex

You should hopefully find a combination that works.....if all this fails then I would say you NIC card is faulty.

Lets do some basic IP (Internet Protocol) Network checks first.


(1) Is your computer set for dynamic IP address allocation - DHCP or static IP...check via the network connection and TCPIP properties tab.....should be DHCP ideally

(2) Does your computer get allocated an IP address ok ? - check by Start - Run - winipcfg (Win98) or ipconfig/all (win2k/XP)... ......this is a part of windows "Windows IP Configuration" and will tell you if its communicating okay with the router. You should have the IP address, Subnet mask and default gateway fields all populated.

(3) Assuming all the above are okay can you ping the router "Start - Run - command"....this will open a DOS shell window for your - white on black.......just issue the command "ping ip_address" where Ip_address is the default-gateway (router) IP address. You should get a "Reply in X ms" if all is well

(4) Post the results to help the diagnosis be completed.then try a "ping www.dell.com" and a "tracert www.dell.com" to see if basic Ip connectivity and DNS (Domain Name Server) are working correctly.

Reasons for the "Network Cable Unpligged" message:

1. The network cable really is unplugged.
2. The network cable is defective.
3. It's plugged in, but there's nothing connected to the other end.
4. It's plugged in and connected on both ends, but the device on the other end isn't turned on.
5. The cable is the wrong type. Connecting two computers directly, without a hub, switch, or router, requires a crossover cable. A regular, straight-through cable won't work.
6. The cable is connected to the uplink port on a hub, switch, or router, instead of a regular port.
7. Some hubs, switches, and routers disable the port next to the uplink port when the uplink port is in use.
8. The network card driver program isn't working right. Download and install the latest XP-compatible driver from the manufacturer's web site.
9. The network card is configured to automatically sense speed and duplex settings but isn't doing it correctly. Set those options manually, as shown here:
10. Time for a new network card.

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/troubleshoot/networkcard.htm

(Credit goes to the Microsoft.Public.WindowsXP.network_web newsgroup and Forum Regular volcano11 for developing this check list.)

1) Dynamic address is enabled (auto ip address), in the advanced screen I see DHCP is enabled.

2) I can't get into ipconfig, (im using XP) when I type ipconfig a DOS window pops up for a second, then goes away.  I'm sure Im not communicating with the routher tho, since the lights on the ethernet port are off.

I did try a ping, but I got "destination host unreachable"

Make sure you issue command via

Start -> Run -> cmd          /*this will open a 32 bit command shell - DOS window

Then issue commamd

ipconfig/all

I think you missed the "cmd" bit - wait for the DOS screen to appear and then enter "ipconfig/all" - without the quotes

yep, thats what happened :)

I went ahead and bought a PCMCIA NIC and it works, so I guess I will stick with that (though it would be nice to use the onboard instead)