Inspiron 2500 DSL problem (wrong forum?)

Question

My dad has an Inspiron 2500. He says it has a internal ethernet card. He recently got dsl and can't get it to configure. So he brings it to me.

The thing is, on the right side, near the front.. there is a place to plug in for the modem, then next to it under a little cap.. is a place to put your networking cable. Plug it in, it still doesn't work.

I go to the hardware profiles... all it has under modem is Lucent WinModem.

I try to set it up on our LAN at my house, should be a little easier than just dsl.. it can't detect a networking card.

I know absolutely nothing about laptops and I really need to get his dsl going for him (he knows less than me).

Would the ethernet card be under some other place? Does it need drivers? Does it even HAVE one? What do I do?

jwatt · Answer

eirlys,

Judging from the cap placed over the RJ-45 connector and that no Ethernet adapter is listed in the Device Manager, there's no Ethernet adapter present. Did you check under "Network Adapters" in the Device Manager? That's where the Ethernet adapter should appear.

Ethernet was optional with the 2500. You can check to see whether the system was ordered with one either by checking the invoice for the system, or looking up its "as-shipped" configuration under "Product Support/Service & Warranties" at the top of the Forum window. You'll need the machine's Service Tag to locate the information.

If there really isn't a card, it's possible to purchase a PCMCIA ("PC Card") or Cardbus external Ethernet adapter for the system.

Jim

Johnhowell · Answer

eirlys,   I had this problem, the internal card was only for the Dial-Up RJ11 port.  When this failed I got a replacement which caused major problems with the laptop and I had to reinstall Windows!   I got off e-bay a Xircom PCMCIA Ethernet+Modem Adapter card which works brilliantly, about £14.   Regards, John

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Inspiron 2500 DSL problem (wrong forum?)

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