hello

 

i have a dell dimension 5100. after 12 months or so with perfect internet, i now have a major problem, and hope that you can help

 

im having trouble connecting to the net, with the error message, "limited or no connectivity". being shown.

 

i use ntl, and they have told me that everything is fine from there end, the signal is coming through my set top box loud and clear, and that it must be a pc problem. i have used the xp service pack2  hot fix, and that hasnt helped.

 

i use to connect via ethernet through my set top box, on 1 mg broadband. and it was on that set up when the problem started.

 

i have recently changed to 10 mg, and have had a cable modem fitted as a go between, connecting my pc and set top box. after the cable modem was installed, i re registered my pc with ntl, and the net worked fine for 2 days, and has been off since. approx 10 days.

 

when i try to repair the connection, it fails, and says that the network failed to assign a network address to my pc.

 

the ip address always starts with 169. and says it was assigned by the dhcp.

 

i have tried reinstalling my network adapter and this hasnt worked either. im not an expert on pcs by a long way, so i may have written useless information, but im trying to get everything down so that someone reading this will see the problem.

 

i have been told that the only thing left that could be the problem ,is the network card,

 

so i was hoping that someone could confirm this, and advise me on which network card to purchase to replace it.

 

i will be checking back in a few days, using my local library for the internet.

 

so hopefully, someone can help. 

 

perhaps there is another hotfix that i can try? or an obvious solution that has worked in the past.

 

thanks in advance,

 

stephen