Do you have a wireless router/modem combination or a wireless router hooked to a modem?  Is it a cable modem or a dsl modem?  If it is a cable modem, are doing a complete reset of the network everytime you change the device connected directly to the modem?

Steve

I am using a wireless router hooked to a cable modem, (comcast, ISP). 

"If it is a cable modem, are doing a complete reset of the network everytime you change the device connected directly to the modem?"

Not sure exactly what you are asking.  I have totally shut down the modem and router and reset, I have rebooted my system.  Usually when going from wireless to ethernet, I simply disable the wireless connection, and enable the Local Area Network.  I mostly use the ethernet connection, only recently on a trip did I use the wireless.  When I returned home, I could not no longer connect to the ethernet.  Which is why I did the system restore to before I left town.  Thank you so much for trying to help me.

It is still unclear whether you are trying to connect by ethernet by directly connecting to the cable modem or by connecting to one of the ethernet ports on the router.  Please clarify that.

Then, connect by ethernet, with the wireless disabled and preform the following to help troubleshoot the problem.

On the computer with the problem, go to Start > Run and type cmd then click OK. In the command prompt window that opens, type ipconfig /all then hit the enter key. Write down the output from this command or select it and save it to a txt file, then copy this output into a reply to this message.

Steve

I am connecting to one of the ethernet ports on the wireless router.  We have cable to modem, modem to router (which has 3 computers connected) then Vonage phone from the router.  I just tried totally bypassing the wireless router and connecting straight into the modem.  That works just fine, but then I wont be able to run the other computers or phone service.  My modem only has one ethernet port.

I did as you instructed (before the above) disabled the wireless and did the ipconfig two ways.  This one is when I manually put in the IP:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Michelle Parrish>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Michelle
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-22-E9-85-55
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 192.168.1.103
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.72.130
                                            68.87.77.130

C:\Documents and Settings\Michelle Parrish>

This one is on Automatically find the IP:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Michelle Parrish>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Michelle
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-22-E9-85-55
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.203.119
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\Documents and Settings\Michelle Parrish>

Thank you for being patient with me.

I actually wondered the same thing.  I clicked on Network Connections, Local Area Connections, Properties, then click on TCP/IP, then properties.  Instead of "obtain an IP address auto" I clicked on "use the following IP address" and entered the IP.

I don't understand.  You say that for the first one you "manually put in the IP", yet the first one shows that DHCP is enabled (that means that it is obtaining an IP address automatically from the router).  If you had "manually put in the IP" address, it would say "DHCP enabled ... No",  and would then have a static IP address.   So, I guess what I am asking is how did you "manually put in the IP"? 

Steve

That is very strange.  Does the internet work when you do that?  Do it again and then run the ipconfig /all command again and see if it still says DHCP enabled ....Yes.

Steve

No, the internet has not been working when I do that.  I was hoping it would.  So I did it again, and this time it says DHCP enabled...no.  I'm not sure what I did different this time, I thought it was the same. 

I feel like there is some kind of connection missing in my settings or something.  When I'm wireless enabled, it works fine.  When I switch to Local Area Connection, ethernet, it does not.  The other computers on ethernet are working fine.  When I disconnect the ethernet from the wireless router and go directly to the cable modem, it also works fine.

Have you tried a different ethernet port on the router?

Steve

I can try that tonight.  Would it just stop working though?  Do the ports go bad sometimes?

It's not very common for ports to go bad, but it is possible.

Steve

Well, that must be the case.  I tried a different port and it works fine now.  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!