Laptop can't see network

[Guest]

Greetings. I have a Toshiba laptop in a small (two-node) home network. Both
the laptop and my home PC (HP) go through a LinkSys router which is, in turn,
connected to a cable modem. I know the setup works because my home PC has
zero problems getting to the Internet. Until recently, both computers talked
to each other and I was copying files back and forth. Just the other day, my
laptop stopped seeing either the home pc or the Internet. The NIC card light
is green and so is its corresponding light on the router. But I can’t see the
network. If I View Network Connections, I can see the NIC card and it says
it’s “connected†(physically).

Toshiba support told me that perhaps the OS was corrupt and so I’d have to
blow away the hard drive and reinstall the OS, just to have it see the NIC
card. They explained that I can’t just reinstall the network card part
because it’s an “OEM version†and it won’t allow that. That seems a bit
extreme to me. Not only that, they can’t even guarantee that that will work.
Is there any way to reinstall this card (logically) and have it see the net?
Or is the card – as I suspect – just dying which means I replace the machine
(since it’s out of warranty and I’d have to replace the motherboard)?

 

[Guest]

Make sure that the nic is running the same speed as the router does. Besides
if you have XP, reinstall of the card must not be a problem. Also check the
tcp/ip settings, make sure (if you are running DHCP on the router) there is
no fixed ip address, ore something else filled in.

 

[Evolution]

Wow...reinstalling the operating system does sound extreme. You might want
to check other issues first like your TCP/IP settings. Are you automatically
grabbing an IP address from the router? What do you get when you do an
IPCONFIG from the command line? Can you ping the router? Is there any
firewalls setup that you might have overlooked? Anyways, those are just
basic troubleshooting steps you can do.

 

[Guest]

It looks to me now that it might just be the card. When I reboot, I no longer
get a link light on the NIC or on the router. So if its' the card, I assume
the motherboard has to be replaced. And if that's the case - and since I'm
out of warranty - my thought is I should just get a new machine, yes? A shame
if true as otherwise the machine is fine.

 

[Dave B]

Replace the network cable and see what happens.

 

[Evolution]

Try replacing the network cable like Dave B suggested.

You can try using a crossover cable instead and connect one end to your
laptop and the other end to your PC. Basically, a crossover cable lets you
network 2 computers without a need for a router or switch. This might help
in deciding if it is really your network card that is causing the problems.

But first, try replacing the network cable from your laptop to your router
and check if the lights are back on.

 

[Guest]

Actually the cable didn't make the difference. But something else did. I
dont't know why I didn't think of it and no one else here did and certainly
Toshiba had a drastic answer. But it occurred to me that it was likely the
NIC card and not anything inherent in the network. So I went to Compusa and -
for twentynine bucks - got a USB ethernet card (which I didn't even know
existed). Voila, a happy ending and in fact, I'm writing this note from the
laptop. Doing a ping shows me that its speed - while a tad slower than my
home PC - is fairly comparable. Thanks.