Ethernet connection issues with old PC

[Bob Hart]

Hi Everyone,

Just joined this very busy forum and I'm hoping you can help me with a tricky issue.

I'm in the UK and have broadband connection via Virgin and have a Super Hub, which does both wireless and Ethernet. I have various laptops, tablets and smartphones connected via the wireless section and I've also used the ethernet cable connection on my laptop and TV.

Now I have an older PC which I used to use via Virgin a couple of years ago with no problems and I thought I'll just connect it up to an Ethernet cable from the Super Hub and have a play with it. I want to lend this to someone who doesnt have a laptop or PC and it will get them reconnected to the Internet. They have the same Virgin Super Hub as me.

But I cant get connected to the internet, no matter what I try. Local area connection is connected etc. The cable is connected both ends, there is a light on at the Hub to say this. I've checked through just about every software set up I can and tried the Virgin online help, all to no avail.

So I'm hoping someone here might suggest something I havent tried. The PC is running on XP.

Appreciate any advice you guys can give, thanks

 

[Gryz]

Are you sure you have DHCP configured on your old PC, and not a static IP address ?

 

[JackMDS]

Maybe this can Help.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/windows-xp/wxplanch.html

 

[Bob Hart]

Are you sure you have DHCP configured on your old PC, and not a static IP address ?

What does DHCP stand for and how would I check it please?

 

[skyking]

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
in window in the middle
Click on "properties" button below window
another window pops up
In the "general" tab of that window, be sure that
"obtain IP address automatically" and
"obtain DNS server automatically"
are selected.
Select OK on the windows on order and close the last one.

EDIT: It is all in the link above your post.

 

[piasabird]

Sometimes a malfunctioning wireless router will have connection issues on the wired sides if the wireless side is not functioning very well. My bet is that the router is not working. Wireless routers are notorious for going bad. I think that is where I would start.

 

[Bob Hart]

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
in window in the middle
Click on "properties" button below window
another window pops up
In the "general" tab of that window, be sure that
"obtain IP address automatically" and
"obtain DNS server automatically"
are selected.
Select OK on the windows on order and close the last one.

EDIT: It is all in the link above your post.

Thanks SkyKing,

Checked and it was already set up like this, so it didnt make any difference

 

[Bob Hart]

Sometimes a malfunctioning wireless router will have connection issues on the wired sides if the wireless side is not functioning very well. My bet is that the router is not working. Wireless routers are notorious for going bad. I think that is where I would start.

Thanks Piasabird,

Router seems fine as described in my original post

 

[ch33zw1z]

start>run>cmd

type ipconfig /all

post results here..

 

[mammador]

if the cable itself is ok (precluding a Layer 1 issue), it could be a Layer 2 problem. Has the NIC given problems before?

Also, DHCP means Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. it is a protocol used for assigning IP addresses on a subnet without an admin intervening. All routers have this ability to assign nodes addresses without an admin doing so. if DHCP is switched off, then it lends to not all hosts receiving a local/private address, and this is needed for basic internet connectivity.

I sound geeky, but a major part of my job is TCP/IP so it figures lol..

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Just set the IP address manually.

 

[Bob Hart]

start>run>cmd

type ipconfig /all

post results here..

Thank you, results as requested:

Host Name: The_Harts_PC
Primary Dns Suffix: (nothing shown here at all)
Node type: Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled: No
WINS Proxy Enabled: No

Description: Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Phisical address: 00-01-6C-32-53-9C
Dhcp Enabled: Yes
Autoconfig enabled: Yes
IP Address: 192.168.0.3
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server: 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers: 194.168.4.100
194.168.8.100
Lease Obtained: 08 January 2013 18;06;41
Lease Expires: 08 January 2013 19:06:41

IP routing says 'No', is this anything???

 

[AnonymouseUser]

IP routing says 'No', is this anything???

Nope, mine says the same and it works.

It looks like DHCP is working, though. Lease obtained Jan 8th. IP address, Gateway, and DNS servers all set.

 

[nickbits]

can you try using an ip directly? maybe only dns isn't working.

http://74.125.225.177 <-- google

 

[Super56K]

Bob, can you successfully ping either of your DNS servers from that PC and get a response?

i.e., go through start>run>cmd
Then type in the command prompt- ping 194.168.4.100

 

[Bob Hart]

Bob, can you successfully ping either of your DNS servers from that PC and get a response?

i.e., go through start>run>cmd
Then type in the command prompt- ping 194.168.4.100

OK pinged it with the following on screen:

pinging 194.168.4.100 with 32 bytes of data:

reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes =32 time=11ms TTL=251
reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes =32 time=8ms TTL=251
reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes =32 time=10ms TTL=251
reply from 194.168.4.100: bytes =32 time=8ms TTL=251

Ping statistics for 194.168.4.100:
Packets: sent = 4, received = 4, lost = 0 (0% loss)
Approximate round trip times in milliseconds:
Minimum = 8ms, Maximum = 11ms, Average = 9ms

Roughly the sae result for 194.168.8.100, except times were slightly longer

Excuse my ignorence, what does this mean? It seems to imply it's all OK, as it's getting back what it sent???

 

[Bob Hart]

can you try using an ip directly? maybe only dns isn't working.

http://74.125.225.177 <-- google

Good thought so tried that, but got the same result = Internet explorer cannot display the webpage!

 

[Bob Hart]

OK thought I'd try something else just to check.

Turned wifi off on my laptop and used ethernet cable instead - couldnt get a connecting. Did ipconfig and DHCP wasnt enabled. Checked and obtain ip address and DNS server were set to automatically???

Pinging obviously didnt get a return

On old PC tried pinging without the ethernet cable connected and didnt get a return


Confused.com

 

[Engineer]

Do you have another PC that you can download Firefox (or Chrome, etc) from? Take that file and install in on the XP PC and try again? It's possible that the Internet Explorer is hosed up? (I have seen this on a friend's PC in the last few weeks).

Another possibility is that the TCP/IP stack is messed up and usually deleting TCP/IP and reinstalling it might fix it. However, I don't think that you can ping (not sure) and your ping seems to be working.

If you want to try....

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
in window in the middle
Click on "Uninstall" button below window.
You may have to confirm this. Click OK until the box closes (and may ask you to reboot - go ahead and do so).
Now,

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
Click on the "Install" button.
Click on the Protocol selection.
Select TCP/IP from the list and OK.
Click on OK until box closes (may have to reboot).

Try Internet again after the above.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Disable any proxies.

 

[Engineer]

Disable any proxies.

Had forgot about that one, lol.

From Internet Explorer....

<Tools>
<Internet Options>
<Connections tab>
<Lan Settings>

Make sure that the use proxy box is unchecked. <OK> a few more times until boxes close. Might need to reboot but don't think so.

 

[Bob Hart]

Had forgot about that one, lol.

From Internet Explorer....

<Tools>
<Internet Options>
<Connections tab>
<Lan Settings>

Make sure that the use proxy box is unchecked. <OK> a few more times until boxes close. Might need to reboot but don't think so.

Already unchecked

 

[Bob Hart]

Do you have another PC that you can download Firefox (or Chrome, etc) from? Take that file and install in on the XP PC and try again? It's possible that the Internet Explorer is hosed up? (I have seen this on a friend's PC in the last few weeks).

Another possibility is that the TCP/IP stack is messed up and usually deleting TCP/IP and reinstalling it might fix it. However, I don't think that you can ping (not sure) and your ping seems to be working.

If you want to try....

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
in window in the middle
Click on "Uninstall" button below window.
You may have to confirm this. Click OK until the box closes (and may ask you to reboot - go ahead and do so).
Now,

My Network Places> click on "show network connections" in left
Click on "local Area connection"
A window pops up
click on "properties"
another window pops up
Click on the "Install" button.
Click on the Protocol selection.
Select TCP/IP from the list and OK.
Click on OK until box closes (may have to reboot).

Try Internet again after the above.

OK went to do this and the uninstall button was greyed out with just the install button available!
Followed your instructions and then got a pop up saying "Could not add the requested component. The error is: The system cannot find the file specified"

I'm guessing this is the issue and is now a problem???

The protocol I tried to instal was titled: Microsoft TCP/IP version 6

 

[Bob Hart]

Do you have another PC that you can download Firefox (or Chrome, etc) from? Take that file and install in on the XP PC and try again? It's possible that the Internet Explorer is hosed up? (I have seen this on a friend's PC in the last few weeks).


So if Internet explorer is screwed, how do I actually do the above?

I'm using my laptop, so can I just download Crome onto the laptop and then 'somehow' copy that onto a memory stick and upload it onto the old PC?

 

[Engineer]

Do you have another PC that you can download Firefox (or Chrome, etc) from? Take that file and install in on the XP PC and try again? It's possible that the Internet Explorer is hosed up? (I have seen this on a friend's PC in the last few weeks).


So if Internet explorer is screwed, how do I actually do the above?

I'm using my laptop, so can I just download Crome onto the laptop and then 'somehow' copy that onto a memory stick and upload it onto the old PC?

Yes, that's correct.

The TCP/IP that you needed to uninstall and reinstall was version 4, not TCP/IP 6 (which probably isn't even being used on XP right now). I just tried it on the XP PC at work and you're right, you cannot uninstall TCP/IP (which is version 4). You may need to go to the Control Panel and then to Device Manager (System) and delete your Network adapter. Reboot and let the network adapter be reinstalled (which would then reinstall the TCP/IP stack).