New machine will not connect to router

[SWF67]

Here's my info:

- home hardwired network using Linksys BEFW11S4 router
- the new machine is running Vista
- 3 other machines are running XP

- the new machine has the following NICs:
Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection (on MB)
Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapter (in PCI slot)

Here's the output from an ipconfig on one of the working XP machines when connected to the router:

Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Network Bridge:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : MAC Bridge Miniport
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-05-9A-3C-78-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.23
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.192
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.7
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.7
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.48.1
207.179.130.3
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, December 15, 2007 5:37:58
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 16, 2007 5:37:58 PM

Here's the ipconfig output from the new machine when connected to the router:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home-PC1
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Linksys LNE100TX(v5) Fast Ethernet Adapte
r
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-5A-76-BC-9F
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-D1-1D-BC-34
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{ED409B91-7F44-4E3B-B658-9394F1682
696}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{AEA1E7AD-840A-498D-909F-5CDEE63B1
4B0}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I bought this new machine to replace an older machine on the home network. The old machine was working fine with no problems connecting to the router. Taking the cable that was plugged into the old machine and plugging it into the new machine produced no connection. If I take the same cable from the router end and plug it directly into the modem, I get a connection with the new machine.

Obviously based on the ipconfig from the new machine that I pasted above the new machine is not even detecting an active cable when it is connected to the router. When the new machine is connected to the router there are no lights that show up next to the LAN port. When it is connected directly to the modem the lights show a connection and activity.

I installed the Linksys NIC while trying to debug this problem. The same thing as described above happens whether I use the NIC built into the MB or the Linksys NIC.

Is this an OS problem or a hardware problem? The lights next to the LAN port duplicate what I decribe above even when the machine is off, but I don't know enough about NICs to understand if I can eliminate the OS and OS settings as the problem.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Steve R Jones]

Welcome to VirtualDr:)

Did you try Vista's Detect and Repair function and or reboot the router?

[Tuttle]

The only thing that comes to mind is a problem negotiating speed/duplex. If you open Device Manager (right-click My Computer, Manage) and go into the properties of a network connection in there, try locking the interface to 100/Full instead of leaving it on autodetect and see if it works.

[SWF67]

Thanks for the help Steve and Tuttle.

I have already tried rebooting the router several times, but this produces no change in the connection.

I have also already tried the Vista diagnose and repair function, but it tells me right away that a cable in not plugged into the network adapter.

I have already tried changing the speed/duplex of the network connection, to every other speed/duplex setting, but this did nothing.

Last night I tried reinstalling Vista, but this changed nothing. I also took the Linksys NIC out since it did not appear to do anything different than the port built into the MB.

I still don't understand the issue with the link/activity lights next to the LAN port. With every other machine that I have tested, the lights come on even before the machine is started up when they are connected to an active router cable. The new machine does not do this. As far as I can tell, everything in the BIOS is enabled to power the network port.

Any other suggestions?

[SWF67]

One more thing on the lights next to the LAN port: with the machine off they don't light up when connected to the router, but they do light up when connected directly to the modem. Can this be a OS problem when the machine shows these symptoms when it is powered down?

[SWF67]

I have also tried using another router that I have on hand: a linksys BEFSR41. This router produces the same results as our main linksys BEFW11S4 router, so I don't believe it is a router issue.

I think my next step is to try installing a fresh install of XP, to see if this produces anything different than the Vista OS.

I tried calling the tech support offered with the computer, and they said that since I could get a connection when the machine is directly connected to the modem that as far as they are concerned the machine is working properly.

[SWF67]

I figured out the problem.

It is the cable. I had ruled it out earlier because the same cable works when connecting this same machine directly to the modem. The cable also works for the old machine when connected to either the modem or the router. So if it works for the old machine when connected to the router, and works for the new machine when connected to the modem, why wouldn't it work when connecting the router to the new machine??? And it's not a problem with the LAN port built into the MB, because the Linksys NIC that I tried did the same thing.

The hard part is this cable is buried in the wall of the house, so the only thing I can try is redoing the female connectors at each end of the cable. Otherwise I'll probably just install a wireless card in the computer, since we already use the wireless connection from the router for other machines.

Thanks for all your suggestions.