Ethernet Port Woes?

Question

Hello All,

So I have recently signed up for Comcast High Speed and a technician came over to install. He was not able to hook up the cable modem/router via Ethernet to my Ethernet port. The port kept assigning a generic (static) ip that could not connect. However, the modem had the option of connecting via usb, which worked fine (the computer has no problem assigning a valid ip to this connection). I am assuming that the Ethernet connection would be faster (100 mbps vs 12 mbps for usb). I have also tried connecting my xbox via crossover cable to this Ethernet port, to no avail. And on top of all that, I have also connected (via SCSI) an additional Netgear Ethernet port that does the same damn thing!
I am currently running Windows XP with SP 2 (illegit copy). Please Help! This process has been very frustrating. If you need more info, let me know and I will try and be more specific.

So, its just a plug and play ethernet card... my bad about the scsi remark. And yes the ip is just a default windows ip. The box is just a cable modem. I dont think the nic is bad on both ports (the lights go on when the clip is inserted). Now that I know 12 mbps is adequate for my connection, my sole concern is being able to hook up my xbox via ftp (again concerning the port functionality). I will try both a new crossover cable and a straight through cable (respectively) and see if the problem lies there... So then, I am assuming that it is just as simple as plugging in the clip and Windows will auto assign a valid IP? IF this is the case then trial and error will ensue. Otherwise, I will have to have one of my more networkly versed compadres take a looksy.

Answer 1

There are 3 possible things going on here.

1. Your NIC is dead in your PC.
2. The Ethernet port in the cable modem is dead.
3. The patch cable between the cable modem and your NIC was bad.

Since your X-Box won't connect with a crossover cable, my money is on the NIC in the PC being bad. You COULD have 2 bad patch cables -- I've seen it before so don't count that out; check them both on a known good system.

BTW, there's no such thing as a "generic static" IP address. What was the exact IP address that was being assigned? If your NIC was configured with a static IP that would certainly cause the setup to fail. If the tech didn't know how to set your machine to use a DHCP address that doesn't speak much to his skillset.

SCSI Ethernet?? No such animal! So I can't address what your problem could possibly be there.

As to speed, USB vs Ethernet, it doesn't matter. If your computer or the cable modem is USB 1.1, it is 12 Mbps. If both are USB 2.0, then it's 400 Mbps. However, your cable connection is probably only 5 Mbps or less so it's a wash.

You say that your copy of XP is bogus so that could be at issue as well. Get legal, and then test everything again.

Answer 2

You might try resetting the tcp/ip stack; below is a link that explains how to do this, it looks worse than it really is. I've had similiar problems and this resolved the issue, but you could have a bad NIC. I assume you mean that the IP address kept being set to the default Windows uses when it can't reach a DHCP server (169.x.x.x)? Could you clarify the SCSI remark please. And, althought this doesn't make any difference to your problem, are you sure that that cable modem is also a router? Most are not. Let me know if I can help further. Good Luck