I have a ethernet cable and it says it is connected but my internet still will not work.?

Question

I am on a network at a college and I have an ethernet cable connected on a computer in my dorm, and I know that there is no problem with the ethernet cable because there is a message displayed on the computer that says the cable is connected. My roomate's internet is working fine, but mine will not work. I don't know why mine is not working because there is a message that says it is connected. But when I try to get on the internet nothing happens...I just get "this page cannot be displayed" when I try to go to any site. There is not any unusual activity; I just can't get on the internet even though it says my ethernet cable is connected. What could the problem be? I doubt if the problem is in the network because my roomate's internet works, but I really don't know what else it could be. Any ideas?

P.S.: Keep in mind that I have a TON of things downloaded/saved on the computer that I probably should not even have on there. I even deleted some things when they contained viruses/spyware, but I was informed that they may have remained in my system. It was highly recommended that I just completely reinstall windows using the reinstallation CD, which will completely erase everything that I ever saved or downloaded. But I don't want to do that unless it becomes absolutely necessary because I have too many things saved that I do not want to lose. And I don't think there is anything that I could have downloaded that would cause me to not be able to get on the internet. But maybe there is. If you know of anything please let me know.

Answer 1

Do some problem determination.

Can you connect when you use your roommate's connection and cable? How about her connection and your cable? How about your cable and her connection?

If no luck with any of the above, the problem is with your computer, its setup, or one of its components. Get someone you know with some computer skills to help you diagnose your problem.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 2

At this point there is absolutely no reason to wipe your hard drive and re-install Windows. Anyone that is telling you to do that just doesn’t want to work or doesn’t have the answer you need.

Swap the cables between you and your roommate's computer. If your computer works and your roommates does not, then it is most likely the cable.

Cables have 8 wires in which only 4 are used. This creates two pairs of wires where one is for Transmit and one is for Receive. You can get a “connected” indicator when only one pair is working. Only one of the four wires needs to be defective to stop the whole thing from working.

If you swap cables the problem still exist on your computer it is one of the following:
• Your computers network card settings.
• A physical problem with the wiring somewhere between your wall plug and the internet connection itself.
• A problem with the Switch your wall plug connects too at the other end (Configuration or port failure)

Answer 3

You can do a couple of simple tests.

1. Try to connect using your roommate's connection. Attach her cable to your computer. If it works, there might be a problem with your jack.

2. If it doesn't, right-click on Network Places, select and double-click on Properties, right-click on Local Area Connection, click on Status and select Support tab. If you see an IP address of 169.254.X.X. (x stands for numbers), then you are not getting a connection from the main network. You will see this number only if you have set up your system to get addresses using DHCP. To correct this, right-click Local Area Connection again, select Properties, select and open TCP/IP and make sure the Obtain an IP address automatically is selected. Close out all the windows and restart your system.

3. If this doesn't work contact the Network Administrator.

Answer 4

first do an ipconfig from the dos prompt. if you are getting an IP address of 169.254.xxx.xxx then your ethernet card is not communitcating with the modem. If you are getting something else, then either you are getting a valid IP, or.. your ethernet card is statically assigned with incorrect addresses. first things first,go to control panel and open network connections, right click on the local area connection corresponding with your ethernet card and choose properties, the local area connection window comes up. highlight the "internet protocal tcp/ip" and choose the properties button below to the right. this brings up the tcp/ip properties. change this to obtain IP address automatically and also obtain dns automatically if it isnt already chosen. click ok. click close on the local area connection. now right click on the local area connection. from the dropdown chose disable. right click again and chose enable. you should see a message balloon that states "aquiring network address" . Next go back to the dos prompt and do an ipconfig again. If you are still getting a 169.254.xxx.xxx IP its either the ethernet cable you are using or the ethernet card in your pc isnt functioning correctly. If you are getting a valid ip, try to ping the default gateway address. then try to ping out via both url and ip. hopefully your get replies from all of them. If you cannot ping the gateway address, you will want to statically assign your nic to the lan scheme of the modem and statically assign the dns from the isp. If you CAN ping the gateway address, and either of the ping tests to either url or IP fail, its a dns issue, just statically assign the dns only on the nic. Then try your ping tests again. If all this fails, go get a new ethernet card and cable and pop them in.

Answer 5

Try these two things.

1) Turn off your computer, plug in the cable...THEN turn on your computer.

If that doesnt work then....

2) In internet explorer go to Tool>Internet Options>Connections Tab>Choose the radio button "Never Dial a Connection">Close internet explorer and re-open it.

Hope this helped. =)

Answer 6

Either you do not have dhcp enabled or the network does not have dhcp enabled. In the first case enable dhcp by setting to get IP address assigned automatically or in the second case ask the network admin for a static address that can be used.

Answer 7

It could be the jack or you computer may need to create a connection. Not too sure though.