There is more to the story: Laptop1 used a USB/Ethernet adapter to connect to the network, as well as a Xircom Ethernet RealPort 10/100 + 56K Modem RBEM56G-100 PCMCIA card. I would just plug into which ever one happend to work better on any given day (at the end of about 450 feet of cat 6 wire). So today I tried the USB adapter on both laptop1 and laptop2 (the bad boy), and found that it did not work on either. Then pulled the PCMCIA card from laptop1 (working) and tried in laptop2, and presto, I'm online.

So now I'm thinking that what ever got the old router and modem also nailed the USB adapter and the NIC in laptop2. We had a lot of thunder storms and power outages last week.

I'm assuming that the NIC in laptop2 (an HP pavilion zt1145) is built in and expensive, so I'm looking to ebay another PCMCIA card to my mailbox. It looks to be cheap and fast. Any suggestion as to what to stay away from or what to try to get??

I'm sorry about leading everyone on a wild goose chase, but I'm a little slow in putting the whole picture together. Special thanks to Greazy Mcgeezy!

Honestly, i would stay away from buying computer parts off ebay. try someplace like pricewatch.com

Is this really an accurate length?? If so, there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE that the cable length is the issue. CAT5 and CAT6 use a cable known as UTP (unshielded twisted pair). This cable is only inteded to be ran at maximum lengths of 100 meters (~ 300 feet). So if you are increasing the maximum recommended length by 50%, then I could very well see where you would be having issues.

Greazy Mcgeezy

Hawker - thank you, I'll check around.

Greazy - I believe the length is accurate, else I got ripped off when I bought the roll of wire (500'). I knew it was a gamble to try, but I wanted to connect two buildings and didn't think wireless would work either. I'm using an old small brained laptop up there, and am thankful everytime it runs. Note: that is not the one that I was having trouble with.

Thanks again for the help,

farmerjohn

ok, so the ROLL you bought was 500 feet, not the wire you use...lol that would have cleared things up. i also wouldnt reccomend trying to repair/install the card yourself....laptops can be a little tempermental.

Hawker, I believe that he is agreeing with me on the fact that the piece of cable he is using is approx. 450'.

Also, John, just curious, did you wire the ends yourself or did someone else do it for you? Do you know the wiring order on each end of the wire?
From the sound of it, you are coming out of a port on your router, directly into a network card 450' away? Is this correct? If so, you MAY be able to get away with putting either a powered switch or powered hub in the second building to amplify the connection. Then you could connect both laptops if it works.

Greazy Mcgeezy

eh ....i infered that he just used 50 feet! wow... well, you have me stumped now :\ hope you get it resolved!

Oh yes, if you decide to go with adding a powered switch or hub in the second building, then you may have to redo one of the ends of the 450' cable. When connecting from switch/router/hub to computer, you use a standard patch cable setup, but when connecting from switch/router/hub to switch/router/hub, unless the switch/hub has an auto-crossover function, you will need to make the cable do the crossover.

Greazy Mcgeezy

OK, calm down guys. I bought a 500' roll of wire, pulled it through an underground conduit (by itself), and have at best 50 extra feet of wire. You figure how much I used. Yes, I wired the ends myself. I think that I know (or at least knew) the wiring order. Have done at least a dozen of them.

There is a wall recepticle at each end, with a short jumper to the router, and another to the laptop. It has worked reasonably well for over a year and until it doesn't, I'm not going to mess with it. Maybe I just had a good router.

btw, one reason I tried it was because an IT guy said the 300' rule was a cya rule, and he has seen 700 foot runs work. ya never know till you try it.

ps - don't you guys ever sleep??
fj

Ok, is there any way that you can go ahead and take the laptop into the house and plug it in to the same port that you are currently plugging into the wall for that very same connection? Even though it "has" been working with that much cable, something is not working now, and even with it being a "cya" rule, that is still a lot of cable. I'm just trying to rule out a known issue with cable lengths is all.

No, I don't sleep.

Greazy Mcgeezy