[josethefat]

Hi,

i hope this isn't a common problem i should already know how to solve....

I recently moved to the Netherlands and brough my laptop from home. normally i use wireless at home, but i can aslo use an ethernet cable. there are laptop outlets at my new dorm, but i can't get these to work on my computer!

It will say something like ":LAN now connected, speed 100.0 kbps" on the little bubble form the icon on the taskbar. but under support, the IP address appears as 000.00.00 etc and is said to be invalid. after a while, an IP address appears, but still no internet.

i tried C:/ ipconfig, and it says "Media disconnected"i have fiddled with most of the settings, and it still won't work. hope i haven't made it worse....

i've tried repair, but it just makes me wait and then fails. nothing seems to work. can anyone help?! i suspect that any geek worth his carpal tunnel will know the answer to my problem!

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OK UPSDATE

OK I ran Network Connection Wizard! NOW, it receives packets, but the adddress type, ip address, subnet mask etc all appear as <unavailable>. if you can help, please do, im stuck and in need to communication!

[josethefat]

OK UPSDATE

OK I ran Network Connection Wizard! NOW, it receives packets, but the adddress type, ip address, subnet mask etc all appear as <unavailable>. if you can help, please do, im stuck and in need to communication!

[Spank_Me]

Hi Josethefat

In your Network connection properties, is the IP addy, DNS, and DHCP set for Autoconfigure or is it an IP addy that you have set?

Normally when you receive an IP addy of 0.0.0.0 it means that an identical IP addy the same one your cp has is already on the network and will not allow a second IP addy of the same number.

Open a command prompt, type in ipconfig /all to see what your addy, DNS, DHCP is configured for, try pinging the DNS servers or gateway addy if you get one, ip you can try a ipconfig /release, then ipconfig /renew to see if you are getting another addy assigned to your cp.

The second thing that I would try is to disable your wireless network connection, reboot the cp with the network cable connected to see if it works better this way. Hope this helps.

[josethefat]

OK thanks a lot for the tip, ill try those things.

how will i know if another address is being assigned to my computer? with this new address, is it necessary to go to the IP, DNS, DHCP and enter it manually? also, ive been fiddling with most of the settings just to perhaps stumble onto something that works, are there any settings you know of that i should double check to make sure everything is allright? also, i already tried restarting the computer with the cable in, no luck.

[Spank_Me]

You cp should be getting an IP addy from somewhere, usually throught DHCP which is determined by DNS, without getting tooo techy , when your cp is all by itself, say in the kitchen without being connected to anything and you open a command prompt, ipconfig /all, you should see an addy of 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 range.

When it is set to 0.0.0.0, your cp will give itself an ip addy then broadcast to other cps stating that this is my name and this is the address that I'm gonna use. If another cp has the same addy, it will tell your cp off and you will have the 0s. Your cp will not try another addy.

I would check the properties of your connection, such as Start - Connect to - Show all Connections - Right click your connection - Properties - General Tab - use the scroll bars to find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), double click on that, on the General Tab, make sure that the Obtain an IP addy automatically is checked, and Obtain DNS server addy automatically is checked. (Unless an address has been given to you by your ISP). If you click on the Advanced button this will give you the options to check your DNS, WINS, and other settings.

When you go ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew, then type in ipconfig /all again, either you should see a new IP number, or check the time of the lease, normally one of the two changes.

When you are booting up with the wireless link enabled, does it seem to take a little longer until you have to enter your password?

[josethefat]

Spank,

OK, so i treid ipconfig /all and it gave me:
Autoconfiguration IP Address of 169.254.127.204
subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and
nothing for default gateway.

after i did ipconfig /release it gave me pretty much the same thing

then, when i typed ipconfig /renew, it paused for a long time, like a minute, and then printed:

Windows IP Configuration
An error occurred whhile renewing interface Local Area Connection: unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.

this is different from before, when it used to [bleep] at me for having 'media disconnected', i think.

I checked that it was set to automatically get the IP address.

If I can make it give me a new IP address, do i have to enter it anywhere, or will it automatically make the necessary changes just with a successful renew?

know any reason why it would be unable to contact teh DHCP server? what is DHCP?

thanks a lot for your help, im at my wits's end. there's gotta be a solution, im just not a whiz with net connections....

[josethefat]

OK, ive been doing some googling on the matter and there was similar case i read about, where the solution to the problem was resetting TCP/IP, with a procedure described at:

http://support.micro...om/?kbid=299357

is this a good idea, sounds like a hardcore procedure........

[Spank_Me]

Josethefat

Man that is heavy duty, but I don't think that your TCP/IP stack is corrupted, you are receiving an APIPA addy which is ok, the 169 range. Ping yourself with 127.0.0.1 to see if your stack is broken. If you get a reply, all is ok.

there are laptop outlets at my new dorm, but i can't get these to work on my computer!

What I would suggest is checking with the school's network team, it is possible that the lan drops in the dorm have been deactivated by the network guys. Most connections will go into a switch that they can control, shut down, reopen, check with them first. You might have to make your laptop a member of their domain??

When you right click your Lan connection, select properties, double click TCP/IP, and see that it is checked for automatic configuration, as your cp boots, it is looking for a DNS server, then DHCP so that it can get onto the network. The servers will give your cp the needed info to connect to the Intranet and Internet. Check with the school first.

[josethefat]

Thanks for the advice,

I'm actually in an international student house in the Netherlands, and it's not run by the school, it's mostly run by....well nobody in particular. There's 2 computers, and the internet seems to be run through one of them and networked to the other one. also there is a ethernet hub that fits 5 extra laptop plugs, which is in turn hooked up to another hub that has a few more. Other students' seem to have no trouble just plugging one of these cables into their laptops and using the web. ideas anyone?