Member Avatar for pennywars

Hi there,

I have a Dell desktop computer running XP Pro, with no wireless card, and I connected a Linksys Wireless-N home router to this computer via ethernet cord.
After some grief with limited or no connectivity, I manually entered the IP address, gateway, and preferred DNS server. The taskbar notification balloons tell me that I'm connected and the signal strength is very good, but when I open the Internet or Firefox, the page cannot be displayed.
I've made sure "work offline" isn't checked, and I've tried disabling the firewall. I've cleared cookies, temp files, history, etc. to no avail.I've reset and disconnected the router, checked cables, and still no luck.
I then opened up the dos prompt and tried pinging the router. I got the response that the request timed out, and 0 of 4 packets were received (100% loss). I tried pinging yahoo.com and google.com, and was told that the host could not be found.
The laptop I'm currently using works fine and it's part of the same network. I'm out of ideas - any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

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Brief practical checklist tied to the troubleshooting already suggested by , , and . The laptop working on the same network means the modem/router upstream is probably fine — the task is to determine whether the desktop is misconfigured, blocked by the router, or suffering a NIC/driver problem. Below are focused tests to locate the fault quickly and safely.

Collect the desktop’s live network state first and try simple reachability/DNS tests from an elevated Command Prompt:

ipconfig /all
ping <router-GW-IP>
ping 8.8.8.8
nslookup example.com 8.8.8.8
netsh int ip reset
netsh winsock reset

What to look for: an IP in the same subnet as the router (not 169.254.x.x), a correct Default Gateway, and a sensible DNS. If pinging the gateway fails but the laptop on the same switch/cable works, plug the desktop into the same port/cable that the working laptop used — if that fixes it, suspect a bad NIC or a damaged cable/port. If the gateway responds but external numeric pings (8.8.8.8) work while names don’t, it’s a DNS issue and nslookup will confirm that.

Additional checks that were not detailed earlier: verify browser proxy settings and clear them, inspect the hosts file for rogue entries, boot into Safe Mode with Networking to rule out security software, and from the working laptop log into the router admin to check MAC filtering / access-control or LAN isolation. If the TCP/IP stack looks corrupted, run the netsh commands above and reboot. Before a factory reset of the router, export or note its settings.

If the original poster already resolved it, posting the final fix will help others. In this scenario, the most common root causes are gateway/subnet mismatch, router access control, NIC/cable/port faults, or a corrupt Windows network stack — the steps above will point to which one.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for uv4u

Check your internet connection first,click on, in network notification aria, and check connected to "Network name", Internet access/no internet access"

Member Avatar for jingda

Use another laptop and access the internet via the ethernet cable. This is to make sure the problem is not with your network but your laptop. Have you try reseting your router. At the back of it there is a reset button. Take a pen and hold down the button for 5 seconds.

1) I need more specific information.
2) How near are you to the modem and router when you find out you cannot access the internet?
3) Reset the modem and router and tell us what happen.
4) Make sure no security softwares are blocking the conenction, some anti virus have a built in feature that allow you to block internet access and internet connection. Made sure all these are turn off and disable your firewall again.
5) Does this problem happen all the time or only some time. And when it happen some time can you take note the day and time it happen. Sometimes when it is during the weekend many people are accessing the internet webpages and the internet may be a bit slow thus causing this problem.
6) You said that you tried
tried pinging yahoo.com and google.com, and was told that the host could not be found.
what do you mean by that. Do you mean webpage could not be found or error 404 or others.

Lastly i want you to answer my questions in a format like this. Name the number and post your answers to each question ( In Order )

Example
1) Blah blah blah
2) Very near to the modem

Something like that. Try to reply as soon as possible. Good luck. i will try my best to help you.

Edited by jingda because: n/a
Member Avatar for predator78

I tried pinging the router and got responce timed out. This message holds the key to your problem, the ping was sent to the router the router we can assume most likely recieved it unless there is something wrong with the hardware, but it never sent the message back. Either your addressing is incorrect thus you are not part of the network, or a setting in the router maybe incorrect. Do the things jingda requested, most likely your firewall is blocking the connection.

Edited by predator78 because: forgot something
Member Avatar for jingda

Have you follow our suggestions, we need to hear a reply from you soon to be able to help you out. Good luck.

Member Avatar for uv4u

internet connection is required to view web pages online, router is only for sharing connection among other ppls, try this ping 127.0.0.1 if it works then there is no problem in your computer then you have to check your router. in which aria you r trying to connect to internet?

Member Avatar for jingda

Seem like your problem is solved. How did you solve it, tell us will you?

Member Avatar for maninaction

First check weather you internet connection is working or not..

And still u face same problem go for updating browser... if ur pc has virus reomve it

Member Avatar for jingda

Hi maninaction. The problem is solved but thanks anyway for your suggestions.

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