PC Can't See the Network

[kevb8ll]

We have a small LAN which has 4 PCs on and its working ok. A colleague wants to periodically put his Laptop on the network.

The Laptop has a network card in it and it seems to be working correctly, however the leds do not light when you plug the network cable into it whereas the above mention pcs card does light up.

How do I go about enabling the Laptop to access the network in simple steps !!!

Kev

 

[Rikku]

Enabled or not, any network card, including PCMCIA adapters should have link/speed lights light up when the computer is on and properly plugged into a switch/hub.

Its very likely that you have either a bad cable/card/hub

Try replacing the cable first as its the easiest - along with trying different ports on your Hub.

 

[kevb8ll]

Thanks for your reply. Its defenitely not the cable as its the same one thats used on one of the existing pcs. Any other suggestions ?

Kev

 

[angel]

What about Rikku's other suggestions? Card? Hub?

How are you plugging it into the network? Could be the port you are using. Is it accidentally plugged into the uplink port? And on some hubs, you can't use the 1st port if you're already using the uplink.

 

[skinnywhiteboy]

Make sure you're using a straight-through cable and not a cross over cable. Also, a simple way to add computers to the network would be to enable DHCP on your network. Set the client machines to obtain automatically. Once they boot, they get all IP info and you should have any problems connecting to other machines. What type of OS are you using also??

 

[kevb8ll]

Windows 98.

 

[itharrin]

Need to know more!

Q: How is the laptop 'connected' to the network. Staight into Hub/Switch, or through a floor/wall port to a patch panel ?

Q: Is the network card disabled in the Device Manager ?

Q: Can you get the laptop working if you try it on one of the cables that you have your PC's on (and therefore you can assess if laptop or network point at fault) ?


Let me know

Rgds

Nic