Solved: Wireless & direct cable connection on same pc

[rebif]

I'm trying to help a friend connect her laptop directly to the cable modem. She already has it set up wirelessly through a Linksys BEFW11S4 router. Sometimes she wants to connect directly to the modem using the eithernet cable to bypass the router to eliminate the router as some possible connection problems. When the eithernet cable is pluged into the laptop there is no internet connection. Should I run the lan setup wizard? Does the cable modem need to be rebooted? She wants to be able to switch back and forth once in a while. Once it's setup will this be automatic or will she have to enable and disable the wireless and lan connections manualy? The lap top is a Dell Inspiron 600M running WinXP Pro.

If I run the setup wizard what should I look out for? Pleeeeease help. I'm lost

 

[lemondrop]

In control panel/network connections you should have at least two connections. One for the wireless and one for the onboard ethernet card. Under the connection name it will tell you whether or not the connection is enabled or disabled. More likely than not the onboard connection is disabled. Right click on the connection and select enable.

If it is already enabled and still not working please post what connections are listed. Also check under control panel/system/hardware tab/device manager. Look in the list under network adapters for any red x's or yellow exclamation points. Also list what adapters are in the device manager.

Once both connections are enabled you should be able to go from wired to wireless without messing with any settings. XP will find any available connection and use it.

 

[rebif]

Ok thanks. I'll go over and check. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[rebif]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner. When I checked network connections it said the wireless connection was enabled and the local area connection was enabled. But it said the network cable was unplugged even though it was connected directly to the modem. I tried rebooting the modem but that didn't work. Then I remembered I had the same problem on my desktop pc after I reinstalled Windows a while back. This is what worked. In control pannel I went to "System" (I switched to classic view) then "hardware tab" then "device manager" then I expanded "network adapters". In my case the Intell pro/100VE network connection. I right clicked on it and clicked "Uninstall". It prompted me to restart. After I restarted it connected after a few moments and I was on the web. So hopefully this helps someone else that views this post. I thank you for your help.

 

[lemondrop]

Good to see you got it working

That's the direction I was going in my second paragraph. Just didn't want to give you a wordy response. One thing at a time

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