Network Connections shows "limited or no connectivity"

[lectrocrew]

I've had my HP 6715b laptop connected to the internet via wi-fi for a few months while staying at a hotel due to my work, but now I have it at my house. I'm trying to connect to the internet with it via cable at my home, and it won't connect using IE or firefox

I have other PC's that connect fine on this service with this ethernet cable but when trying to connect with the HP I keep getting this:
'server not found'
then
'You might not be able to access the internet or some network resources. This problem occurred because the network did not assign a network address to the computer.

This appears (to me) to be a problem with the communication between my PC and the cable modem (modem is service providers).
My built in ethernet adapter is Broadcom Netlink. In "Network Connections" it shows "limited or no connectivity". When I click "Repair" it tries with no success then displays "Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Renewing your IP address
For assistance, contact the person who manages your network".

I phoned my ISP and he said I should have no problem with receiving the signal from their modem as long as I have my adapter settings configured as;
'Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) - properties' = 'Obtain IP address automatically' and 'Obtain DNS server addresses automatically'

I also tried uninstalling / reinstalling the adapter with no joy.

Device manager shows no problems or conflicts with the adapter.

In the past I have used this PC connected to my employers wired network via this adapter with no problems, although since then I have had it disabled while using this PC via WiFi. But it is now enabled again.

I can connect to the internet using an ATT USB cell adapter but the connection speed with that device is way too slow (7.2 Mbps). I need it connected to my 100 Mbps service.

What other information do I need to provide here?

[abekl]

Hmmm, interesting problem.Any chance your laptop needs a password to connect to the router?

[lbmest]

There are several things you can try.

Try manually renewing your IP address.
Get to the command prompt,
(For XP - Start > Run > cmd > Enter)
(For Win7 - Start Orb > type run in Search box > click on > cmd > Enter)
At the prompt, type ipconfig /release > Enter.
Once done, type ipconfig /renew . Enter
See if get a valid IP address. If you see an IP address like 169.254.xxx.xxx, you are not reaching the modem.

Check firewall settings. Try disabling the firewall for a short period and connecting. If you can, there may be some setting that has changed that you need to reset.

Try updating the drivers for your adapter. Go HERE and choose your Operating System and get the most recent driver available and install.

Can you connect by cable at a different location? Possibly a hardware problem at home - bad cable, bad port on modem, adapter connector on computer failing.

If these suggestions don't work, post back with operating system and service pack level.

[lectrocrew]

lbmest:

Originally Posted by lbmest

There are several things you can try.

Try manually renewing your IP address.
Get to the command prompt,
(For XP - Start > Run > cmd > Enter)
(For Win7 - Start Orb > type run in Search box > click on > cmd > Enter)
At the prompt, type ipconfig /release > Enter.
Once done, type ipconfig /renew . Enter
See if get a valid IP address. If you see an IP address like 169.254.xxx.xxx, you are not reaching the modem.

I get:
IP Address = 0.0.0.0
subnet mask = 0.0.0.0
default gateway = blank

Check firewall settings. Try disabling the firewall for a short period and connecting. If you can, there may be some setting that has changed that you need to reset.

I did have Comodo firewall installed, so I restored all changes that have been made in Comodo, then uninstalled Comodo. Windows fiewall is disabled at this time. = No firewall running at this time with the same results.

Try updating the drivers for your adapter. Go HERE and choose your Operating System and get the most recent driver available and install.

While offline working in device manager = No newer version driver. The installed driver is the latest for the hardware.
I can't get the online HP update site without the connection. I'll try downloading the file to another PC, and then transfer it to this PC.

Can you connect by cable at a different location? Possibly a hardware problem at home - bad cable, bad port on modem, adapter connector on computer failing.

This is the same network cable I use to connect to this modem with my other PC's with no problem although "adapter connector on computer failing." could be the problem. How can I check this? I have a DVOM I can use for voltage/continuity test but I need to know which values to look for.

If these suggestions don't work, post back with operating system and service pack level.

OS = XP Professional SP3 build 2600

More information for adapter settings which I may have set wrong months ago (while using WiFi only) but I don't remember:

Broadcom Netlink Gigabit Ethernet Properties / advanced =
802.1p QOS = disable
Checksum Offload = none
Ethernet @ WireSpeed = enable
Flow control = auto
Large Send Offload = enable
Locally Administered Address = not present
Speed & Duplex = 100 Mb full
Wake up capabilities = none
WOL Speed = 100 Mb

and

Local Area Connections Properties:
enable 802.1x authentication method = checked
Choose a network authentication method = protected EAP (PEAP)
Cache user information for subsequent connections to this network = checked

Hope this helps...

----------------

Originally Posted by abekl

Hmmm, interesting problem.Any chance your laptop needs a password to connect to the router?

No password is needed when connected to this router with any other PC I've used with it.



Thank you both for your help!!!

[lectrocrew]

Problem solved. I feel like a fool but I knew it would end up being simple.
I have been cycling power (disconnecting power to the ISP's router for 1 minute >,) trying to get it to assign an IP address to my PC. I never noticed the recessed reset button on the back of thier router. Once I pushed the reset button it connected my adapter to the internet fine.
Thanks for the help guys!

[lbmest]

Glad you got the comp connected.

Now to another matter. Did post #4 just show up sometime today? I swear I did not see it this AM or else my glasses need changing worse than I thought.

[lectrocrew]

Originally Posted by lbmest

Now to another matter. Did post #4 just show up sometime today? I swear I did not see it this AM or else my glasses need changing worse than I thought.

I posted #4 Saturday night but a message appeared at that time saying it would be posted after approval from the moderators, but I posted #5 early this morning ~1am CST. I'm not positive about whether #4 was showing up when I posted this morning or not. (I certainly need better glasses, but I'm blaming mine on senility).