Cannot connect to internet

[tomgee88]

Cannot connect to internet.        03/08/2009       
 
Toshiba Satellite Laptop P205
 
Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1
 
2048MB RAM    200 GB HD[/font]
 
Cannot connect to Internet through through either browser
IE 7.0.6             Firefox 3.0.6[/font]
 
Cable modem shows connection
Router shows connection
 
IE error screen reads:
?Internet Explorer cannot display the web page?
 
Have run: ?diagnose connection problems? everything appears ok
 
More information: have checked SSL & TLS, all ok
 
This is my wife?s PC. Problem started about a week ago and we cannot
remember anything happening at that time that would cause this.
 
Any help or suggestions appreciated.
 
Thanks, Tom

[RB2tfm]

Checked wireless access list in router ( if you use it ) to be sure MAC matches.
 
Be sure your router allowed IP range matches the TCP/IP of the laptop.
 
Im sure there are hundreds more..but those are the first I would check.

[couttsj]

The Web browser does not make a very good troubleshooting tool. Go to the command prompt and enter "ipconfig /all". The Ethernet adapter should look something like this:

C:\Users\couttsj>ipconfig /all

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-09-7E-44-A2
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

If you do not have an IP/Mask/Gateway, then TCP/IP is not functional. Your system may be set to use DHCP, and therefore you have to establish a connection to either your router (if you have one) or your ISP's network in order to be assigned one. Once you have an IP/Mask/GW, you should then be able to ping your gateway:

C:\>ping 192.168.1.254
Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

If that works, then you should be able to ping something on your ISP's network. I use my ISP's SMTP server (outbound mail) because it is reliable and consistent and close:

C:\>ping smtp.xxxxx.net
Pinging smtp.svc.xxxxx.net [204.209.205.51] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 204.209.205.51: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=249
Reply from 204.209.205.51: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=249
Reply from 204.209.205.51: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=249
Reply from 204.209.205.51: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=249

Ping statistics for 204.209.205.51:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 30ms, Maximum = 30ms, Average = 30ms

This actually checks 2 things. It will verify that you have DNS service that translates domain names into IP adresses, and it will verify that you can access the Internet.

J.A. Coutts

[WildcatDan]

Make sure your browser isn't set to "Work Offline."

[BennyLava]

If you have another computer available, and a USB flash drive, you could always try getting updated drivers for the wife's ethernet adapter. Also, once I even had the ethernet adapter die on me. I just got a new one off newegg, and plugged it into a spare PCI slot on the motherboard. That fixed my problem. If you absolutely can not find the cause, I would try that.

If that don't work, then the cable itself could be a problem. Perhaps something has happened to it that you are not aware of?

Also, did you check all the windows settings to make sure if everything is good on that front? Make sure she is not trying to run two different antivirus programs, and make sure the firewall/s are configured correctly. I have had this block a friend of mine's internet connectivity.

[tomgee88]

Thanks for your input. The PC is up and running.
Tom