Network cable unplugged

I can not get a laptop to recognize the network cable that is plugged into the nic. I have uninstalled, reinstalled the nic, no firewalls, nor anti-virus is running. I have used 3 different cat5 cables, cleaned (as well as possible) the connection on the nic. The nic is showing in the device manager as working properly. The machine detects and automatically re-installs drivers for the nic when i uninstall it. I can connect to a dsl modem using usb, but plan to connect this laptop to a router. The nic was working at one point on Saturday morning. Unplugged it, switched wires around connecting the router and the machine hasn’t recognized the cable being connected since. Thanks for any ideas you guys may have!