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Vista says "network cable unplugged" but it IS...can't connect to internet.

By sweetneet ·
hello, this is my first post so i apologize if i put this in the wrong place. I am currently having problems on a relatively new Dell PC running Vista. Would like any helpful suggestions/comments.

Basically, the problem is that I can no longer connect to the internet anymore from my PC. Internet was working fine until yesterday, when there were some thunderstorms in the local area which knocked out service/power. Our router apparently got fried from this but after getting a new one we were able to restore the wireless in our home plus internet connection to other computers.

However, ONE of our PCs is still not able to connect to the internet. Right now I'm just plugging it directly into the wall (not using switch). I've tried different ethernet cables yet it stil says "network cable is unplugged". At first I thought maybe the ethernet drop was busted, but if i plug my Macbook directly into the same ethernet drop in the wall, that works perfectly.

So then I thought maybe the Ethernet card in the PC (Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernit NIC) somehow got busted during the storm too..but according to Vista, "the device is working properly". I even downloaded a utility for it from Realtek to run a series of diagnostic tests, and everything seems to work fine (it "passed" all the tests).

So now I am just wondering what could possibly be wrong. I have tried restarting and shutting down the PC multiple times, and to no avail. It acts like there is nothing plugged in at all.

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It's possible to fry the plug and not the card......

by ThumbsUp2 In reply to Vista says "network cable ...

If the wall works fine and you've tried a known good ethernet cable, it's entirely possible you've fried the plugin on the card itself. Windows can say the card is working fine, but that only means that Windows can communicate with the card. It doesn't know if the place where the plug connects is working or not.

Try another ethernet card.

And, if you're in an area which gets frequent lightning storms, I would suggest you get a UPS for all computers and be sure to get one that has ethernet protection as well.

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thanks - ethernet card was fried

by sweetneet In reply to It's possible to fry the ...

thank you everyone for your replies. today i took in my PC to Staples for the PC TUne up so it could get checked out. Well turns out the ethernet card was fried...must have busted during the storm. So am getting it replaced.

Thanks for the tips. I guess from the beginning i had suspected that the ethernet card was dead but got confused after Windows said it was working properly.

i will check into get the UPS as well..thanks

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See if this will help

by Jacky Howe In reply to Vista says "network cable ...

Try pinging your localhost IP 127.0.0.1 to see if that works on the PC's. If it doesn't then there's a fault with the Network card and it will have to be replaced.

Click Start, Run and type in cmd click OK or press Enter. At the command prompt type in <b>ping 127.0.0.1</b> and press Enter.

Edit: just rememberd that the run box might not be available.

You can get around this by pressing the WinKey + r

The WinKey is the key with the Windows logo shown on it and it is usually found between the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard. These shortcuts are also known as Microsoft keyboard shortcuts.

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