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Network Cable Unplugged?

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9 replies

by sbrager

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We had a small network using WinXP Pro and a Linksys BEFSR41 router which worked just fine. Now, we have a couple of users who have wireless NICs.

We decided to upgrade to a new Linksys WRT54G router which supports the laptops as well as the desktops. Exerything went well except for one machine - when we plugged its ethernet cable into the WRT54G router, a message popped up saying that "a network cable is unplugged". It didn't make any difference which port the cable was plugged into.

When I plugged the cable back into the older router, it worked well.

Nothing else has been changed except for the router.

The NIC, by the way, is a 3COM 3C509-TX.

I don't have any more hair to lose. Any suggestions?

Thanks;

Stan

9 replies

by jas03

Do you see a light on the NIC or the router when you plug the cable on both (router & comp)? if not use a different cable (patch if you are using crossover & viseversa). There might be a button on your router to switch this.

Hope this helps

by sbrager

A good thought, Jas03, but the cable isn't the problem for several reasons:

1) it's the same cable as used with the old router.
2) the Linksys WRT54G router can sense the cable (crossover or straight thru and automatically switch if needed.
3) by switching the cable from the old router to the new one and back, it was obvious that the cable wasn't the problem since the "cable unplugged" message disappeared when the cable was plugged into the old router and appeared when plugged into the new router.

Stan

by jas03

Do you get any lights on the back of the nick or infront of the new router when you plug this cable in?

by jas03

Do you get any lights on the back of the nick or infront of the new router when you plug this cable in?

by mrbill-

Check the NIC properties to ensure the media type and speed are correct. Can you ping the loopback IP?

by sbrager

It is a 3COM 3C509-TX. The speed is 10/100mb and it worked at the 100mb speed with the old router. It just doesn't want to work with the new router.

The only thing which has been changed is the router. The cables were moved from the old router to the new router - a distance of 3 inches.

Do you suspect a problem with the 3C509's?

Stan

by jellimonsta

Were you using DHCP on the original Linksys router? or did you use a static IP within the router subnet range?
Is the new router using DHCP to pass out IP's to the other clients? Are the other client DHCP or static IP addresses?
Obviously the NIC and cable work if you are able to switch between routers.

by sbrager

Good questions? We've used DHCP from the start - it enables us to have more freedom to move or add computers. The settings from the old router were duplicated on the new router for the wired computers. We've allowed the wireless settings to use the defaults with the exception of some of the security settings (SSID, encryption, etc.).

Usually, there's an obvious problem when one takes a process of elimination approach. In this case, we see that all individual components work. Yet, one combination of NIC and router doesn't (we tried replacing the cable).

I've got a week before that computer must be back in service (the user returns next Thursday). If I have to, we'll purchase another NIC but I want to find our what the answer is to this problem.

Stan

by sbrager

The NIC lights up but the router doesn't. I've also run the 3COM diagnostic program and it says that the NIC is working fine.

Remember, the router-cable-NIC connection works with the old router - that router-cable-NIC connection doesn't work with the new router although other desktops and the wireless laptops do work with have no problems with the new router.

Stan

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