Posted on 10/22/2007 7:03:23 AM PDT by jdm
Like many folks, I leave my PC (running XP Home) on at all times (I reboot maybe once or twice a week).
When I got home last night, I noticed that the LAN icon in the lower-right of the screen said "A network cable is unplugged."
I checked all the physical connections and everything looked fine.
When I went into Network Connections, instead of just seeing dial-up and LAN options, there was a third connection I hadn't seen before, called VPN or Virtual Private Network.
The status said "connecting" not "connected." I tried to delete it for maybe 5-10 minutes to no avail. However, eventually I got it removed and then rebooted.
I then went back into LAN properties and reinserted my static details (IP, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway) which were given to me by my ISP back in 2004.
When I disable the connection and then re-enable it, the LAN icon in the bottom-right of the screen says that I'm connected. But five seconds later or so, it goes back to saying that a network cable is unplugged.
In the five seconds that it says it's connected, I right-clicked the LAN icon and choose "Repair" but that didn't seem to do any good.
I ran every anti-spyware and anti-virus scan you can think of, but there were no rogue items found.
Is the best thing to do to download the latest drivers for my network card and see if that does the trick? The drivers I have been using are very out of date. Not sure that is the problem, though.
I tried to download the driver file which is 12.5MB, but on this slow of dial-up (what I'm on right now), the status bar indicated the download would not be finished for 1-1/2 to 2 days.
I called my ISP and told them about this; they are looking into the problem, but may not get back to me until Wednesday or Thursday (I have satellite internet). Thought maybe some FReepers would chime in with some suggestions for resolution sooner than that.
I also know you can go to Start > Run > cmd, type in some netsche.winsock.reset type command, but not sure if that would resolve the problem or not.
Many thanks for any suggestions. I really, REALLY would appreciate it. If I left out any crucial details, please let me know.
Thank you.
Thanks for your reply. When I called my ISP, I pressed the option to listen to known issues, but there were no known issues for my city (although maybe they don’t tell you everything).
Also, it is not normal to call them and be on hold for so long, so maybe lots of people are experiencing similar issues.
Maybe the problem is with your modem or router. Try turning them off for a couple minutes and turning back on.
I have had that problem for years with XP professional and I just ignore it
My problem is that I can’t get online when it’s saying “a network cable is unplugged.” I wouldn’t mind the error so much if I could still get online.
Thanks for those suggestions. Unfortunately, I tried that last night and again this morning, but didn’t fix the problem.
But I am thinking that the fix lies with resetting SOMETHING, just not sure what. I thought re-entering my IP in the proper screen(s) and clicking on “Apply/OK” would re-initiate the connection, but that wasn’t the case.
How are you connected - directly into a cable modem, or through a router? If the cables are physically in place, and you still get a “disconnected cable” error, it’s possibly a hardware problem with the device on the other end of the Ethernet cable from your computer, so that your computer no longer sees that it is plugged into a network device.
If you haven’t already, try unplugging any devices between your computer and the outside world (e.g. your cable modem and router if you have one) for two minutes, then plugging them back in and letting them power up. If that doesn’t work (and it couldn’t hurt to try to install new drivers for your network card, as you suggested, as well), see if you can borrow a different router or cable modem from somewhere and check whether your connection works with different hardware.
Thanks a lot for the ping, ShadowAce.
Thanks much for those excellent tips and suggestions.
I am going to see if I can borrow a cable from a friend, to rule out a network card issue.
Next to “connect to” in LAN connection properties is a “configure” button for the network card. When I click “configure” it says the device is enabled and working properly. So I imagine the problem is more likely the cable.
I don’t have a router, so don’t have to worry about disconnecting or restarting that.
Thanks again for your help!
Also, when you plug the Ethernet cable into both devices, your PC and I assume router/switch/whatever the hell one uses to connect to satellite internet, you should get a amber or green led that lights up next to the socket. This indicates that at least on the electrical level, the device with the light (PC or the other end) sees the device on the other end of the cable. This would rule out physical issues like bad cable, plug not making good connection, device dead on the other end of the cable, etc.
Is your firewall blocking you for some reason?
You should have 4 Sections...Application, Security, Systems, Internet Explorer. Start in the Applications folder and look for the columns labeled "Source" and "Event". Make note of the source name and event ID's, and then navigate to EventID.net
Nothing looks out of place from an Event Log standpoint. I did do a System Restore to get my PC back to a state prior to when this problem occurred. Maybe the System Restore removed some items from the Event Log? Not sure.
Next, have you checked your device manager for anomalies? (Right click on My Computer>Properties>Hardware>Device Manager. Anything with a red "NO" circle or yellow exclamation mark is needing attention.
There is no red circle or yellow exclamation marks. I know exactly what you mean as I have worked on other people's computers in the past, and seen the yellow exclamation marks when something isn't right.
Next, have you checked in your Add/Remove Programs to see if anything has been installed that you do not recognize? (Start>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs)
Nope. Everything looks fine there.
If you've done all that and followed up on the results, if any, and still have no luck, you might want to start looking at the possibility of your machine having been compromised.
I am starting to think this might be the reason, but there is no longer a VPN trying to connect, since I deleted that connection last night.
I tried a new Ethernet cable and that didn't solve the problem either.
In addition, the network card appears to be working fine (I will update the drivers, but I'm not sure a dropped connection would restore itself, just by installing new drivers). The drivers I have are from June 2005 and the latest one's at Intel's site are dated September 2007 - so I should at least download the new one's.
Thanks again very much for your post. I think after I update the drivers, if there's still an issue, I'll have to keep calling my ISP, but they rarely return my calls. They have a monopoly on the area where I live and the customer service is, unfortunately, quite sad.
Thank you both for your suggestions.
Yes, I have a firewall turned on always (Windows XP Firewall).
And the light on the modem is green - I tried another Ethernet cable and that didn’t solve the problem.
Since I had the firewall turned on, wouldn’t it be hard for someone on the outside to create a VPN to my machine?
I’m not even sure the VPN attempted connection is related to my problem, but it seems it could be.
I forgot to mention one thing:
When I disable the LAN connection and then re-enable, I see a “LAN is now connected at 10 mbps” balloon pop-up for 3-5 seconds, then the “a network cable is unplugged” message comes back.
If this was just some harmless device problem, which could be easily fixed, wouldn’t enabling/disabling the connection NEVER produce a “now connected” message?
That’s what has my internet.
Bizarre.
It sounds as though your computer’s network card is working normally and you said you’ve swapped out the ethernet cable. Assuming you’ve tried powering down your modem for two minutes and had no luck, I would start suspecting that it has a hardware failure, as it doesn’t sound like there are any software issues with your PC. Do you have another computer you could try to connect to that modem to see if it will connect? Alternatively, is there any other location (at a neighbor’s house, your office, etc.) where you could try connecting your computer to a network to see if it works there? If not, you may be stuck with having to reach your provider’s tech support.
I would be strongly suspecting the modem at this point. If you rent, your service provider should swap it out for you. If you own it, you may be on the hook to get another one; hopefully you have a local store with a decent return policy so you can bring a new one back if it doesn’t work either.
Curious, how do you reboot the router?
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