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?