Network problem

[Elvia DeOliveira]

Had a bad cable or so it seemed. The NIC din't show green light but when connected to another jack it worked. So replaced the cable, NIC is on, router shows communication but computer can't connect to the server. What is the problem? What did I do wrong? I am new at this and don't know whether I did the wiring right - I mean the wires that go to the connector and then the ones at the other end that is plugged to the router. Could anyone help me, please. Thanks.

[Ron Kinner]

What router are you connected to and what port on the router?

Do Start Run type cmd and press Enter to bring up a CMD window. Type:

ipconfig /all

(what does it say?)

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /all

(any change? Did it say there were no interfaces with DHCP or did it just time out and assign a 169.x.x.x address?)

Ron

[Elvia DeOliveira]

Ron,

Thank you for responding to my request for help. I appreciate it very much you taking time to help me.

The cable is connected to the Dell router that is connected to the server. When I plugged the end of the cable that plugs to the router, the port lights turned on when before I changed the cable, they didn't give a sign of live wire.

I did all you mentioned at the command prompt but it then times out and says unable to contact your DHCP server and assigns an IP address that starts with 169...Our server is SBS 2003 and the IP addresses are auto assigned by DHCP. It recongnizes the host name (computer name) It reads Node Type: Hybrid; IP Routing Enabled: No; WINS Proxy Enabled: No.

What next? Thanks.

[Ron Kinner]

The 169.x.x.x is an indication that it never heard from the DHCP server.

Assuming you are connected to the correct port on the router and it is showing a link light too and you have a known good cable then it is probably time for Winsockxpfix.exe or lspfix.exe tho if you are running XP SP2 you can open a CMD window as before and type:

netsh winsock reset

Winsockxpfix.exe is at:

http://www.iup.edu/house/resnet/winfix.shtm

LSPFIX.exe is at:

http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

Ron

[Elvia DeOliveira]

Ron,

I thank you so much for all your help thus far.

The cable is connected to port 15 which is the next available port. It shows a link light and so does the nic light. I downloaded the winsockxpfix.exe, and LSPFIx.exe and run them but it didn't work. Then, I plugged another computer to that jack and it didn't connect to the server either. I think it's the cable. In the past, we used cables that were pre-made but I had to make my own this time, and quite frankly, this was my first time. The strange thing is that the router and the nic show activity. Is there a link to a website where I can get info as to how to wire the cables. I wired it according to the instructions on the RJ45 connector.

By now I think I am doing something wrong but don't know what it is. One thing I know for sure; I have learned more stuff because of this incident - and one of them is that there are people willing to help strangers like me and for that I am very grateful.

[Ron Kinner]

http://yoda.uvi.edu/InfoTech/rj45.htm

I assume a straight cable is what you need and the router is providing hub or switch ports.

Ron

[Ernest Ford]

I'm thinking that the device the cables are connected to is not a router, but a switch or hub - as far as I know Dell has no routers with 15 ports.

It does sound like a defective cable, and 568b cable from the link that Ron provided should fix the problem.

Out of curiosity - how long is the cable you built? I've seen many cables wired straight through with no regard for which pair is connected to which pin, a method which typically results in what is known as split pairs. It will cause both link lights to come on as in your case, and actually works for short cables, but as the distance increases, the crosstalk and noise causes problems.

[Elvia DeOliveira]

Ron,

Once more, thank you for your help. The link certainly was a great help. I understand better what the colors and numbers are for. The cable I was trying to fix is weird because it seems to be a crossover cable. The end that plugs to the router (hub?) is white/green, green, white/blue, blue, white/orange, orange, white/brown, brown. In checking other connections, my computer's connection in particular, I noticed that the end that plugs to the router is white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, white/blue, green, white/brown, brown, and then the pins on the RJ45 connector - the one that's on the jack to which my computer is plugged via a patch cable, correspond exactly to the order of the pins on the other end.

Now I know what to do. Thank, thank you for helping be solve this problem.