Help! Laptop will not connect to the internet

FMuzz

I am connected to a LAN netork but recently I cannot get webpages to come up. I tried all the usual stuff it tells on on the screen, but nothing. The thing is, its connected!

Its says in the bottom left of the screen "Detecting proxy settings" then it tries to connect to the web page but it doesnt!

Could I have uninstalled somthing by accident?

Cheers

dub45

FMuzz wrote:

I am connected to a LAN netork but recently I cannot get webpages to come up. I tried all the usual stuff it tells on on the screen, but nothing. The thing is, its connected!

Its says in the bottom left of the screen "Detecting proxy settings" then it tries to connect to the web page but it doesnt!

Could I have uninstalled somthing by accident?

Cheers

Did you change any settings recently or change your internet provider?

case_sensitive

You need more than to be connected to a network to get internet access..
First check that you're NOT connected.

Start -> Run
type 'command'
a black box comes up (command prompt or DOS box)

type ping www.eircom.net (hit return)
If it says request timed out, you don't..

You need to 'know about' and be able to connect to a Gateway machine, and you should have (if the DHCP server didn't give you one) a DNS server configured.
I'm assuming you're using some kind of windows (98/Me/2000/XP)..

type ipconfig
you're looking for numbers in line with where it says Default Gateway.

If you don't have any, close everything (or minimize), go to Control Panel, double click on Network
find your LAN connection
right click, select properties
Find TCP/IP settings, click properties
under DNS servers, add some generic Eircom.net ones unless you've a reason not to:
159.134.237.6
159.134.238.17
your gateway is dependant on your network, but if it's a simply configured one, it's likely to be 192.168.1.1 or 0.1, find out..
now try 'pinging' something from the command prompt
ping www.eircom.net
if it comes back you've got a connection.

whyulittle

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread but I've got a connection as I'm posting here. I tried pinging www.eircom.net though as you said and it came back Request timed out. 4 packets send, 0 received, 4 lost. What does that mean?!

case_sensitive

Pinging any live server should result in something like:

Reply from 159.134.198.138: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=60
Reply from 159.134.198.138: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=60
Reply from 159.134.198.138: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=60
Reply from 159.134.198.138: bytes=32 time=33ms TTL=60

(ping www.eircom.net)

if you have a good connection.
However, if the server is down (www.eircom.net rarely is, which is why I used it as an example), it won't return.
Also, depending on proxies, or possibly a firewall blocking certain ports (though there's no good reason to block port 7: ping) you may not get packets back.

If you get packets back from a distant (non-local) network, then you definitely do have a connection, if you don't, you *mightn't*.
Where are you posting from? What sort of network are you on?

whyulittle

Posting from Athlone on an IOL BB connection. Tried pinging www.iol.ie, same result. It doesn't really matter, I was just curious.

case_sensitive

that's a bit mad, though pinging www.iol.ie doesn't return, they have it turned off, ping www.google.com instead, or gpo.iol.ie

Could be a DNS issue on your router/IP configuration?

FMuzz

No I have not changed the provider. I have not changed any of the settings but on it, but I think I did use the add/remove programs to free up some disk space. Perhaps I uninstalled somthing important by accident. I dont think so though as it was working fine when I switched it off that night. Next day it wasn't working.

I also followed the DNS instructions at the bottom of the "This page cannot be found" page.

Im sorry but how do I actually ping??? I think you have to downlaod something? How I do this?

I type http://eircom.net when the black box comes up but all I get is
that its not recognized as an intertnal or externall command, operable programme or batch file? Im guesing you need a ping programe to do this?

I am pretty sure I've a connection. It says "connected" and all that when I look in LAN.

Still it says "detecting proxy settings" when I open the browser. Then it says finding google or whatever site then it wont connect! I've tried on friends connection and it still wont work so its definately a laptop problem.

case_sensitive

I described how to do a ping in my first post..

If you uninstalled your firewall software (ZoneAlarm, Norton InternetSecurity ring any bells?), I wouldn't be massively surprised if this happened.

Don't mean to be rude, but if you follow the instructions, you'd be most of the way there..

Offer a techie 50 blip, they'll do it for ya.

tom_ass19

DID U EVER THINK OF DOING A RESTORE..................fixed mine, that happened me aswell, i just restored my computer to a few days ago and it was working fine then....do that and get back to me

FMuzz

Hehe. Its just working now. Plugged it in and was grand.

whyulittle

case_sensitive wrote:

that's a bit mad, though pinging www.iol.ie doesn't return, they have it turned off, ping www.google.com instead, or gpo.iol.ie

Could be a DNS issue on your router/IP configuration?

Neither of those came back either. Couldn't tell you about the router, it's as it came. It is hooked up to a US Robotics wireless router though. Does it matter that I can't ping any sites? It doesn't stop me going online.