Languish Networking Nerds - To Me!

[ehrie]

Okay so I'm having a really odd and frustrating problem at home with my internet. Here's some confusing and contradictory facts. I can not figure out what the hell is causing this.

Synopsis : My computer when plugged in any router since I moved back home takes anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes to connect to the router and thus to the internet. Once it connects to the router internets starts instantly.

So here's what happens: I turn my computer on, it boots up yada yada. My computer ast boot up acts like no ethernet cable is plugged into it. The status light on my motherboard is off for ethernet. Taking the cable out and putting in does not work. Ditto for the router, both act as if the other isn't there. Eventually it will connect. This has taken as little as five and as much as 45 minutes. Here's where it gets weird.

1. I took another computer and plopped it in the same spot, worked flawlessly, no delay in connecting to the router.
2. I tried a different cable with my computer, same problem.
3. I tried a router I had used at my apartment flawlessly for over a year, same problem.
4. I plug the cable directly into the cable modem from my computer, works flawlessly.

Loaded my compy up in safe mode with networking, changes nothing. There are other computers in the house, they all work without a hitch. I have updated all the drivers I can think of and the firmware on both routers, nothing has worked. What the frack can this be?

[Liep]

Try a new network card? They go for around €20 here.

[Vricklund]

Try a new network card? They go for around €20 here.

I don't think it's the network card if it works when he does a router bypass.

What are your IP-settings? It could be a DHCP problem. But then again, the status lights should light up, no matter what.

[DontSayBanana]

Critical question: wired or wireless router? I'm guessing from your description that it's a wired router, but I'd like to be sure on that.

You've proven the problem is not the cable, and it is neither the router itself, nor the computer itself.

It sounds like you've got a problem with the interface between the router and the computer. Are you using VPN or anything like that?

[ehrie]

Critical question: wired or wireless router? I'm guessing from your description that it's a wired router, but I'd like to be sure on that.

You've proven the problem is not the cable, and it is neither the router itself, nor the computer itself.

It sounds like you've got a problem with the interface between the router and the computer. Are you using VPN or anything like that?

Yes it's wired and no, no VPN. That's what is driving me insane, I seem to have removed everything as the source of the problem. 

[Grey Fox]

Is it a network card or it's right off the motherboard?

If it's a card, take it, uninstall everything, put it back in on a different slot.

[PDH]

It is caused by friction.  Fill your computer up with fresh ice cream to lubricate the electrons and cool it down.

Problem solved.

[derspiess]

Based on everything you've done, I would say the most likely culprit is the network card or the driver for it.  Even if your network card can talk to the cable modem just fine, there could still be an issue preventing it from interfacing correctly with your router.

I had sort of a similar problem with my main PC a while back when I installed the latest driver for the onboard network interface.  Once I rolled back to the older driver, the problem went away. 

I would second Liep's advice.  Network cards are cheap these days; buy a new one & try it out.

[ehrie]

Yah I'm going to pick up a cheap NIC card on the way home today and hope that works. The NIC I'm using now is on my mobo, so I really really don't want that to be the problem...but I guess I will see.

[DontSayBanana]

Yeah. This sounds increasingly like an NIC driver issue to me, as well. For the other networking guys, it sounds like this is a packet issue with the NIC. It has to be at the network or data link layers, because he's been successful with the other five layers, and since it's working with a direct connection to the router, I don't think the problem's physical addressing. Couldn't say more without a loopback test result on the NIC itself.