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potter · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 6 Location: staffordshire

Hi, We have a pc running on vista and a laptop using xp. Recently moved the pc and then reconnected it. However cannot now get an internet connection but the laptop is fine. We have a virgin cable modem and a sweex wireless router. On the icons at the bottom of the screen it says local area connection. network cable unplugged . Any ideas?

NickAskew · Moderator Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Thirsk

Hi Potter,

Network Cable Unplugged indicates your computers motherboard cannot identify a voltage in the RJ45 cable connecting your PC to your Router (or Modem depending on how you have it wired), which means one of the following is true:

1) The network cable between your PC and Router is disconnected owing to:
1a) It is not plugged far enough into the router (when you plug the cable into your router, do you see the appropriate light on the router illuminate? - usually a router has 1 light per port, when plugging a switched on pc into one of the ports using a network cable you would expect the light to illuminate)
or
1b) It is not plugged far enough into the network port at the back of your pc (when you plug it into the back of your pc when the router is switched on, do you see a green or yellow or orange light illuminate at the back of your pc very close to where you plugged it in?)

2) Your computer has more than 1 network port and you plugged the network cable into the other one by mistake.

3) Your router/hub has a crossover port on it (used to connect it to another router rather than to a pc) and you accidentally plugged your computers network cable into it instead of a normal port. (the crossover port is usually the first OR last port on a router, so I would try plugging the network cable into one of the middle ones (if you have a multi port router) - some routers/hubs have a switch on them that changes the mode of a port from normal to crossover, check you haven't accidentally pressed it.

4) The network cable was damaged during your move (do you have another cable to try?)

.. all the above assumes your PC is physically connected to your router and not wirelessly, if wireless then post again here, thanks!

Cheers, Nick