How to hook up the internet to a laptop?
 

Hey guys,

I'm usually pretty computer savey, but I've never really been good with hooking computers up to the internet.

Here's where I stand. I have a laptop that I just got (top of the line Toshiba). At home, I have 3 desktops networked to a hub.

I have an NIC on the laptop where I can hook up a CAT wire. I figured that I could just hook up the wire to my NIC port and presto, I'd have the internet. I remember it being extremely easy with my desktop, but I have so much trouble with the laptop.

What do I need to do?

Thanks in advance.

check you device manager and make sure your nic is working properly. if not you probably have to reinstall your drivers.

Yes it should work out of the box. Windows XP, I'm assuming? If that's the case it may not recognize the driver, or the connection might be disabled. The control panel's network connections is a good place to start, or try downloading the driver from the manufacturer's website.

as long as the laptop is set to automatically obtain an IP (network connections, right click properties, then properties of TCP/IP connection) it should be pretty much plug and go.

Make sure the network connection is disabled either. I believe we had to turn my fiancee's on by default.

It may also be that you are out of IPs. For instance, if you have cable modem or DSL service, most providers allow only 1 IP (and you 'pay' for additional IP addresses.) You say that you are using a 'hub' for your desktops (which is different from a 'router'), so in theory you are using 3 different IP addresses depending on what the hub is connected to.

Are you plugging the laptop into the same hub? If so, you should make sure you arent plugging it into an 'uplink' port.

Have you tried unplugging the cable from one of the desktops, and plugging laptop in that port to see if it works?

Have you tried a different CAT cable? (it may be that you grabbed an old/faulty or maybe even a crossover cable by accident.)