My name is Tommy Holmes.  My family uses a Linksys Etherfast 10/100 hub and an Ascend Pipeline router on our home network.  The ISP is Hal-PC in Houston, Texas.
Problem:
My laptop has a built in Ethernet (NIC) that I have been using to gain access to the network and the Internet (WWW).  A few weeks ago, I booted up my laptop, as normal, with no problems, and I could not access the Internet.  I checked that the Cat5 patch cable was connected properly to my computer and to the wall-jack.  It was.  I then rebooted the computer and attempted again.  The attempt failed.  Out of curiosity, I opened Network Neighborhood to see if there was a physical connection to the network shown and whether or not I had visibility across the network.  I did.  My next thought was that the router was hung up, not connected, or off.  I ensured the connection to the router, and did a power refresh on the router and the hub.  The router re-aquired the connection to Hal-PC.  I successfully got on line using ANOTHER computer at a different location, but when I attempted with my laptop, it failed again.
I was convinced that nothing was wrong with the machine, but rather with some sort of physical connection between the hub and the computer.  I borrowed a laptop from a family member and took the machine to the location where my laptop was, and I could access the network and internet with the alternate machine, using the same patch cable and terminal as in the past with my laptop.  Now dumbfound, I took my laptop and the alternate machine to every other available jack to test each device.  At EVERY attempt, the alternate caomputer would work and my laptop would not.

I rebooted the machine, then ran a virus scan.  Nothing was found.  I then rebooted, again, and ran a virus scan accross the network from another machine, specifically on the system files.  Again, nothing was found.  After rebooting, again, I completely removed ALL protocals from the network configuration (TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, and NetBIOS protocols).  I rebooted again.  I reinstalled the network configuration settings to match that of the machine that was working.  I rebooted my laptop again and no internet connection could be established, but I COULD see and use the network, as before.  So, I had reinstalled the settings correctly.

I rebooted the machine, tried one last time, and failed.  My last thought was a full system recovery using the factor system recovery/configuration disk supplied by Toshiba.  It was then brought to my attention that the software must not be corrupt, because I could use the ethernet to access the network with out difficulty.  Furthermore, a system recovery would simply restore the settings that I has already reconfigured, correct?...And the ethernet card must be fine since I am using it to connect to the network, right?

This is where I am now:  I will try and do anything that might, possibly, help my situation out.  Nothing has worked yet.  The specifications of my machine are as follows:  Toshiba Satellite 2800 series; 6 GB hard drive; 64 mb factory ram + 64 mb upgrade chip; Windows ME (standard edition, no upgrades); 650mHz processor; Built in modem (56k) and ethernet (NIC); using a new patch cable that has been tested professionally and by other working machines; all available updates were installed before resetting the network configuration.


Thank you for any help offered,

Tommy Holmes III
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