HELP!, stuck in paris with network problems...

my colleague and i are in Paris for business and basically, i have brought a Linksys Switch so that the both of us can be connected to the internet.

basically, while we were in milan, everything worked but now... i'm having issues.

we have a a Cable router, connected to my switch and the 2 laptops.

my laptop works fine... no issues.
my colleague's laptop, which worked fine just 10 hours ago, now only gets limited connectivity to local network only... what gives?

i've tried to connect directly from the cable router to his pc, no go.
i've tried to update the driver from my pc, no go.

i'm lost as to what i can do.

the owner of the apartment (we rented an apartment) says that it's ADSL, but seems like there's video cable from wall to router.

either case, i'm lost as to what can be the issue... i'm sure the network adapter works... just lost... any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

please...

thanks.

 

There could be an IP conflict. If you renew the IP address that may solve the problem, though I don't know how to renew IPs on Vista.

 

You have a lot of information here--much of it incomplete or bad

Cable modem on DSL...switch so both can connect (wirelessly?--is it really a switch).

ADSL, but it seems like a video cable....

Blech. It's difficult to troubleshoot when you have such a mis-mash of questionable terminology.

Start with some actual make and model numbers of your equipment so we can at least have a chance of figuring this out. The owner says ADSL...find out for sure. Who is the ISP?

How were you set up in Milan?

 

thanks bog, i've tried it and still no good.

gerry, yea, i rushed it out a bit, eh?

ok, in Milan, the rental apartment came with a internet router... we just connected the switch (Linksys EZXS55W 10/100 5-Port Workgroup Switch) and our two lappys were happy...

now in Paris, i am not sure of the ISP as this too is a rental apartment... comes with a Webstar Cable Modem (owner said it was ADSL but the modem seems to be cable, as the video feed and the feed wire for the modem is off the same wall. i cannot determine anything beyond that atm..)

the cable modem has only 1 port for cat5e and i'm connected to it via my switch...

my colleague's computer is not connected...

thanks in advance for your help.

 

Sounds like you had a router in Milan, no router in Paris. Most ISPs only give out one IP per modem, so you're getting an IP, he's not. No way around this with a switch, you need a router. Go to any electronics shop (not sure what's in France, but what would be Best Buy or Staples here in the US) and pick up a $50 router with a built in switch.
Unplug the modem for 10 minutes, set up the router, plug the modem in, then plug the router into the modem.

Alternatively, if you both have wireless, you could hook yourself directly to the modem via an etheret cable, then make an ad hoc network between you and your colleague with wireless, and share internet over it.
This is more complicated but will work, I used to do it to get on the internet in my girlfriend's dorm.
Internet sharing: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306126
Ad hoc network: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/setup/adhoc.mspx
The second link actually has all the info you need. It's for XP but the process is almost identical in Vista. Let me know if you get lost and I'll try to help you.

 

but here's a doozy...
when i plugged my colleague's laptop directly to the cable modem, it still did not work...

could it be that the laptop network adapter is damaged?
when i checked control panel, it seems that everything is working fine... to the best of MY knowledge...

 

It could be, but I doubt it. As I said above, you'll need to unplug the modem when switching devices. Unplug the modem for a few minutes... say 5-10. Then plug it back in, and plug him into it. If there is a battery inside the modem (some have them) you need to pull that out too.

You could test if his ethernet port is working by disconnecting the switch from the modem, then you both plug into it via ethernet cable. You both set IP addresses manually, say 192.168.1.100 and 192.168.1.200.
Then you try to ping the other one. If that doesn't work, then the problem is probably his network adapter. If it does, it's more likely what I was suggesting above.

 

you're right Hep!
i did as you said, he got connected... now all i have to do is find a place to buy a router in Paris... so basically, i can buy a router, get rid of the switch and connect the modem to router to 2 lappys and we'll be happy, right?

or will the modem still be messing things up for us?
i was thinking of a cable modem but i wont need it whereas i can find use of a router when i get back home...

 

edit: forget it--my message box was open on the screen for 30 minutes while I was doing something else and I thought I had hit post...basically just said what hep said--the isp is logging his mac address as the default connection.

By plugging the router in, the isp will log the router MAC address and let your other connections pass through

 

Modem won't be a problem. All you need is a router to share the internet connections between multiple computers.