Issues with Phone Line Networking

I have purchased a new computer. When I attempt to install my network, I am not getting a connection on the new computer. I am using a 2wire Home Portal system and the issue is on the second computer. It connects through a Linksys Home Link Phoneline 10M Network Card. I installed the card without an issue but it does not see the connection and when I do an ipconfig, it tells me that the cable is disconnected. I have tried changing the phone cord but it did not resolve the issue. I also notice that the cards lights do not do anything unless the card is in one of the top 2 PCI slots. Even then, it will stay green for a few minutes, start flickering and sometimes the light will go out all together. I have included my Motherboard and CPU information below but I do not think that those are the issue. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Motherboard Abit KD7 RAID VIA KT400 DDR333/400 LAN,SOUND ATX
CPU AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.13 GHz 333FSB OEM

Did you already try the obvious stuff, like reinstalling the drivers?
Check the status of the card in the hardware manager and
maybe run through the add new hardware wizard just to make sure.


Is this Win2K on both computers?
Also, you said you purchased a new computer, did you already have a network up and running with home link, or is this your first time trying to bring it up?

rutrowe,

what the heck is "a 2wire Home Portal system" is there such a thing?
Sounds very sophisticated..lol..Serioulsy all jokes aside, what is it you are trying to do?
Be a bit more specific and clear and we can help you..

cheers..

breakology

Yes, I tried all the stuff I know. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling multiple times. It shows that it is working correctly in Device manager. The first computer is win 98 SE and I did have it running before with Win 2000 pro on the second computer.


gunit0072003

The 2wire Home Portal system is just the name of the router that they we got for the DSL. I am just trying to get the second computer on the network.

Ok, sorry, but I'm still trying to picture this in my head, have you had 2 PC's sharing the connection from the router before? Or is this the first time you have tried to share the connection.

I can't tell from you answer if you had both PC's up at once or if you just stated that the old one worked fine. Sorry about the confusion, just need some clarity.

Oh, and who is your DSL provider?

rutrowe,

If your PC was telling you that the cable is not connected..
Start troubleshooting there..(physical layer of OSI model)
Check to see if you have the right type of cable..Straight thru for hub/switch connections
and cross-over for back to back to DSL router/bridge...

Especially if you say your NIC card driver is installed properly....
Also check for speed and duplex settings to make sure they are compatible to where
you'r plugging PC into..(if not already set for auto)

P.S.
The 2wire Home Portal system , is just a name ( that doesnt exist in IT industry)
that the "dumb" marketting people decided to call their product..

Do not refer to it as such to anyone technical or if on interview,....

Just another thing here to but if its a router then its probably using DHCP I would assume.

Go to your network connections and make sure that your network card is set to automatically receieve an IP address.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by gunit0072003
rutrowe,

what the heck is "a 2wire Home Portal system" is there such a thing?
Sounds very sophisticated..lol..Serioulsy all jokes aside, what is it you are trying to do?
Be a bit more specific and clear and we can help you..

cheers..

---

He is using an HPNA PCI adaptor to connect with a win98 computer that shares its internet connection. The win98 computer is hooked directly to theDSL modem/ router. Both computers have HPNA adaptors that permit networking via pre-existing phone lines. He has already done a cable switch to make sure that the phone cable wasn't the issue.

allenb1963,

What I know about HPNA cards is it allows you to network your PCs w/o the use of Ethernet using your home's analog/pots phone lines. (If Im way off, please correct me.)
And the DSL router If Im not mistaken has the RJ11 port (outside) going to Telco and the RJ45 Ethernet port (inside) for internal LAn use...

If his Pcs are using the HPNA, how are they going to communicate with the RJ45/Ethernet of DSL router..

Im sorry if Im missing something...If you or rutrowe can draw us a simple schematic of his setup, we can get a better idea...

We're getting close though :) I think a bit more and we can identify what is wrong with setup...

Cheers.

p.s
rutrowe, Was this setup working before or is it first time using,,,,,
Also, I hope rutrowe, you are not mistaking and assuming since the DSL router has an RJ11/DSL port that the HPNA cards would communicate directly to it..(2 different animals)

gunit, the win98 computer has an ethernet adaptor to hook to the router and SHARES its connection via HPNA.

Is this his setup,

||Win98-1||----------------||win98-2||---------------------------||DSL router||-------------------Internet
HPNA<--------------------->HPNA Ethernet<--------------->Ethernet
(lets call this LAN1) ----------------------------(lets call this LAN2)

1)Win98-2 is performing the Internet connection sharing (win98-2 will act as DHCP/DNS server and default gateway to Win98-1.)
2)win98-1 communicates or should communicate to win98-2 via HPNA
3)Win98-2 Ethernet port is assigned as DHCP client to get IP from DSL router (which also
acts as DHCP/DNS server and default gateway for Win98-2 Ethernet port.)
4) DSL router is a router and not a bridge, therefore must itself act as a DHCP client on WAN/RJ11 side.

Ok if this is the setup , lets troubleshoot and only concentrate on "LAN2"
at a minimum, he should get a link light on NIC card if cabling wiring is setup correctly..rutrowe, is this the case?

I would forget about the HPNA LAN "LAN1" first and troubleshoot and make sure Ethernet LAN "LAN2" works properly first..Second I would troubleshoot Telco is up and running and see if Win98-2 can go out to Internet....and last I would include the HPNA LAN...

There are so many variables that can be misconfigured or are not working properly, I personally feel it is best to approach it this way,,,Just an apinion....


cheers..

Yes, I did have 2 computers networked before. I had issues out of the second computer on the network and replaced it. I took the network card out of the old computer and put it in the new computer. When I put it in the drivers install without an issue but it just cannot find the connection. DSL Provider is Bellsouth. I have checked all of the settings and they are correct.

The network is configured like this. The first computer (win 98) connects to the router by a regular NIC card and cat 5 cable. The second computer (2000 Pro) connects through the phone lines. To be more specific and outside signal comes from the wall to the router and then the router sends it back through the phonelines to another room in the house where the second compute is.

The NIC card does get some lights when it is in the top PCI slot but they are not steady and do go out. I currently think that it is an issue with the wiring or the NIC Card. I am going to do a few test to see if I can determine which it might be.

rutrowe

Is the PC w/ NIC card connected to DSl router via hub, switch or back to back
with DSL router...The reason Im asking is for two reasons:
1) If you changed the NIC card, and you were using a switch, the swiitch
records the MAC address of old NIC for x time period..This can give you a problem...
If this is case reboot switch....
2) Also DHCP server running on DSL router may have recorded your old MAC address when it assigned it an IP and when it was working before,,You might want to try and reboot the DSL router as well...

Last, dont worry about link light on NIC, if its the win98 PC thats connected to DSL router,
do a simple winipcfg form Dos prompt, and if you see MAC address of NIC card (make sure its the Ethernet MAC you are looking at and not the HPNA card) then your NIC is definitely working..(Nothing wrong with Datalink layer.)
(Im assuming you're using same cable/s you did before when setup was working properly)

Good Luck,,,,
curious to see what happens....