Hello

I am having real problems with my PC and internet connection which is a Ethernet cable connection using Virgin Broadband/NTL

Was all working fine and then suddenly had real problems. I was using a wireless router as wife has a laptop and the wireless router suddenly stopped working. Got a new one and same problems but lest ignore that for now.

If I plug the ethernet direct to the ethernet port on my PC (at work so can only give limited details - running XP, AMDXP1700 CPU, 1gb RAM) I generally get no connection.

It often just tells me that there is 'limited or no connectivity', when I go to repair it always holds on then tells me it 'cannot renew the i.p. address' - it is set to auto detect this

The helpdesk at Virgin tell me there is no problem with my modem, all the correct lights are on so there must be a PC problem

I have tried disabling, then re-enabling, unplugging everything, turning on in different orders but always get the same problem, cannot acquire network address

I have not made any changes that I am aware of that caused the problems

Is there any way I can get this fixed so the PC can find the i.p address?? It connects very rarely, and when it does, usually for 30 minutes or so and very very slow, like dial up slow - I should be on 2 mbps

I'll worry about the wireless router later, just want to be able to use the internet on the PC

Any help very very gratefully received

...tells me it 'cannot renew the i.p. address' - it is set to auto detect this

If your PC is set to auto-detect, one device on your network needs to be configured as a DHCP server, this is typically a router. You can also manually configure the computer to use an unused IP address on your network. It wasn't clear whether you have the router in the mix or not. Additionally, a crossover cable may be required to connect the PC directly to any device without a built-in or standalone switch. Also, the router may be required and hooking the computer directly to the modem will not work.

The wireless router is definitely not needed, only got this as a later thing as the wife got a laptop and Virgin have confirmed I should be OK to plug direct to back of the PC in the ethernet port

The modem then would need to act as a DHCP server to give the PC an address. If you can determine what subnet your using, you can manually assign an address to the PC so you can access the modem either by telnet or a web interface to confirm that it has DHCP enabled.

Most common subnets are:

192.168.0.1 / 24 (Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0)
Or
192.168.1.1 / 24 (Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0)

What modem brand and model are you using?