I can not get my two home computers to link up since I have returned from a 2 month holiday. I have a computer downstairs hooked up to broadband and an ethernet cable running upstairs which links the two and usually works fine. Now all I can get is the little computers with a yellow exclamation mark saying "limited or no connectivity" I've tried everything on windows helpdesk and have run network wizard but no luck yet. Something about failing to renew my ip address. I'm no wizard at computers so I don't even know what this means! :mad:

Please help!

Check all you cables, by removing them and reseating.
Make sure all of your networking gear is correctly plugged in and has power.
Make sure you modem is corretcly connected both to the computer and to the phone line.

This sounds like a physical network issue rather than a software problem.

If you have the two computers connected directly to each other via an ethernet cable then I would expect the yellow exclamation mark to appear. This is normal as neither of your PC's is acting as a DHCP server. Your two computers are probably talking to each other already but on a different set of "default" IP's. See if you can do this at least:

Start a command window on each of the computers and type the following:
Ipconfig /all

I'm assuming you're running Windows XP/2000. If you're running other versions of Windows then click start, run, WINIPCFG and hit enter. Please report back those settings.

Thanks for th suggestions but no luck with either :(

Can you post the result of the IPCONFIG /ALL commands?

On the command screen for host computer is says no ip routing enabled and no default gateway if that means anything

OK, I'm trying to help you out by troubleshooting the problem with you. I'm asking for the output of both computer's IPCONFIG /ALL for a reason.

Go to each computer and issue the IPCONFIG /ALL command. You can issue that command by clicking on the START menu, choose RUN, type CMD and hit enter. This will display a new window for you with a command prompt. Then type IPCONFIG /ALL at that prompt and hit enter. There should be some output information there. If you can cut/paste that information here or retype here then that's a great start.

Here is the Host computer

C:\DOCUME~1\TERRY>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name.. . : terry-home
Primary Dns Suffix.. . :
Node Type.. . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled.. . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled.. . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description.. . : SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adap
ter
Physical Address.. . : 00-0D-87-96-7C-E8
Dhcp Enabled.. . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled.. . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address.. . : 169.254.24.254
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway.. . :

PPP adapter Wanadoo Broadband:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description.. . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address.. . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled.. . : No
IP Address.. . : 84.65.172.118
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway.. . : 84.65.172.118
DNS Servers.. . : 195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

and the upstairs computer


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name.. . : pullen upstairs
Primary Dns Suffix.. . :
Node Type.. . : mixed
IP Routing Enabled.. . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled.. . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description.. . : realtek rtl8139 810x family fast ethernet nic
Physical Address.. . : 00-E0-4D-07-CE-10
Dhcp Enabled.. . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled.. . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address.. . : 169.254.180.250
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway.. . :192.168.0.1

its all greek to me mate but hopefully it should explain something.

thanks for your time

Excellent. This helps get us to the next step. Now do this and tell me what kind of response you get:

On the "terry-home" computer do this:
Start a command window again (i.e. START, RUN, CMD) and type this:
PING 169.254.180.250

Tell me what you get? If the connection between the two computers is physically OK then you should see something like this:

Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64


Pinging 169.254.180.250 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.180.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 169.254.180.250:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

OK it looks like your internet connection sharing (ICS) has been disabled on Terry-Home.
Double click the network icon in the system tray > Properties button > advanced tab.
Here's a pic for you:

Make sure ICS is enabled

[Cajalat: Don't forget 169.254.x.x addresses are unroutable, windows default IP setup]

After ensuring this then you need to set some static IP addresses for the connections.
On the General tab go down to TCP/IP, highlight it and click properties.
On terry-home set the IP info as:

IP 192.168.0.1
Sub net 255.255.255.0
Gateway 84.65.172.118

DNS Servers as
195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

OK all this.

On the machine upstairs do the same but use this info:
IP 192.168.0.2
Sub net 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers as
195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

So basically machine 1 is connected to the net via your BB connection and machine 2 connects to 1 and then onto the net.

Hope this helps.

Pics attached: ipdown is for terry-home (downstairs) & ipup is for the other machine (upstairs)

Microsoft(R) Windows DOS
(C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

C:\DOCUME~1\TERRY>ping 169.254.180.250

Pinging 169.254.180.250 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.

OK, so it looks like you have partial connections. The problem maybe due to wiring. This is a long shot but lets just make sure... unplug each of the computers from each other and on each PC's connection clean the jack (if you have an air gun or something that would be best). Then reconnect each of the PC's. I'm thinking that over a period of a month of sitting there without power that you may have developed a very small corrosion that one of the wire contacts between the jack and the PC is not making contact. Sometimes removing and re-installing the cable (cleaning it with air) might do the trick. Give that a shot and see what happens.

Nope :( nice and clean and still limited or no conectivity. I looked at curly bens suggestions but I don't have the ICS properties to change... just the firewall options

OK have you tried the IP bits I mentioned above ?

Although Curlyben's suggestions are a good final state I personally wouldn't change anything until we figure out the source of the problem first. Changing things now adds more variables to the problem. We need to figure out why the machines can't even PING each other first. Start your troubleshooting from the bottom up.

So the fact that your connections are clean, getting link but still not seeing each other might be related to a firewall (it could also be a hardware problem). Do you have any personal firewall setup? If you do, shut that off for the moment and try to ping again.

Also while you're at it, check the device settings under computer properties and see if both computer's NIC cards (ethernet cards) are installed properly (i.e. no exclamation/question mark next to the driver's name).

Lampwick,
To be perfectly honest with you I'd recommend dumping the cruddy wanadoo modem and investing in a broad band router.
Something like this Netgear one (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-DG834G-54Mbps-Wireless-ADSL-Modem-Firewall-Router-4-port-10-100-switch/dp/B0000TZ8Z8/sr=1-1/qid=1157381553/ref=sr_1_1/202-8384350-3093402?ie=UTF8&s=electronics) would suit you perfectly.
You could then setup your upstairs machine wirelessly and improve you security immeasurably.
You want to make sure that the router has an ADSL modem built in as some don't.
WIth this type of setup you can then share your connection easily and simply.
PCworld also do a few of these type of routers, but beware I find that they are a bunch od sharks when it comes to selling gear.

Wow, you guys are geniuses! OK so my computers are now connected as I can access information on each computer from the other... but guess what. There is still a problem :( I can't access the internet upstairs. When I click on the internet icon it comes up with a dial up connection which obviously is not connected then it says web page unavailable offline. Any ideas?

OPen IE.
Tools > Internet options > connections tab > make sure it is set to Never Dial a Connection.
LAN setting button, make sure everything is UNchecked.

OK done that. LAN/high speed internet connection is connected, blinking lights but my browser can not find server?

OK can you post an ipconfig for the upstairs machine and we'll see what's going on.

Microsoft(R) Windows DOS
(C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1990-2001.

C:\DOCUME~1\TERRY>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address.. . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway.. . : 192.168.0.1

Sorrry I meant an ipconfig /all
D'oH looks like it doesn't have andy DNS information in it.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name.. . : pullen upstairs
Primary Dns Suffix.. . :
Node Type.. . : mixed
IP Routing Enabled.. . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled.. . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description.. . : realtek rtl8139/familyfast ethernet nic
Physical Address.. . : 00-e0-4d-07-ce-10
Dhcp Enabled.. . : No
IP Address.. . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway.. . : 192.168.0.2
DNS Servers.. . : 195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

Phew!

PPP adapter Wanadoo Broadband:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description.. . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Physical Address.. . : 00-53-45-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled.. . : No
IP Address.. . : 84.65.172.118
Subnet Mask.. . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway.. . : 84.65.172.118
DNS Servers.. . : 195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

C:\DOCUME~1\TERRY>
C:\DOCUME~1\TERRY>

Oh that last broadband bit is from the downstairs comp

Bingo!!


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : pullen upstairs
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : realtek rtl8139/familyfast ethernet nic
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-e0-4d-07-ce-10
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2 should be 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 195.92.195.95
195.92.195.94

The default gateway has been corrected but still no joy. The computers are talking but I still can't get the internet to work upstairs

OK on the upstairs can you PING www.google.co.uk ?

Nope. Can not find host

Sorry to cop out a little, but This article (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314066/EN-US/) may help a great deal.

If not then This one (http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/index.htm) has a ton of stuff with pictures.

Thanks for all your time and effort helping me fix this. Turns out something has corrupted in my wannado modem. I'm going to sack it all in and get a router instead. Much easier!

Thanks again

Good call.
Thanks for the feedback, least we tried ;)