Would my network card be the first place to look when my computer won't obtain an IP address automatically or recognize my USB keyboard?

THe network card and IP address are related to one another... the usb keyboard is not related to the network and is a seperate problem...

As for the net problem... usually it is a cable that is loose at the card connector or at the other end.... you can look at your net card on the computer and see if there is a "link" or "activity" led winking at you... if there is no light on either of the led's it may be that your cable is bad or not fully seated in the connector... it could be a bad cable.... it could be a bad card.... it could be a bad switch.... in short, any component in the network "could" be suspect.... The object of the game is to work back from the computer to the problem by elimination (for small networks)....

Your Operating system also has tools that are built in to help you.... example - Win VISTA and Win 7 have "ipconfig" and can help you to identify if your adapter is even present as well as some additional command line switches that can help reset or even configure your adapter.... Win XP has some other command (at the moment the command escapes memory) that does basically the same thing.....

Your operating system (32 or 64 bit) as well as switch/router that you are using and any other information would go a long way to helping you out.... even seemingly insignificant info such as; "the geek squad guys came out and now "x" no longer works" is helpful..... please post that info if possible.....

I'm having to use the Windows onscreen keyboard so I'm trying to keep things brief as typing is a pain.  Basically, I recently moved and now these issues have appeared.  The cable is good as I was able to configure the IP manually so I could get my modem up and running.  I cannot connect the router, though, as the computer will not obtain an IP automatically.

Are you using a USB network device? If so, the two problems could be related.

You can easily solve all of your PC problems by getting a Mac.

By "modem" I assume Dial-up connection then.... Make sure that the router is set to serve DHCP.... this will be an option in the admin screen.... that is the likely the cause of your not being "given" an IP automatically.... As for the usb keyboard... make sure the rf/bluetooth adapter is plugged into a known good usb port..... if it is plugged in, try un-plugging and then plug in the adapter again... this sometimes fools windows into "seeing" new hardware.... short of that, and i know this sounds foolish, but make sure that the batteries in the keyboard are good also

Check the router config to be sure it is broadcasting DHCP addresses.
Sometimes it is easier to reset the router to the factory defaults, see if it works then re-setup the router.

Then he would have Mac issues

The usb advice is sound, but i assume from the original post as he states it is a net card that it is in fact a "network card" in the literal sense.....

yeah... purchasing a mac always solves a pc problem (having steve jobs TELL you what you will get irrespective of what you would like is not a solution)... In short, that bit of advice was not really helpful to the situation in its current iteration...

The router is being used with a Bellsouth DSL modem.  The router is configured properly, but it doesn't work when the computer is set to obtain an IP automatically.

Borrow a laptop from somebody and come plug it into your router.  If it doesn't get an IP either, then it's the router config.

XP has ipconfig as well.

Stupid question but have you simply tried refreshing your IP address?



http://www.wikihow.com/Refresh-Your-IP-Address-on-a-Windows-Computer

and that would be the command that escaped my memory....

The Bellsouth guy tried that among other things before telling me that I have a hardware problem.

The fact that you can get an IP from the modem but not the router tells me that the router or its configuration is the problem. There should be a reset to default settings in the menu somewhere.

If you still encounter the problem replace the router.

Do you have more than one computer/device on the network?

The "hard" reset for the Westell 61xx series (I think the Netopia is the same) router is on the back.... with a pencil or other pointy (not sharp) object press and hold the reset button until the router reboots.... it usually takes anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds on some models to get it to revert to factory default settings.... after it reboots, I would recomend a power down of the device and then reboot from scratch and try refreshing the ip on your comp... if that fails reboot the comp.... if that fails I would dare say the router is seriously "hurt".....

keep us posted

I just re-read this... let me get this straight.... you have a second router in addition to the modem... so the setup is basically this

Internet=>dsl modem=>router=>computer in question....

If this scenariio is true, then.....

If you reset the dsl modem to factory the router will no longer work as intended as the modem will be trying to do dhcp and so will the router.... with this setup, you will not be able to "reach" the dsl modem to do admin thru the router and you will have to temporarily connect directly to the modem.... set the dsl modem in "bridge mode", disconnect and then set the router up to serve dhcp to the local net and enter/verify all of your connection info.... refresh ip on computer and you "should" be back on the air....

can you confirm that this is the setup you have, and if so, what dsl modem and what router are you using? There is more to this configuration than I have provided above, but more info would be necessary to go any farther....

The setup is Motorola DSL modem > Linksys router > comp.  What flagged the tech that there was a problem is that there was no default gateway showing in the network properties.  The only way to get a connection to the modem was to configure manually.

Then I would look closely at the router.  If it got an IP address an no gateway that says DHCPD to me.  As was recommended above for I'd try another ethernet enabled device.  The idea is process of elimination.  Start at each function starting from the termination point and work forward or start at the laptop and work backward.  Either works.  

Backward example:  You plug in a different laptop to the router and it works.  Look at the computer.  It doesn't work: look at the router

Forward example:  Bridge the modem and do the pppoe manually on a laptop.  If it works look at the router.  If it doesn't look at the DSL provider.

Oh, wait.... Before going and resetting things remember that a LOT of devices use 192.168.1.0/24 as their default.  If you have that subnet on  both interfaces a lot of newer devices bork (but not older ones ).  The best bet is to bridge the Motorola and have the router do the pppoe to avoid the double NAT trying to use the same subnet.

When I connect the PC directly to the modem should it obtain the IP from the modem automatically?

I am in a hurry so I don't have time to read everything.  I thought I saw you say you can set an IP address statically and it works.  If so then your NIC is not having a hardware issue.  So that leaves the DHCP server in your router, a cabling issue, or a software issue.  I thought I saw you say the router is configured properly to hand out IPs (aka DHCP).  If so that leaves cabling or a software issue.  And I think you said the cabling was fine (and if setting an IP statically allowed connectivity to other devices then at some of the cabling is known good).  So that leaves a software issue.  The only time I have seen a NIC work okay with with a static IP but not pick up an IP address autmatically from a properly configured DHCP server using wokring cabling was when TCP/IP was partially hosed on the PC.  In that event the solutions is to run "netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt" at a command prompt to reset TCP/IP.  Run it multiple times until the log file (C:\resetlog.txt) does not show any errors as being repaired.  Then reboot and try again.

Here is my log.

deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netbt\Parameters\EnableLmhosts
reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\DefaultGateway
           old REG_MULTI_SZ =
               192.168.1.254

reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\DefaultGatewayMetric
           old REG_MULTI_SZ =
               0

reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\EnableDhcp
           old REG_DWORD = 0

reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\IpAddress
           old REG_MULTI_SZ =
               192.168.1.42

deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\IpAutoconfigurationAddress
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\IpAutoconfigurationMask
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\IpAutoconfigurationSeed
reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\NameServer
           old REG_SZ = 192.168.1.254

reset   SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{AE0F3287-87E1-49D1-96FA-CBC8726B1C23}\SubnetMask
           old REG_MULTI_SZ =
               255.255.255.0

deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\DontAddDefaultGatewayDefault
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\EnableIcmpRedirect
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\EnableSecurityFilters
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\SearchList
deleted SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\UseDomainNameDevolution
reset   Linkage\UpperBind for PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_104B&SUBSYS_01DB1028&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&C8.  bad value was:
           REG_MULTI_SZ =
               PSched

reset   Linkage\UpperBind for USB\VID_06A9&PID_0005\07B406252471.  bad value was:
           REG_MULTI_SZ =
               PSched

reset   Linkage\UpperBind for ROOT\MS_NDISWANIP\0000.  bad value was:
           REG_MULTI_SZ =
               PSched

<completed>

<completed>

I'm  assuming that the last 2 entries are the 2 resets I just did.

Only if your router's wan configuration is set for automatic/DCHP. If it has pppoe then no.

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Any luck? I'm like a fidgety mechanic.  I hate thinking about broken stuff being out there I can fix

No, I actually tried to reinstall Windows since I was having some other issues and it won't go past the setup screen without a keyboard so it's locked up right now.  I just yanked the tower and am using my rommates tower at the moment.