Lost IP address

[reddevilggg]

My Dads computer does not connect to the internet (this is after 4 years of steady connection to the same ISP). After haveing technitions out to his house to replace cables and modem he was told it was his computer. I have lent him an old computer which connects fine, making me think that its was the original computer (oh yeah, tiny pc, windows xp, cable connection). I've brought his computer home and re-installed the network drivers and the PC works fine at my house when connected to broadband with an ethernet cable, but when the PC goes back to his house its does not connect. He has talked to his ISP, since,  and they have told him that they have 'lost' his IP address. Has anyone ever heard of this before. I'm at a loss as it goes way past my understanding!!

Any help

[drivenbywhat]

Definitely sounds fishy. One thing you didn't say was whether or not it worked at your house prior to reinstalling the drivers for it. Although it is possible to "lose the ip" it isn't an excuse for the internet not working on the pc. Most isps assign dynamic ip addresses so it means you never have the same ip all the time. It changes. So technically you can "lose it". Some give you static ips so it's the same ip all the time. Even if somehow they managed to lose this ip you would get assigned another one. But as I said earlier, it's no excuse for the internet not working permanently. If you've proven that the pc connects to the net fine in you house than it's obviously the line at your dad's house, the cable modem, the jack at the wall or some other cable related thing. You've isolated that it's not the pc. Hopefully your dad has that "protection plan" that costs like 3-7$ a month and any tech visits aren't billed. If he doesn't you can definitely still order it. So I would call the isp again and have them come out to test the lines and try to get your dad's pc connected to the net again. Good luck.

[reddevilggg]

Well the weird thing is that the PC worked when i brought it to my house, then stopped working and the network drivers had an exclaimation mark so i re-installed them. Also the network drivers were not installed on the machine, because at first i was going to 'rollback', but it said that they were not on the machine. I know this sounds strange, but.... Anyway after re-installing the drivers it worked, no problem, until i took it back to my dads house, then nothing. (but the drivers are OK)

I have also tried configuring a static ip. When i do this, it states (in network connections) that it is connected, but it still does not get the internet.

A tech has already been to the house and replaced all cables and modem. Luckily we live in England and this is free, but now they have said that they are going to send some by post and my dad has to ring them and they will talk him through connecting. (This is free also and so is the call).

It's just so weird, this is the 4th time he has called them and no-one is able to connect him. The first 3 people said it was his PC.

So, if they have 'lost' his IP address will that PC ever be able to connect. Like i say, my old one connects at his house and the 'troubled' PC works at mine. If he buys a new PC, will it connect?? If he changes his ISP will the 'troubled' PC connect???

[drivenbywhat]

Cheers to England for having free tech support for cable although they don't seem to be that good, .

As to not being able to "roll back" the driver that is because there wasn't a previous version of the driver installed. There definitely was a driver for it or it would have never worked to begin with. If you have driver 1 and then you install driver 2 now you can "roll back" to driver 1 if you don't like driver 2. But you can't roll back from driver 1 to nothing. Get it?

As for you configuring a static ip that really has nothing to do with the internet. You are just configuring a private ip for the pc to be able to talk to other pcs in the home network. If you configured it correctly then it will say connected because it is connected properly to the home network. Unfortunately it saying "connected" does not necessarily mean connected to the internet, just the network.

Well after reading your previous post and your update I came to the conclusion that perhaps it is that particular pc. Since if it was the cable connections or modem the other used pc wouldn't work either. Perhaps your dad was mistreating it and it decided to act up so it could be taken away from him, lol. It is a good mystery. Unfortunately things like these are hard to diagnose remotely. Have you tried adding a different nic card to the pc?

[reddevilggg]

I think installing another nic is the best option, I'm going to get one from ebay, i've checked and they are only £5 ish (no replies saying ebay cant be trusted, been using it for 5 years, not one problem).

This seem like the only way to go, maybe the built-in ethernet connector has failed.

P.S. My dads friend bought her laptop to his house and that would not connect. He plugged his original PC in and that would not connect, then he plugged in MY old PC and it connects fine. My hair is starting to fall out with constant scratching of head. 

[drivenbywhat]

Does your used pc have a buitin or addin nic? If addin then try removing it from the pc to your dad's pc and see if it will work prior to purchasing an extra nic. Oh make sure to disable the builtin nic in the bios.

I have no quarrel with ebay but just online shopping in general. Although some times you can find things cheaper online by the time you add shipping & handling it comes out close to the price of a brick & mortar store. So if it's almost the same price why not buy it at a store instead of waiting for it to come to you? Quarrel ended. 

This scenario is definitely weird! I have no idea why the laptop would not connect unless she was trying to connect it with a cable rather than wireless like she usually does and her wired connection is disabled? For giggles have you tried taking his pc back to your house to see if it still connects fine?

[reddevilggg]

Pc is coming back to my house tomorrow, will keep you informed

[reddevilggg]

Installed a new NIC and everything now works fine!!

Thanks for you help!!

[drivenbywhat]

Glad it worked. No more pulling your hair out. 

[BC_Programmer]

Installed a new NIC and everything now works fine!!

Thanks for you help!!

Don't be a stranger good to see you again!

[reddevilggg]

Thanks BC. 

[reddevilggg]

What does anybody think of the 2 previous post. I'm just a bit dubious to take advice off people who decribe themselves as 'beginners'. 

[BC_Programmer]

What does anybody think of the 2 previous post. I'm just a bit dubious to take advice off people who decribe themselves as 'beginners'. 

spammers.

[reddevilggg]

Thanks BC.