nash911

Hi,

I own a Acer Aspire 4520, which i bought in Bangalore, India. It is running on Windown XP Professional. I have a very weird problem with the Ethernet port. I was able to use wired LAN, through the Ethernet port successfully, for over a year ago, in India, and for about a year in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am currently in Germany, and there seems to be some kind of a problem with the compatibility of the network port [on the wall] and my Ethernet driver, here. I am staying in a student hostel where in, each room is provided with wired internet access through a wall mounter network port. When i connect my laptop to the same, the tiny LED on my laptop's Ethernet port does not glow. So i tried to uninstall the LAN driver and reinstall it. The minute i uninstalled the LAN driver, the LED started glowing, and it stopped when i reinstalled the driver. So that tells that the problem [Or incompatibility] is between the driver and probably the way the wall mounter port is wired. I could find 3 different LAN drivers for my laptop, for Windows XP, i tried them all with no success. The weird thing is that my laptop [With the same LAN driver] works fine when connected to the LAN port in the room next door, and other laptops work fine when connected to my room's LAN port. Its just my laptop that doesn't working in my room [I know, tough luck].

Also, earlier today, i installed the latest version of Ubuntu on my laptop, thinking that this should solve the problem once for all [I previously had Ubuntu, back when i was in India, and have successfully accessed internet over it]. But the same problem persists, that is, i do not get the Ethernet LED blinking, although it works perfectly fine when connected in another room, over Ubuntu. I really wonder what the problem is, and what the possible solution could be [Other than relocating to another room]. Anybody? Thanks in advance.

Avinash

TriggerFinger

Did you try to connect on other LANs (ex. school network) or may be try it on a good/working hub or router? If you already tried with other LANs, hubs or routers and the symptoms remain the same, then it could be your laptop's ethernet port or the ethernet cable.

nash911

I haven't tried my laptop on a different network, but just the fact that my laptop works perfectly fine in all other rooms on the floor confirms that my Ethernet is alright. And yes, i have tried using different cable [The ones that worked well in other rooms].

TriggerFinger

So you did try other places with ethernet connection... (in other rooms as you mentioned) and your laptop connected fine, correct? Having tried your connection in the other rooms, you also ruled out the cable that you are using. Since you ruled out your laptop and the cable... I believe the only one left to suspect is the port where you are plugging into (the one you use in your room).

nash911

Yes, my laptop connects fine in other rooms, the cable is ruled out as well. But, other laptops connect fine in my room. Does that still mean the culprit is the port? Also, i do get the little green LED [On the Ethernet port of my laptop] glowing when i uninstall the Ethernet driver. The problem, i think, is with the driver, but the same happens on Ubunt as well. Thanks for your reply.

TriggerFinger

If it happens in Ubuntu, I really doubt if it is the drivers (in Windows) causing the problem. Besides you said laptop works in other rooms... no driver problem there - IMO.

What you can do (and this might sound far fetched) may be is to use a hub between your laptop and wall port (make sure hub works fine with your laptop). Use the cable used by laptops that worked in your room to connect the hub and wall port. Plug your ethernet cable to the hub and the laptop.

nash911

Thanks for the advice. But its is quit far fetched.

TriggerFinger

It is all up to you. If you are in doubt if it is your laptop or the port in your room, see a repair shop or call a pro.