So, I just spent about 10 hours setting up this new computer from Ecollege. Had to take the side off to take some Styrofoam out. The side was VERY hard to put back on. Connected it all up and the fan on the side wasn't working so I had to open it up again. The plug had come out probably because I had so much trouble closing it up. No easier the second time.

My problem now is my internet connection. First I couldn't get one at all. Now I finally have one, sort of. It goes in and out and is so, so slow, I will not really be able to use it. I can't find where to tell what version of Internet Explorer it is but it looks somewhat different than what is on this computer, which is 11 I believe.

I don't know if I have it hooked up right. I have AT&T U-Verse and have a Motorola thing and a Linksys E1000. I have what I think is an Ethernet cable from the Linksys to the new computer. It had no connection but I managed to connect it with this computer I'm on now. As stated, very slow and goes in and out. Also, I think it slowed this connection down a little now too. When I had my XP hooked up in the same spot, I didn't have a problem with it being slow like this, however, with that I also had phone lines going in and out of it and my printer which I cannot do with this computer as there are no phone line thingies. So there was the Ethernet connection and a phone connection. (Just mentioning that, don't know if it means anything with my problem here now.)

Also, in my device manager there is something called Ethernet Controller which has a yellow exclamation point next to it. It says there are no drivers installed for it so I tried to update but it found none and it doesn't show a name. ?? Not sure what this means either.

Any suggestions in simple terms?

Thank you.

And now, I can't get my phone working. I know it has to do with the hook-up I had for the XP. Without it plugged in there, I don't have the phone connection and I don't know how to get it!

Sounds to me like you've connected wirelessly, which would explain why it seems so much slower.



You'll need to locate the drivers, it's probably an integrated controller - do you know which one they built your PC with? If you can identify it, we can locate them on the manufacturer's web site.

I'm trying to have the internet on both computers. I may just be setting it up wrong. I don't know.

I have something called a Rosewill 2.4 GHz Wireless N PCI-E Adaptor RNX-N150PCe if that's what you mean. I see they installed the driver for that though. It shows in my installed programs, clearly states driver.

And I totally lost the connection again and can't seem to get it back, but I did figure out the phone thing anyway.

Yes, that would be the wireless adapter. If you've got the PC cabled to the router we'd need to know which motherboard you've got in order to point you to the drivers. You do have a cable from the router to the PC correct?

Edit -

If you don't know which motherboard you have, there is an alternative way to identify the hardware. The link below is from Toshiba, but applies to all PC's running Windows 7 or above.

How to identify an unknown device

Well, isn't the Ethernet cable I mentioned above, that goes from the Linksys to the computer, what you're asking about when you say "you do have a cable from the router to the PC correct"?

The motherboard is Gigabyte Ultra Durable GA-Z97X-SLI

Just making sure I wasn't misunderstanding you

You've got an Intel® GbE LAN chip - follow the link below and install their Update Utility. It will locate and install the appropriate drivers.

Driver Update Utility

You have to make sure with me Inland because I rarely & barely know what I'm talking about when it comes to this stuff. I was assuming the Linksys is the router but not 100% sure and not sure if I needed something else connected also.

OK, so, now I have to get an internet connection again though so I can follow the link you posted. I will try to do that tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks much!

Let us know how it works out

Since the PC is from EcollegePC, you should have gotten all the driver and OS disks that come with it. You could try using the motherboard driver disk to install the drivers from there.

The other thing to do is contact Mike at EcollegePC - they are really good about helping you out.

If you're connecting to wireless and you're not using a wireless router, you're probably connecting to someone else's wireless router -- which is why it's especially slow -- long distance to the wireless router means slower connection.

I'd disable the wireless if you're not going to use it.

Thanks Draclvr. I know Mike installed all the drivers. I already asked him about all the driver discs.

Jenny100 - I think what you are saying is a major part of the problem. I don't actually have "wireless". My problem though is that I want the new computer connected to the internet with some kind of usable speed while keeping this older computer hooked up to it also. I had my XP hooked up through this router but with phone jacks also and it worked fine and this computer did too. I cannot hook phone jacks up in the new computer though and it seems that may be part of the problem. I can't see any other difference than that phone jack. I have an external modem that I am going to try so I can hopefully hook to the phone also. Otherwise it is just that Ethernet cable and I don't think that's enough. I haven't yet gone on the new computer to try anything today.

A phone jack would be dial up not Ethernet - I would call EcollegePC and ask them where your LAN drivers are.

Oldbroad may have mistaken an Ethernet jack for a phone jack, since they look similar except for width.
Oldbroad, this site has a picture comparing the two
http://www.resnet.wvu.edu/setup/setup1.html

Oldbroad,
If your computer has the Rosewill 2.4 GHz Wireless N PCI-E Adaptor RNX-N150PCe you mentioned, it has wireless capability. Just because you don't have a wireless router doesn't mean your computer's wireless card won't try to find a wireless signal somewhere nearby. If one of your neighbors doesn't have a password on their wireless router, there's nothing to stop your computer from connecting. I don't think this is something you want it to be doing, so I'd recommend disabling the Rosewill 2.4 GHz in Device Manager.

When I saw the specs for this new computer I questioned the wireless adapter as I knew she uses a direct ethernet connection and said the wireless adapter was not necessary.

I suspect the wireless adapter is picking up a signal and that she is connecting to that instead of using her direct ethernet connection.

Oldbroad, you do not want to connect any phone lines to this new computer and couldn't if you wanted to. Check out that link from Jenny about the difference between an ethernet connection and a phone connection.

She said she had a Linksys E1000 - so I'm very confused at this point.

Edit -

If you must use another PC to download the drivers - point yourself to the link below. Choose your OS and then peruse to: Intel LAN Driver

GA-Z97X-SLI Drivers

Copy it to a jump drive and install it on your new PC.

I'm confused too. I know the difference between the Ethernet and phone jacks. The phone connection though is the only difference I have between the XP that hooked up fine and the Win 7.

Maybe I am just not explaining myself right? I am trying to hook up one DSL phone/internet connection to 2 different computers using one modem and router which are not wireless. Does this change/explain anything differently?

My phone has a splitter thing, phone cord in one jack and green cord in the other. The green cord goes to my modem. There is a blue cord from my modem to my router. There is a yellow cord from my router to my (working)Win 7. There is a black cord on each that I think are to the power supply but everything is so tangled up I'm just guessing at that. The phone jack from the splitter was somehow connected between my answering machine, my printer, and my XP and when I went from dial up to DSL it all seemed to work so I kept everything intact. I hooked a grey cord from the Linksys to the new computer. (Cord being Ethernet).

Computer 1 shows Wireless Internet Connection RubyFish: DW1525 (802.11n) WLAN PCIe Card; Wireless Internet Connection 2: not connected - Microsoft Virtual Miniport Adapter

Computer 2 shows the same except the different wireless adapter. (If this means anything.) Do I need to set up Connection 2?

I guess the reason Drac, that I went for the wireless adapter is so I'd be prepared if I go wireless. I did hook up the external modem and I do have a connection now. IE came up pretty fast but trying to bring GameBoomers up was not happening. I plugged the phone jack into an Ethernet jack on my Linksys.

Here are some things I probably need to know:

Should I still try updating the driver that Inland linked me to?

How do I disable the wireless adapter? Just uninstall it? And how will that help me get connected with my DSL line?

Do I need to hook up a RubyFish network or something between the 2 computers? If so, how? I had it yesterday but lost it.

I think I have another modem and router. Does that help me in any way? Keep in mind though I only have the 1 phone jack!

Do any of you know what would be involved in going wireless instead?

If your modem has the Linksys E1000 hung off of it, then you have the ability to connect wirelessly. The Ethernet cable from the router to the new PC can't be used until you install the new PC's LAN driver.

If you can connect wirelessly with the new PC you can download the LAN driver directly from GIGABYTE (it's in my previous post). Once you install them you can disable the wireless connection and use your PC's LAN for internet access.

Here's a how-to for wireless connections -

How to connect to wifi

DO make sure you are not connecting a phone jack to an Ethernet jack - they are not the same.

And after oldbroad said she had a Linsys E1000, I was also very confused! If she is wireless, then she doesn't need an ethernet cable plugged into the back of the computer. If she is wireless, then she just needs to set up her wireless connection on the new computer.

First, find that Gigabyte motherboard driver disk EcollegePC and install the LAN driver if necessary. If there is a later driver, the link Inland gave you should work.

To go wireless, you will first need to send an internet signal from your modem to the Linksys100 wireless router with an ethernet cable - not a phone cable. You might have to contact your DSL provider to be sure you are getting everything hooked up right. Then you would allow your new computer to "find" the signal. If you've never set up the wireless router before, then you will need to do it now. Find your users manual because you will probably have to set up a password and a few other things.

I'm sure glad I'm not the only one confused here Drac - I was getting worried about myself )

Me too!

Hey, could you please check your PM on another matter?

The Linksys E1000 has ethernet ports as well as Wireless capability.
Specifically ***this picture of the ethernet ports***

I assume Oldbroad wasn't using the wireless capability, but it may still be on by default -- and if so, it probably has no password and anyone within range can connect to her router.

This is the Rosewill card Oldbroad mentioned earlier
***Newegg picture of Rosewill RNS-N150***.

Oldbroad, do you see that Rosewill card with the antenna on the back of your computer?
It may or may not have the antenna attached. The antenna probably screws on. The antenna may have been detached for shipping, but you should have received it with your computer.


Disable it in Device Manager. You could also pull it out of the computer if you wanted to, but disabling it is good enough -- especially if you think you're going to use wireless some day.

If you have Windows 8, there are instructions here
http://internethelp.centurylink.com/internethelp/os-windows-8-ipv4-enable-network-adapter.html

If you don't want to use the wireless, you should make sure the wireless functionality in the E1000 is disabled.

If you do decide to use the wireless functionality of the E1000, you should put a password on it. Otherwise anyone nearby could connect to your router and use your Internet service.


If both computers are connected to the same router (the E1000) by ethernet cables, then you don't need to hook anything else up. If you want them to share files with each other, you have to set up the sharing permissions in Windows.

What motherboard does the computer have? Nearly all motherboards have an ethernet port.

Now I'm on information overload.

I set this up 4 years ago and don't remember how it all works. I need to look for the instructions and try to back track.

I'm confused about the wireless and non-wireless. My current computer shows the connection as using the wireless card. I'm sure I followed instructions when I set it up and I haven't had any problems so I'm assuming it is ok.

Just hooking the Ethernet cable up to the router did not help. That was the first thing I did.

Let me look around and see what else I find.

Thank you all very much. I will be back.

Then I'd suspect the drivers for the ethernet card aren't installed or need updating. If the ethernet port is on the motherboard, you'd look for the drivers on the motherboard manufacturer's website.

If you told eCollege to install a wireless card, they may have configured the computer to use the wireless card by default, and not bothered with installing drivers for the motherboard's onboard LAN. They may have even disabled the onboard LAN (ethernet) in the BIOS.

Are you ready for this??

I found a wireless key that I had to plug into my computer to link it to the router. It seems to be working much better now. I am on it right now. However, the GOG page does not come up properly. It doesn't have any pictures and some things are not in the right places. Gameboomers seems ok.

Where do I check the IE version again? I can't seem to find it.

I will still probably do Inland's thing and may be back to find out what else I need to do/change but I need to get my Norton on here!

Wireless key? What in the world is that! In one of the builds you sent me, there was an ASUS USB Wireless Adapter listed.. is that it? This is what you sent me...

Or did the Rosewill wireless adapter have an antenna you needed to attach?

What is the resolution for your monitor?