No Cable Modem Link Light

[High EGT]

Got home after a few days of R&R and discovered that the LINK LIGHT on my cable modem was not illuminated and of course no internet connection. All other systems, files and memory seem to be in order. Called COMCAST and was suggested I change the Ethernet cable. That done still have no light and after having one of their technicians make a house call he determined that the internet card is bad. The internet plug is integrated with the mother board so it was suggested by the guys at Geek Squad I install an internet card. That done and double checking the drivers I still have no Link Light. Anybody out there has had a similar problem and what was the solution. My system is a Dell Dimension running on Win XP.
Truth be known the house next door was struck by lightning while we were gone but we have no signs our house was struck or otherwise effected since none of the clocks were flashing, phone service is ok, and cable TV is ok.

 

[Mousebaby]

Got home after a few days of R&R and discovered that the LINK LIGHT on my cable modem was not illuminated and of course no internet connection. All other systems, files and memory seem to be in order. Called COMCAST and was suggested I change the Ethernet cable. That done still have no light and after having one of their technicians make a house call he determined that the internet card is bad. The internet plug is integrated with the mother board so it was suggested by the guys at Geek Squad I install an internet card. That done and double checking the drivers I still have no Link Light. Anybody out there has had a similar problem and what was the solution. My system is a Dell Dimension running on Win XP.
Truth be known the house next door was struck by lightning while we were gone but we have no signs our house was struck or otherwise effected since none of the clocks were flashing, phone service is ok, and cable TV is ok.

Could it possibly be that your modem from Comcast is bad? If it was bad it would not interfere with your phone or cable. I would have them send you another modem and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

Oh and are you positive you have the new ethernet card in the slot good. I worked on one that took every muscle in me to get it slide into home. I would recheck that too. Just a suggestion.

 

[clevalley]

Could it possibly be that your modem from Comcast is bad? If it was bad it would not interfere with your phone or cable. I would have them send you another modem and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

Oh and are you positive you have the new ethernet card in the slot good. I worked on one that took every muscle in me to get it slide into home. I would recheck that too. Just a suggestion.

If you have tried a new NIC (Network Interface Card - Ethernet) it is more than likely the modem - have them send you a new one.

For grins, check to see if the NIC is recognized by the system. Right click on "My Computer" | go to "Properties" | click on the "Hardware" tab | click on "Device Manager" button...

In the Device Management window, scroll down to Network Adapters and see if the NIC you added is in there with no red X through it... if it does have a red X it is possible the drivers are not loaded correctly, some NIC's need to be software configured even before the LINK light will light. You might (for giggles) want to disable your internal/onboard NIC by right clicking on it and choosing "Disable"...

 

[High EGT]

I orginally thought I might have a bad cable modem. But when a reset is initiated the Link Light does illuminate but after the reset sequence is complete the light goes out where now the Modem is not sensing an internet connection at the PC. As for the correct slot, the Geek Squad dude pointed out the correct slot and was easy since only one 32 bit slot was avaliable. It is possible the internet card is not completly seated but having some expierience installing cards my ego believes the card is seated but it is worth double checking. The devise manager recognized the drivers for the new card so that likely is not the problem. What I might try is installing another card on the assumption the one I bought at Target is bad since the seal for the card was broken suggesting the card was purchased, used, and then returned to the shelf.

 

[clevalley]

I orginally thought I might have a bad cable modem. But when a reset is initiated the Link Light does illuminate but after the reset sequence is complete the light goes out where now the Modem is not sensing an internet connection at the PC. As for the correct slot, the Geek Squad dude pointed out the correct slot and was easy since only one 32 bit slot was avaliable. It is possible the internet card is not completly seated but having some expierience installing cards my ego believes the card is seated but it is worth double checking. The devise manager recognized the drivers for the new card so that likely is not the problem. What I might try is installing another card on the assumption the one I bought at Target is bad since the seal for the card was broken suggesting the card was purchased, used, and then returned to the shelf.

Then the NIC is working - check to see if the card is configure correctly in Control Panels | network connections... Properties | highlight TCP/IP and click properties...


In a perfect world;

You are probably going to be using "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS Server address automatically...

You can also open a CMD prompt (Start | run | type 'cmd')... type in "ipconfig /all" and see what it spits out. Under the adapter name, you will have DHCP Enabled = Yes, and numbers for IP Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS Server (which are all handed back from the Modem...), but if you have no link light, you are not getting these anyways...

If you have no link light, somewhere it will say disconnected, I think when you view it in the control panels, Network connection...

 

[High EGT]

Then the NIC is working - check to see if the card is configure correctly in Control Panels | network connections... Properties | highlight TCP/IP and click properties...


In a perfect world;

You are probably going to be using "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS Server address automatically...

You can also open a CMD prompt (Start | run | type 'cmd')... type in "ipconfig /all" and see what it spits out. Under the adapter name, you will have DHCP Enabled = Yes, and numbers for IP Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS Server (which are all handed back from the Modem...), but if you have no link light, you are not getting these anyways...

If you have no link light, somewhere it will say disconnected, I think when you view it in the control panels, Network connection...

Another thing I,m going to try is a release and renew of the IP address.

cmd-ipconfig /release-ipconfig /renew

 

[High EGT]

Info Source

LINK: [3100] this light on the back of the cable modem lights steadily green when the ethernet socket sees a connection from a live ethernet socket on your PC. If your PC is running, and ethernet enabled, the LINK light should be lit. If it is not lit, then either there is an ethernet cable fault, or ethernet networking is disabled in your PC. This is your problem to fix, not your ISP's.

Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: LEDs

 

[clevalley]

Another thing I,m going to try is a release and renew of the IP address.

Info Source

LINK: [3100] this light on the back of the cable modem lights steadily green when the ethernet socket sees a connection from a live ethernet socket on your PC. If your PC is running, and ethernet enabled, the LINK light should be lit. If it is not lit, then either there is an ethernet cable fault, or ethernet networking is disabled in your PC. This is your problem to fix, not your ISP's.

Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips: LEDs

Are you using the computer to post? I know I will get 'ed for that...

If the link light is off it will not pull an addy - but try a release/renew - if it does not pull the address then you probably know the modem is bad...

If the light does not light, and you have a new card, and it's enabled with a known good cable then the problem lies with the modem.

Is the light on the NIC card when you plug just the cable into it? Some cards will light the LINK LED with just a cable.

If you have a switch to plug the other end into would help to see if the LINK LED lights on the NIC. That would tell you at the hardware level the NIC is operational.

 

[Mousebaby]

I orginally thought I might have a bad cable modem. But when a reset is initiated the Link Light does illuminate but after the reset sequence is complete the light goes out where now the Modem is not sensing an internet connection at the PC. As for the correct slot, the Geek Squad dude pointed out the correct slot and was easy since only one 32 bit slot was avaliable. It is possible the internet card is not completly seated but having some expierience installing cards my ego believes the card is seated but it is worth double checking. The devise manager recognized the drivers for the new card so that likely is not the problem. What I might try is installing another card on the assumption the one I bought at Target is bad since the seal for the card was broken suggesting the card was purchased, used, and then returned to the shelf.

NEVER BUY UNSEALED HARDWARE!!! That should have been a red flag right there. Go to Walmart and get a good one! Or Best Buy!

 

[High EGT]

Havn,t had a chance to get back but what ended up is Comcast sent another tech who in about a minute found that the Modem was bad. Cost me the price of a ethernet cable and a Net Card but the tech was very apologetic and left his number in case we have more problems. I could be mad but I'll chalk it up as the price of an education dealing with Comcast.

 

[RadioPatrol]

Havn,t had a chance to get back but what ended up is Comcast sent another tech who in about a minute found that the Modem was bad. Cost me the price of a ethernet cable and a Net Card but the tech was very apologetic and left his number in case we have more problems. I could be mad but I'll chalk it up as the price of an education dealing with Comcast.

When my cable modem started flaking out 2 yrs ago ... I called Comcrap , jumped through their Hoops .... reset modem ...

they sent out a tech out he check a couple things replaced my splitter and cable modem and all was grand ............

all in all not an unpleasant experience since I work in the Industry .... Network Engineer ... I had already checked the basics and was annoyed @ having to play games with the chart flipper until we got to the point of

"OK I guess we need to dispatch a tech"

 

[Mousebaby]

Havn,t had a chance to get back but what ended up is Comcast sent another tech who in about a minute found that the Modem was bad. Cost me the price of a ethernet cable and a Net Card but the tech was very apologetic and left his number in case we have more problems. I could be mad but I'll chalk it up as the price of an education dealing with Comcast.

HA! I knew it! Man I need to get a job in this field. Do any of you know if you have to have a college education to get into this! I am self taught and rather very good at it. I fix my 6 PC's and friends and family's all the time. Just asking, I want to work with the computers but don't have the time and energy to go through a stupid college course. :shrug:

 

[Warron]

I had problems with the modem supplied by metrocast when I moved to my current home in June. The guy who set up my service went through 3 modems before he could get one to sync up. And then it worked like crap. I was getting huge latency and my connection would just randomly drop. I had them come out to look at it, but the guy just said the modem was fine and swiched out a couple splitters. I ended up buying my own modem and it now works fine. So my experience is to avoid the isp supplied modems if you have a choice.

 

[High EGT]

HA! I knew it! Man I need to get a job in this field. Do any of you know if you have to have a college education to get into this! I am self taught and rather very good at it. I fix my 6 PC's and friends and family's all the time. Just asking, I want to work with the computers but don't have the time and energy to go through a stupid college course. :shrug:

If you had gotten into the IT field say 10 - 15 years ago then street smarts would have landed you a good paying job. Not so now since the industry has matured. There are few shortcuts but if your serious then talk to an IT proffesional to get a good perspective on career requirments. Good luck