Which NIC to install ???

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Good Morning All,

Having discovered during wireless set up no installed ethernet port - I am bravely considering having a go at installing a NIC onto my system. I know I could purchase a USB adapter but could really do with the exercise
of working on the expansion bus.

Unfortunately I don't have a motherboard book which would presumably tell which NIC card to install.

Having just bought & installed ram from Crucial Technology it reminded me of the system search tool it had on there website to determine correct ram. Is there a similar site good on price that could advise similarly ????D

Kindest Regards

Co9

 

nothing special - A 370 eMachine - are you saying the ethernet port information will be on the motherboard - sorry really need easy steps guidance where to look ect as a newbie to all this reallyD

Thanks for your reply

C09

 

Yeh, should be there. You won't *see* it as it's onboard but at the rear of the PC you should have an RJ45 socket looking like this :



You *may* need to enable the socket in the motherboard BIOS (it should be *live* by default).

What does your Windows device manager show for network cards ?

 

Snap !

 

No - only two RJ11 ports - have checked the yellow ethernet cabble RJ45s and are definitely therefore too big and not compatable

Thanks for your replies

Co9

 

According to the spec I found (assuming the model is accurately reported) there is a NIC as part of the motherboard.

Harry.

 

2 x RJ11 is very unusual if onboard. A card fitted may have 2 (one is usually for a phone) but I can't think I've ever seen 2 onboard in the last 10 years.

Are you sure one isn't an RJ45 ?

Can you give any make/model number for the PC ?

 

Sorry - have opened my eyes a little wider although the Rj45 socket you speak of was pretty well hidden against other usb ports and originally thought this to be one of them if you see what i mean.

Why was the AOL installation unable to pick it up though ??

Have looked in device manager to find these installed :

Globe Span USB ADSL LAN Modem
&
PPP oEWIN mini port

If i do need to switch on via BIOS - how would I do this - as you say - it should be switched on and ready!

Many thanks for your continued support

Kind Regards

Co9

 

I'd expect it to be a Realtek. One of the pages I found suggests: "Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC" should appear in Device Manager.

Harry.

 

Not sure where you're looking in DM.

You should check under network adapters and see something like this (I have 2 onboard NIC's on my motherboard) :



Do you know how to get into the BIOS ? (usually pressing DEL key on startup) and, more importantly, do you know what you're doing once you're in there ? If not - BE CAREFUL !

AOL is quirkly to say the least so even if the nic is enabled there could be many reasons why the AOL software doesn't detect it.

Back to basics - is this a PC you have setup or is it in the factory supplied state ?

Have you setup AOL before ? Have you tried the AOL helpline (which is free) ?

 

One possibility is that this machine has been reloaded at some point in the past with an ordinary XP disk, rather than the restore disk, and the motherboard drivers not correctly installed. In such a scenario it is sometimes the case that motherboard hardware is incorrectly reported, or is not reported at all.

Harry.

 

No only the Globespan installed

Also went into Network Connections ; to find both of these enabled : Dial BB WAN mini port (pppoe)
& Lan or High Speed Internet - which is the Globespan mentioned above - no Realtek device at all. These were found in device manager under network adapters also.

Thanks

Co9

 

Yes I know how to access the BIOS but only through recent reading on my A+ - would not touch this without experienced guide through support - but thanks for your kind concern - I know this would be like giving a baby a razor blade !!

 

I agree with Harry. The Ethernet drivers haven't been loaded - this will be a reinstall from a vanilla copy of XP. You need to find the motherboard drivers and download them, then install the Chipset and LAN drivers - this should enable your NIC.

 

If you studied the A+ at college you would need to manually install a network card as part of the training course,it's one of the lab exercises students are expected to carry out,so you've helped yourself along a bit.

 

As you have an onboard NIC,
why not try getting cheap upgrade parts from ebay and installing them along with drivers ?

Maybe a new graphics, sound, or wifi card ?

Failing that maybe investigate all the components and try and find the latest drivers and install them. Upgrade mobo chipset, graphics, NIC, sound, drivers etc.

Afterwards get a torch and have a good look at your mobo, set if you can identify onboard chips for northbridge, southbridge, bios, also NIC, sound, wifi, graphics, etc if they are onboard.

Buy a printer or scanner and set it up with drivers.

Maybe set up a home network with a cheap wifi router at £25 ? Maybe try flashing the router firmware ? etc

If you have lots of cash maybe even build your own PC from either a barebones system or completely from individual parts.