Endless Paradigm

Hey everyone,

I was about to hop on the Internet as I usually do everyday when I get home from school. However, when I went on, XP told me that the network cable for the ethernet card was plugged out. Typical. However, it's from the modem and not the computer. So, I go and check and I see that the cord is plugged in fine, and that the "Link" light was up indicating that the cords were together and working;.

However, that didn't change on the computer. It still said that the cable was unplugged. So moving on, I checked the cord on the computer.. It was plugged in. However, those two status lights weren't blinking. They were completely off. So I'm wondering if Ethernet cards can burn out and if they're easy to replace.

Also, if I fear the worse, I won't be without Internet (not really since I have my laptop to use) since its dead and I don't have any money to replace it. Not now. On top of that, the ethernet and Internet were working fine this morning when I left for school. (About 9 hours ago.. Just coming home ~15 mins)

Ideas?  And, you guys can recommend me some cards I just replace if there's any ones that are better than the one that comes with stock motherboards.

well, it could break/ burn out i suppose, in theory, but ive never seen it happen

On the plus side, they are cheap, and they are easy to fit, just slot it into a PCI-E slot like you would any other component that frequently gets switched

I can't recommend off hand since i don't know where you are and therefore who you can buy off

Yea cards fry all the time..

If the same cable works in your notebook your card probly is havin probs.

You can always try removing it in the device manager and reinstalling it.

Adding a cheap card to your pc is cheap and easy. Any standard card is fine to use.
Most standard cards use a Realtek chip on them which is fine. Cost 10-20 bucks.

MaDc0w Wrote:Yea cards fry all the time..

Ive never known an ethernet card burn out

They arent usually under enough strain to push them to that, except in extreme or unlucky circumstances

Perhaps ive just avoided them then...,

Well in the many years doing this professionally, I've came across many dead cards and ethernet devices.

Most seem to die from dust/static. Also had several die from really worn out cables.
Even had whole blocks of 4/8 LAN ports on 24 port hubs/switches die.

Edit:
Overheating or high case temps can fry a card too.

Fudge..

Guess I'll look around for another card, and replace it when I get the money.

My cousin burned/broke her ethernet port.

She had a phone line cable hooked up to it >_<

They should be cheap. I recently bought a PCI Wifi card at WalMart for $40 USD.

Yes they die. Everything in a computer can die.
they aren't hard to replace and you should be able find one for a very good price.

And just as the man said it is usually do to static and not actual wearing out.

Yea. I fear that it was the dust or the static..

I just tried to see if the card would work out of curiousity, and it works fine...