Ethernet LAN Detection

[OGER]

Is there a simple, free way to detect if a CAT5 cable has an active
internet.

The problem is that the two desktops running Windows 7 PRO do not show a
direct CAT5 connection, they just show a WiFi connection. Plugging in
the CAT5 cable does nothing.

Either something killed the desktops ability to access the CAT5
connections or the CAT5 cable is dead.

It is an AT&T FIOS WiFi router.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 19:56:19 -0700, OGER <OGER@NOWHERE.COM> wrote:

Is there a simple, free way to detect if a CAT5 cable has an active
internet.

No. Nothing is simple.

The problem is that the two desktops running Windows 7 PRO do not show a
direct CAT5 connection, they just show a WiFi connection. Plugging in
the CAT5 cable does nothing.

That's correct. Plugging just a CAT5 cable, with nothing connected to
the other end, will not produce any form of connection indication. The
cable needs to be terminated by the LAN jacks on your AT&T FIOS
router. The AT&T router needs to be turned on and operating. You
should also see the lights on the ethernet jacks at both ends light up
when the cable is plugged in.

Once you get lights on the connectors, dive into Windoze 7 and see if
it recognizes the ethernet connection. Make life easy for yourself
and temporarily disable the wireless interface on the computah. Make
sure that the ethernet interface is enabled.

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories
Right click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as Administrator"

Get a list of interface numbers, run:
WMIC NIC GET NAME, INDEX
On my Win 7 machine, my ethernet interface = 7 and my wireless = 12.
Yours will be different. No need to type the command in caps. Lower
case will work.

To disable the ethernet interface, run:
WMIC PATH WIN32_NETWORKADAPTER WHERE INDEX=7 CALL DISABLE

To enable the ethernet interface, run:
WMIC PATH WIN32_NETWORKADAPTER WHERE INDEX=7 CALL ENABLE

You should be able to see the effects of enable/disable with:
IPCONFIG /ALL | MORE

If everything appears to be working, try to ping your router. The IP
address of the router will be:
IPCONFIG /ALL | find /I "Default Gateway"
Then run:
PING IP_ADDRESS_OF_DEFAULT_GATEWAY
If you get a return, your computah can talk to the gateway.

If that works, the rest will be determining why your AT&T FIOS gateway
isn't talking to the internet.

Either something killed the desktops ability to access the CAT5
connections or the CAT5 cable is dead.

Or, the CAT5 cable is miswired or a crossover cable. Or, there's a
box between the computers and the router that you neglected to
mention. If it's a home made cable, I would be rather suspicious of
the cable.

>It is an AT&T FIOS WiFi router.

Model number?

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Ron D.]

Two things:

#1
The lights on the connector. If at least one interface is auto-MDIX then crossover and straight cables will work, otherwise a straight cable is appropriate.

#2
There is "metric" which can be set. It's the "cost" of an interface.
The lowest # is used first.

 

[Miguel GimĂŠnez]

El 07/04/2018 a las 4:56, OGER escribiĂł:

Is there a simple, free way to detect if a CAT5 cable has an active
internet.

The problem is that the two desktops running Windows 7 PRO do not show a
direct CAT5 connection, they just show a WiFi connection.  Plugging in
the CAT5 cable does nothing.

Either something killed the desktops ability to access the CAT5
connections or the CAT5 cable is dead.

It is an AT&T FIOS WiFi router.

If Windows 7 sees a wifi connection and a cable connection it will
prefer the wifi one. This puzzled me for a while, but it seems Micro$oft
don't worry about your link speed.

--
Saludos
Miguel GimĂŠnez

 

[John Heath]

Run your browser. If it can not connect to Internet then you have your answer. Second way in case of fire wall. Type google,s IP address in the top part of the browser. All browsers support IP direct ping.if google does not ping then you are not connected to the Internet. I think google IP is 8 . 8 . 8 .8

 

"Make life easy for yourself and temporarily disable the wireless interface on the computah. Make sure that the ethernet interface is enabled. "

Just my two cents here - with what all it takes in Winblows to disable the wifi, it might be easier to just disable it temporarily at the router. If it is your router or is in your name you have the master password, so it is just a matter of typing an address in a browser and a few clicks later you have no wifi. It might pick up wifi from the neighbors but if you aren't or can't sign in, it should look for an internet connection and default to the ethernet.

That is unless they removed even more stuff from Windows, don't get me started on that, I still want 98SE back, it did more for me than anything since.. Now it seems everything I want automatic is manual and a big hassle, and everything I don't want automatic is and it screws it up half the time and takes more trouble to set it how I want it than it would to just do it in the first place.

Enough rant, I think my method will work and it might be easier. less typing at least.

Other than that I know nothing. (Sgt. Schultz voice)

 

>" All browsers support IP direct ping.if google does not ping then you are not connected to the Internet. I think google IP is 8 . 8 . 8 .8 "

Why would you need Google ? I think most of them are 192.0.0.0 or some such. There should be a paper manual that gives it.

 

[Jeroni Paul]

Hi Miguel, nice to see you!

Many laptops replace the wifi by ethernet when you plug the cable, that depends on the cost metrics set to the interfaces.

But I have one that keeps the wifi on when plugged and it does not work very well with both connections active. The connection appears to work but experiences frequent errors, pages load slow and miss half the pictures and downloads stall or abort half-way. Not sure why but I learned to watch out to disable the wifi if it does not automatically.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 9 Apr 2018 13:26:12 -0700 (PDT), jurb6006@gmail.com wrote:

"Make life easy for yourself and temporarily disable the
wireless interface on the computah. Make sure that the
ethernet interface is enabled. "

Just my two cents here - with what all it takes in Winblows to
disable the wifi, it might be easier to just disable it temporarily
at the router. If it is your router or is in your name you
have the master password, so it is just a matter of typing
an address in a browser and a few clicks later you have no
wifi. It might pick up wifi from the neighbors but if you
aren't or can't sign in, it should look for an internet
connection and default to the ethernet.

Far too complexicated. It's much easier to just place the router
inside a metal trash can for the duration of the test. No cryptic
incantations to type, no icons to click, and nothing else to change.
No teach-n-type, no drag-n-drop, and no point-n-click. Just lift the
lid and toss-n-dump.

That is unless they removed even more stuff from Windows, don't
get me started on that, I still want 98SE back, it did more
for me than anything since.

If ancient Windoze 98SE was that good, Windoze 3.1 must have been even
better. If that still has too much "stuff", then perhaps Windoze 1.0,
which lacked a preemptive scheduler and overlapping windows would be
even better. Never mind the future... things were always better in
the past. If having four speeds in forward is too confusing, you only
have to worry about one speed in reverse.

Not to worry (much). The past is not forgotten. You can run most of
the old operating systems on your PC:
<https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/7-classic-versions-of-windows-and-mac-os-you-can-run-in-a-browser/>
Windows 1.0 and others in your browser for that nostalgia fix:
<https://www.pcjs.org/>
Too advanced for you? You can usually run your old DOS programs using
DOSbox:
<https://www.dosbox.com>
<http://ykhwong.x-y.net> (what I run)

Now it seems everything I want automatic is manual and a big
hassle, and everything I don't want automatic is and it screws
it up half the time and takes more trouble to set it how I want
it than it would to just do it in the first place.

Designing a product that works the way everyone expects, does
everything for everyone, and can be configured for everyone's personal
idiosyncrasies, is unsurprisingly difficult.

Enough rant, I think my method will work and it might be easier.
less typing at least.

Mine is better.

>Other than that I know nothing. (Sgt. Schultz voice)

That's a tolerable substitute for "Everything you know is wrong".


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 9 Apr 2018 13:29:26 -0700 (PDT), jurb6006@gmail.com wrote:

" All browsers support IP direct ping.if google does not ping
then you are not connected to the Internet. I think google
IP is 8 . 8 . 8 .8 "

Why would you need Google ?

To answer all your questions. If Google can't find it, it doesn't
exist.

>I think most of them are 192.0.0.0 or some such.

Google's DNS servers are at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. They respond to ICMP
pings like this:
C:\JeffL> ping 8.8.8.8
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=57
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=57
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=57
Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8:
Packets: Sent = 3, Received = 3, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 17ms, Average = 17ms

>There should be a paper manual that gives it.

Nobody does paper manuals these days. What you get is a "Getting
Started" or "Read Me First" paper, which provides simplified
information needed to get yourself into trouble. There's also a
"Wholesale Repudiation of Responsibility" document and warranty
disclaimer, in a dozen languages, both helpfully provided by the
company attorneys. If you want more detailed documentation, which
usually covers the previous hardware version, it can be downloaded
from the company web pile. Tech support is often provided for free,
which is a good indicator of what it's worth.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

"Far too complexicated. It's much easier to just place the router
inside a metal trash can for the duration of the test. "

Now why didn't I think of that ? But really, a large coffee can would do for most. Plus it is hard to find metal trash cans these days. We got a couple gut lack lids. Lids and grates from an old refrigerator make a grill. Or :

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNm88AfG8q8YCL3ANBBrIF1Cmliu1HUy6T6tCJixQjSPHyBUPh

>"If ancient Windoze 98SE was that good, Windoze 3.1 must have been even better. "

Now that you mention it... lol.

"Designing a product that works the way everyone expects, does
everything for everyone, and can be configured for everyone's personal idiosyncrasies, is unsurprisingly difficult. "

Yes but making it customizable goes a long way to that end. That is what seems to be disappearing. Typical cookie cutter - one size fits all mentality..

And I like a four on the floor, even more, five or six gears. In my family we learn(ed) to drive on a stickshift, it was kind of an unwritten rule. Remember the movie The Philadelphia Experiment ? The guy from the past gets into a car and says "Where's the cluthch ?". That's bullshit, automatic transmissions have been around for a very long time, in fact so were CVTs. The problem is they weren't all that good. The epitome of automatic transmissions was the THM 400. The thing had an actual analog hydraulic computer (ah) in the valve body. Unfortunately newer cars don't have room for the huge planetary set and torque convertor, and one way clutches for first and second gears. So they went downhill by necessity. The old THM 400 went fairly smoothly for a 5:1 ratio down to nearly 1:1. My Mother used to bitch about the newer cars insisting there was something wrong with the transmission, until she got used to it.

Not everything went downhill though, I admit. My first LASER printer was bigger than many newer car engines. Two guys to carry it and I used to carry stoves myself, no dolly or anything. Of course before me guys used to strap a 400 lb. fridge on their back and deliver it up to the fifth floor on stairs. I could never do that so I guess I am also somewhat "new and improved"..

>"Mine is better.

I fail to see why but you know better than I. (I can rhyme on a dime)

>">Other than that I know nothing. (Sgt. Schultz voice)

That's a tolerable substitute for "Everything you know is wrong". "

Is that insinuation, snark or just a general comment ?

I have to admit the more I l;earn the more I find out how much I don't know.. Also that I was wrong on some things. But then that is why I am on forums (fora ?) with intelligent comment rather than facebook n shit. I don't care what he said or she said or who's fucking whom or the liberal shit half these doofuses pander, while stifling true conservatism. I don't mean politicians considered cons, they are cons alright, con artists. I mean true conservatives who don't want to throw away everything we've built and turn this into a converted third world shithole like Zimbabwe.

So I guess y'all are stuck with me.

 

"To answer all your questions. If Google can't find it, it doesn't
exist. "

Have you heard of Shodan ? If so, what do you think of it ? I know very little because my IT knowledge is limited, but I tries it and actually found something. Didn't know what to do with it but found it. But they say it is dangerous so it is right up my alley. Just like this cupasoup I found that is hot and spicy. So much so that if you eat it fast your windpipe starts closing up. It has become one of my favorite smacks with one package, I will be buying a bunch of it in the future. My power saws have no guards on them either. No safety on my pistol either, I had to disable it because of a design flaw...

And there's another thing about this which may or may not apply. My laptop has a switch on the front to turn the wifi on and off. Even if there is no physical switch, shouldn't there be an easy way to disable it like in Control Panel or its own software ?

Or did the last "upgrade" remove that ?