12 | Troubleshooting |
Your adapter has two indicators labeled ACT and LINK on its back panel. A steady green LINK light indicates a good connection with the switch. A flashing green ACT light indicates that the network adapter is sending or receiving data.
PINGING YOUR ADAPTER
PING is the acronym for Packet Internet Groper (PING), a utility to determine if a specific IP address is accessible. It works by sending a packet to the specified address and waiting for a reply. Ping is primarily used to troubleshoot Internet connections. By sending out a ping, you are verifying that a specific computer is available. Because all computers on the network must have a unique IP address, a reply means that a computer is on the network and that it can communicate.
If the computers can communicate, the hardware and cabling are probably okay. If you cannot ping another computer, there is probably a problem with the hardware. Check the cabling and adapter installation. If you are unable to network, even when you receive a reply to your ping, there is probably a software configuration issue. Verify that all the settings are correct.
To ping the adapter:
1Click Start, then click Run. The Run dialog box opens.
2Type command in the Open box, then click OK. The command.com screen opens.
3Type ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address you want to ping). In this case, computer B with the IP address=192.168.0.1 is being pinged from computer A.
4Press Enter to begin pinging. If the connection is good, you receive four “Reply from” messages.
5Type exit at the prompt to return to Windows.