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General discussion

Can't Swap my Cox cable connection between computers

May 1, 2005 1:18PM PDT

I had Cox "professionally" install my internet on my desktop computer about a year ago and just recently got a laptop. I want to temporarily swap the internet connection from my desktop to my laptop which should just be plug and plag. Unfortunately, this is not happening. My laptop can see that it is hooked up but isn't able to communicate at all.

I have gone to the Cox support page and tried going off of their stuff, but it still is not working. My desktop is running XP and my laptop is XP Pro. All the settings in network places are the same except my desktop has a "Network Monitor Driver" showing in addition to the normal TCP/IP, etc. Can someone tell me how to resolve this without calling Cox out which costs $50 each time?

Discussion is locked

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Are you sure...
May 1, 2005 2:44PM PDT

... ALL the Network settings are the same ? Protpcols, connection type, usernane, password, network clients, etc. ?

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Okay, two discrepancies so far that I cannot resolve
May 5, 2005 12:10PM PDT

When I first open "My Network Places" on my desktop, there is a folder with my IP address. However, when I go to "View Network Connections" and look at my LAN properties, they are all the same except for that "Network Monitor Driver" item which doesn't appear on my laptop. That is the first discrepancy.

The second discrepancy is that when I first open "My Network Places" on my laptop, I don't see that folder with my IP address like on my desktop. I am sure that is the problem, but I can't seem to get it to work on my laptop.

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My thoughts like Papa's. . .
May 3, 2005 11:46AM PDT
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I will get a router but I want to wipe my desktop clean soon
May 5, 2005 12:15PM PDT

My desktop computer is horribly slow with all the crap that has been installed and erased on it over the past three years. I want to completely format my primary drive and start from scratch which means none of my LAN settings will be saved which leaves me screwed if I can't setup my Cox cable account again. Second, I have never messed with networking (yet), but I do believe that there has to be a host computer that runs the router which won't help if my main desktop is wiped clean.

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Power cycle the modem...
May 7, 2005 5:31PM PDT

By this I mean unplug the power cord to the modem, then plug it back in WHENEVER you switch it from desktop to laptop or vice versa. Once the lights are green, it should work.