and lets assume for a moment that the above works. The next thing is to see whethr the outside world is accessible from the command prompt.
Firstly try (from the same command prompt) pinging the router (which is 192.168.1.1 in my case)
You should get something like this:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C
Documents and Settings\dad>ping 192.168.1.1
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 2ms
C
Documents and Settings\dad>
if this doesn't work then you cannot contact the router and it is a local issue. If it does then it is time to look at connectivity with the outside world. Firstly see if nslookup works. (This maps DNS addresses to IP addresses)
A good test is the BBC:
nslookup
www.bbc.co.uk
You should get something like:
C
Documents and Settings\dad>nslookup
www.bbc.co.uk
*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.1.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.1.1
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:
www.bbc.net.uk
Address: 212.58.253.71
Aliases:
www.bbc.co.uk
C
Documents and Settings\dad>w
now the BBC is pingable (not all sites are)
C
Documents and Settings\dad>ping
www.bbc.co.uk
Pinging
www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.227.78] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.227.78: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.58.227.78: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.58.227.78: bytes=32 time=42ms TTL=246
Reply from 212.58.227.78: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=246
Ping statistics for 212.58.227.78:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 39ms, Maximum = 42ms, Average = 40ms
If all of this lot works then you must consider firewall issues. Switch of firewalls (urgh but it is necessary) and try again ..