Modem not recognised by computer

[#1]

Just had my broadband activated. All working great over wireless but can't set up to PC for some reason?
When I plug the ethernet cable in nothing happens. The instruction manual says just plug in and connect then it should set up automatically. I've tried resetting pc and router to try again but it still not connecting to the internet.
Any ideas greatly appreciated as I'm struggling what to do now

[#2]

When you plugged the laptop into the router did you disable wifi on the laptop?
If you have then try opening a command prompt on the laptop and running the command ipconfig /all (can run command prompt by searching for cmd.exe).
There should be an ip-address on the Ethernet adapter local area connection as well as gateway and dns.  If the ip-address starts 169 then there is something wrong with the Ethernet adapter on your laptop.

[#3]

have you tried a couple of cables? One could be duff.
also there are a few ports on the back of the router have you tried them all?
how many lights are flashing on the back of the pc where the cable goes?

[#4]

Make sure the drivers are installed for the network adapter built into the laptop/pc.
It sounds to me like the drivers may be missing or if the pc/laptop is old there is a chance the network adapter has failed.
The best way to check if the lan is installed is to go in to device manager and look for something like this.
http://img.techpowerup.org/130204/Untitled824.png
It might not have the same name as the one in my pic as this is just an example from my pc.
There is a good possibility the network adapter is made by atheros or it could even be intel.

[#5]

Quote from: pengbo

When you plugged the laptop into the router did you disable wifi on the laptop? If you have then try opening a command prompt on the laptop and running the command ipconfig /all (can run command prompt by searching for cmd.exe). There should be an ip-address on the Ethernet adapter local area connection as well as gateway and dns.  If the ip-address starts 169 then there is something wrong with the Ethernet adapter on your laptop.

Thanks for the help everyone. Just done this and under the Ethernet adapter connection it says auto configurationIPv4 address 169.254.92. Something (preferred).  Is that the one you mean to check for?
Sorry I should have said this is on my desktop pc and I have always connected to my previous broadband provider using Ethernet cable. It's running on vista and when I look in the network and sharing centre it says unidentified network and limited connectivity, local area connection.
I'm lost with all this stuff

[#6]

Does it give you any option to try and fix the network when you click on it?

[#7]

Yeah that was kind of what I was afraid of umdinga.  I think the ethernet in your laptop doesn't have the correct drivers as someone already suggested or when you connected it asked what type of network it was and you didn't choose Home or Work.
The 169 address is the default address network drivers use when they don't have any idea what to do because they are not connecting to the device on the other end of the the cable i.e. your router.
Try going into device manager and see if there are any problems reported there with anything under networking.

[#8]

Yes I've just tried repairing but it says problem still exists.
I get options to view wireless networks and connect manually to "plusnetwireless4051"
Automatically get new ISP settings for network adapter "local area connection"
Neither will work though.  

[#9]

Quote from: pengbo

Yeah that was kind of what I was afraid of umdinga.  I think the ethernet in your laptop doesn't have the correct drivers as someone already suggested or when you connected it asked what type of network it was and you didn't choose Home or Work. The 169 address is the default address network drivers use when they don't have any idea what to do because they are not connecting to the device on the other end of the the cable i.e. your router. Try going into device manager and see if there are any problems reported there with anything under networking.

So could this be a problem with the supplied router? I have been using the Ethernet connection for my previous router supplied by last isp never had any problem (I don't have that router now tho).
Not sure what I'm supposed to do next, very confusing.

[#10]

It could be.  Only way to know is to try another device on the router a different cable, port on the router or a static address on the connection on your laptop.
Basically try changing one thing at a time and see if it makes a difference.  You may need to reboot the laptop each time, sometimes you don't it can be a bit finicky trying to see if what you changed has made any difference.  Just be logical about it.

[#11]

Ok now I'm totally confused - just plugged another older laptop into the router using the ethernet cable and it connects.  So the problem must be something to do with my desktop (or vista) not recognising it.
I also have a wireless network adapter on my desktop so tried to connect using the wifi.  Now this connects to the unidentified network (plusnetwireless) but gives local only.
I literally have no clue what to do now as the ethernet connection on the desktop will not connect and neither will the wireless adapter.
Help!!!!!!!!

[#12]

Instead of "repairing", it may be better to uninstall the network device in device manager and reboot your system. Also, the output for the local area connection from
ipconfig /all
may be of help (run in a CMD window).

[#13]

PeeGee's idea is good but i would still find the drivers needed for the network adapter just in case windows decides not to reinstall it If you do decide to uninstall it and restart.

[#14]

Thanks again for the help. I've managed to get the desktop to connect with the wireless device built in (IPv4 and DNS settings were not set to assign automatically in the properties section) but still having the same problem with the Ethernet settings.
I'll try your suggestion of deleting the network adapter and rebooting. The drivers are on the pc as I tried to update them and it searched and said they are already installed to the latest version.

[#15]

Thats great I hope you manage to get it sorted out.