[SOLVED] Ethernet connection not showing up?

[CiervoVul]

i want to set up an ethernet connection between my laptop (win10) and old desktop (win7). Laptop shows "Unknown connection" but desktop wont even acknowledge it's presence.. The ethernet cable is plugged in correctly and the port is lit up, but win7 wont show it as an available network. Any thoughts? thanks

 

[rgd1101]

are you using a switch or directly from pc to latpop?

 

[CiervoVul]

are you using a switch or directly from pc to latpop?

directly from pc to laptop. What does a switch do exactly and would the lack of one be potentially the issue?

 

[SamirD]

I've never had luck doing this even with a proper crossover cable. Plug them both into a switch and see if they work that way.

 

[kanewolf]

i want to set up an ethernet connection between my laptop (win10) and old desktop (win7). Laptop shows "Unknown connection" but desktop wont even acknowledge it's presence.. The ethernet cable is plugged in correctly and the port is lit up, but win7 wont show it as an available network. Any thoughts? thanks

The first problem is that you don't have a DHCP server on your private network. You will need to manually assign IP addresses to each device.
You may need a crossover cable. If both hosts have 100Mbit ethernet, then they may not work with a straight thru cable. A switch will fix this problem.

 

[CiervoVul]

The first problem is that you don't have a DHCP server on your private network. You will need to manually assign IP addresses to each device.
You may need a crossover cable. If both hosts have 100Mbit ethernet, then they may not work with a straight thru cable. A switch will fix this problem.

thing is i did check for the DHCP thing, and it's there. At least on my laptop it is. I'll check later for the desktop, but both have to have it enabled then? Also ok, i'll get a switch and see if it works

 

[SamirD]

thing is i did check for the DHCP thing, and it's there. At least on my laptop it is. I'll check later for the desktop, but both have to have it enabled then? Also ok, i'll get a switch and see if it works

That's dhcp client. You need a dhcp server on the network to issue ip addresses, which is typically built into a router.

Otherwise, the easy thing would be to just manually assign some IP addresses to the systems. If they can ping each others' address over your cable, it works.