How to check if lan is enabled in BIOS on my HP 24-b011

[richforman]

I want to make sure LAN is enabled. I can get to the BIOS setup menu using F10 but the menu options do not correspond to those I've seen mentioned in articles on this topic. I've explored all the menu options and not found the lan/ethernet setting. How do you do this on this model,  an HP 24-b011 all-in-one pc?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

There is no need to enable the ethernet connection.

You plug in an ethernet cable and then in the Windows control panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Center> View your active networks, you should see both a Wi-Fi and ethernet connection established.

[richforman]

Thanks for the response but in my case, although I have an ethernet cable connecting my router and pc, the pc doesn't seem to recognize the wired connection. It shows the ethernet device as unplugged. That's why I wanted to go to the bios to see that lan/ethernet is enabled. It's a brand new RJ45 cable. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Does the Realtek GBe ethernet adapter show up in the device manager under the Network Adapters device manager category?

If, not most likely the onboard ethernet adapter has a hardware issue.

Has lightning ever struck close to your house, and your PC had the ethernet cable connected?

That is the most common issue when an ethernet adapter quits working.

If you are connected via your PC's Wi-Fi adapter, disconnect from that and see if you can establish a connection with the ethernet if the Realtek GBe ethernet adapter is present in the device manager and reports working properly.

[richforman]

I really appreciate the engagement. You sound very knowledgeable about this,  so allow me to continue asking for your input. 

"Does the Realtek GBe ethernet adapter show up in the device manager under the Network Adapters device manager category?"

Yes, in fact there are two such devices appearing there,  one named "Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller" and the other "Realtek USB GbE Family Controller." I don't understand what the second corresponds to in my setup; I assume that the first corresponds to the sole ethernet jack on the back of the machine. Both show in the network adapters window as "Network cable unplugged" which is the problem, since I do in fact have an ethernet cable connecting one of the four "LAN" ports on my Optimum router, to the only port on that computer that it fits into. (I know the adapters are Enabled according to Windows, since the "disable" option appears on the context menu.) That's why I was looking to see if something at the BIOS level needed to be changed. Either that or I'm guessing there may be a hardware problem with the port on the computer. 

"Has lightning ever struck close to your house, and your PC had the ethernet cable connected?"

No, this is the first time I've tried to use an ethernet cable and make a wired connection.  I want to use an online realtime collaboration app that only works well with a wired connection. It's a brand new RJ45 cable I bought just for this purpose. 

"If you are connected via your PC's Wi-Fi adapter, disconnect from that and see if you can establish a connection with the ethernet if the Realtek GBe ethernet adapter is present in the device manager and reports working properly."

It is indeed present in the device manager, but I'm not sure whether or not it "reports working properly, " it just comes back with "plug an ethernet cable into the network adapter 'Ethernet'" when I run the "Diagnose" function from the context menu (and again,  as far as I can tell, there already is one).  

Following your suggestion, I tried disconnecting the wifi adapter from the context menu,  then re-connecting the ethernet cable,  backing out of and going back into the network adapter configuration,  but the ethernet device still shows as "unplugged." Do you think the issue is with the router? 

On a side note, I am planning to try getting around the problem instead by getting an RJ45-to-USB cable and plugging that into my USB hub. (It arrives tomorrow.) Would that achieve my goal of having a wired internet connection?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

It sounds to me like there is a hardware problem.

The fact that the device is present in the device manager indicates that it is enabled in the BIOS.

If it was disabled, the device would not be present.

I have no idea what the Realtek USB GBe device is.

There should only be one ethernet adapter present.

The RJ-45 port is not USB powered.

There is an ethernet chip integrated onto the motherboard.

When you click on the Realtek ethernet adapter in the device manager, on the General tab it should report the device is working properly.

Anything other than that is no good.

Most routers have at least 4 ethernet ports in the back, so if you have not done so already, try a different available port or two if you have free ports available.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other suggestions for you to try and yes, a USB to RJ-45 gigabit ethernet adapter should work fine. 

To get the faster speeds, the USB to RJ-45 gigabit ethernet adapter needs to be plugged into a USB 3 port.

[richforman]

Hey Paul, wanted to share the good news that I got my ethernet connection working; the solution in my case was to simply update the driver for the realtec device.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is great news!

Cheers,

Paul