Can't receive Net, but see traffic, and can VOIP

Suddenly I became unable to receive anything at home over the net. In
the past I've corrected this either with repowering or shutting down
XP - home (as opposed to my typical hibernation). But not this time :
( I'm a heavy PC user and applications programmer, but a real IP and
connectivity moron, so bear with me. And I know this is long, but I'm
trying to get you everything relevant.

I have Time-Warner cable (a.k.a. Road Runner) configured in this order
wall
Cable Modem
Linksys router (non wireless)
PC with XP
Sygate Personal Firewall and Windows (XP) firewall
Internet Explorer 6

Vonage supplied the router. I use VOIP. This is the only thing that
works! No web. No Messenger. No anything else that uses the Net.

I've tried overnight powerdowns, even plug away from wall; full XP
shutdowns; clicking on "automatically detect settings" under LAN
settings, and back off again; bypassed the router; while bypassing
tried the other ethernet cable instead; disabled both firewalls.

WHAT I SUSPECT TELLS THE MOST:

Checking the Sygate traffic log, almost 100% of the trickle of traffic
shows 192.168.15.100 (or .255). It SHOULD show things like the Google
IP and everywhere else I try to browse. But there's not even an
ATTEMPT to connect to Google shown. (And if some firewall rule was
blocking, that should have shown on the log.)

The only remote host address among dozens of 192.168.15.xxx log
entries is 10.8.0.1. However, sadly, I can't even backtrace that with
Sygate Firewall, 'cuz I can't get to the Net (:

Watching the firewall's activity graph, while clicking "hide broadcast
traffic," I see blips from my webmail checker - but only outgoing, and
zero bytes incoming. And when Roadrunner support tried remote
diagnosis, I could see both incoming AND outgoing blips.

ROADRUNNER support says I have a bad NIC card. Is this all I can try?!
Sounds bogus to me. What about the blips on the Firewall graph?

Finally, if I uncheck "hide broadcast traffic" I can see continuous
movement on the activity graph. Tiny, but something. This is like
"noise" that just buzzes along, regardless of whether I have an
application attempting traffic.

What can I try now?

Try posting to a regular networking support newsgroup like
microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web. This newsgroup supports Microsoft's
Broadband Networking brand hardware and software only.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
http://forums.mobilepcworld.net
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> Suddenly I became unable to receive anything at home over the net. In
> the past I've corrected this either with repowering or shutting down
> XP - home (as opposed to my typical hibernation). But not this time :
> ( I'm a heavy PC user and applications programmer, but a real IP and
> connectivity moron, so bear with me. And I know this is long, but I'm
> trying to get you everything relevant.
>
> I have Time-Warner cable (a.k.a. Road Runner) configured in this order
> wall
> Cable Modem
> Linksys router (non wireless)
> PC with XP
> Sygate Personal Firewall and Windows (XP) firewall
> Internet Explorer 6
>
> Vonage supplied the router. I use VOIP. This is the only thing that
> works! No web. No Messenger. No anything else that uses the Net.
>
> I've tried overnight powerdowns, even plug away from wall; full XP
> shutdowns; clicking on "automatically detect settings" under LAN
> settings, and back off again; bypassed the router; while bypassing
> tried the other ethernet cable instead; disabled both firewalls.
>
> WHAT I SUSPECT TELLS THE MOST:
>
> Checking the Sygate traffic log, almost 100% of the trickle of traffic
> shows 192.168.15.100 (or .255). It SHOULD show things like the Google
> IP and everywhere else I try to browse. But there's not even an
> ATTEMPT to connect to Google shown. (And if some firewall rule was
> blocking, that should have shown on the log.)
>
> The only remote host address among dozens of 192.168.15.xxx log
> entries is 10.8.0.1. However, sadly, I can't even backtrace that with
> Sygate Firewall, 'cuz I can't get to the Net (:
>
> Watching the firewall's activity graph, while clicking "hide broadcast
> traffic," I see blips from my webmail checker - but only outgoing, and
> zero bytes incoming. And when Roadrunner support tried remote
> diagnosis, I could see both incoming AND outgoing blips.
>
> ROADRUNNER support says I have a bad NIC card. Is this all I can try?!
> Sounds bogus to me. What about the blips on the Firewall graph?
>
> Finally, if I uncheck "hide broadcast traffic" I can see continuous
> movement on the activity graph. Tiny, but something. This is like
> "noise" that just buzzes along, regardless of whether I have an
> application attempting traffic.
>
> What can I try now?
>