No connection when connected from modem but wireless works

Excellent!!! Good call Appleoddity!

Edit: Why did the cable tech's computer fail the same way though? That's what sent me down the hardware failure path.

Oh well, a fix is a fix.

Edit #2: I thought Dial-a-fix would have done basically the same thing WinsockXPFix did/

Yeah, I don't know why his laptop had the same problem.. maybe my computer did something to the modem/IP, and when he plugged it into his it just kept the same problem? That's the only thing I could think.

Thank you both so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.

I don't know Rich, but have you ever had to work with a cable tech? I think they are best left to running cables. But, if it was hardware failure, why would it be the NIC if the cable tech's laptop did the same thing? Not sure about Dial-A-Fix. I found Winsockxpfix a long time ago and it works well. I don't know what dial-a-fix does for that. I use dial-a-fix for fixing windows updates.

So would you guys suggest keeping these things on my computer? Also, can you point me to a thread that goes into what programs I should keep on my computer and use regularly to keep my computer running at its fastest?

No need to keep either program on the computer. Just remember what they are called so if you have a similar problem in the future you can try them