There should be an icon next to the clock in the system tray that shows your status whether it's wired or wireless (unless you have chosen to hide that icon). If it's not there, that doesn't mean it's not working correctly.
Yes, there is an icon next to the clock which is showing the wireless connection. Previously it showed the LAN connection via the modem.
Are you talking about where the cable plugged in? That shouldn't light up at all when there is nothing plugged in, if that's what you're talking about. There is a different light for Wi-Fi. What Slacker was talking about are the lights on the DSL modem itself.
My modem has 3 green lights under the following titles - Lan, Dsl and Power. At present (since I'm using the router) the light under 'Lan' flashes every now and then which makes one of the green lights in the router also flash subsequently. Dsl and Power lights stay solid. This is apparently the normal process. Prior to using the router when my modem (same modem) was connected directly to Lan in the computer, a green light would flash similarly (as the router) at the left corner of the computer responding to the modem. I suppose the Lan hardware is located there. Also at that time, the gray internet cable plugged in the modem connected to this spot of my computer.
Btw, the router and modem are placed next to each other, by the side of the computer on the same table.
Your LAN could just be disabled and you should check your device manager to be sure. If the technician was from your DSL provider, then I wouldn't exactly trust that 'technician.' I've seen countless examples of them blaming the customer's equipment when it's actually the ISP's issue.
I called the technician on my own, he's been taking care of my computer for 3 yrs. Initially when the Lan got disconnected i did call the ISP tech support. When I told them that the 'change adapter setting' showed only a single icon for wireless, they surmised Lan might not be working and I should consult my technician. So I called the technician, he checked and confirmed it. He said it's a hardware problem, that the network card is located on the motherboard so it cannot be replaced either. I guess he meant that that might be quite costly and in that case one might as well buy a new laptop. Until then, using a router might be the most economical solution.
I was having disconnection problems to a much lesser extent since 4 yrs when I presume some damage was caused to the laptop during shifting accommodations. The laptop was placed on a small table and a revolving chair banged against the table during the usual confusion that goes on while moving. Possibly that caused a jolt to the hardware, for it was after that when a couple of times I had disconnection problems (at that time I had a different ISP and different modem given by them) and the third time (last summer) it was diagnosed as a Lan hardware problem as I described. Then I began using the router which has its own kind of unreliability I've already discussed.
1) Check your device manager and be sure your NIC is enabled.
2) Look at the lights on your DSL modem. What are they doing? Now see if they change. Test by picking up the phone and calling yourself or a friend. Are they doing the same thing they were doing? Or did one or more turn a different color?
Start with those two steps and get back to us with the results.
Thanks so much Midnight Shadow and everyone else. Your suggestions to probe further are very much worth looking into. My technician is busy and not easily available, and I'm more into the technophobe category with scant knowledge. That's the problem. But I'll try my best with your guidelines.
Btw, can you please inform me how to find device manager. Really sorry for the dumb query.
