Inspiron 5100 Ethernet/RJ45 physical issue.

What kind of messing about is required to get it to work?

Is the network controller working properly? I discovered on my Latitude that under certain conditions, the system turns off the network port to conserve energy, it is a pain to get it restarted sometimes.

A physical deformity is a bit different than a design flaw. Is there something physically wrong with the jack? Was the plastic molded with a flaw so the mating connector will not seat properly? Are the pins properly aligned and sprung at the proper angle?

A design flaw would result in thousands of connectors with the same issue.

When you look at the inside of the jack are there any obvious differences if compared with another jack? Are ther bulges or bits of plastic jammed in? If you look at the pins inside, are any deformed or bent differently than the others? You may be able to carefully pull any stray pins back into alignment with a pair of tweezers if that is the issue.

If the issue is in the connection between the J45 jack and the board it will be more difficult to identify and resolve. Can you tell if the jack is moving relative to the board? That would suggest a poor connection to the board and could explain your problem.

Post your findings. Good luck

If the ethernet port is bad. Then you would have to buy an ethernet pccard. Otherwise it would require a motherboard repacement