Using Debian Lenny

I am having problems with my internet connection the last couple of days
I'm not sure what went wrong and what to do about it. This is some
information I thought might be useful:

domain cg.shawcable.net
search cg.shawcable.net
nameserver 64.59.135.133
nameserver 64.59.135.135
nameserver 64.59.128.120

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
hostname Debian

Settings for eth1:
Supported ports: [ TP ]
Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Full
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Full
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Speed: Unknown! (65535)
Duplex: Unknown! (255)
Port: Twisted Pair
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Supports Wake-on: umbg
Wake-on: g
Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
Link detected: no

What are the problems? What type of card (look at lspci)? ARe there any errors in dmesg or syslog?

Can you ping any site? try ping 209.85.225.147
Any dhcp errors when you boot?
What network card, take a look at lspci -nn

My /etc/network/interfaces:
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback

allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Output from ifconfig and route -n would help too. If you have a gateway configured, can you ping it?

Below is the info I had yesterday without a connection:
I could connect with XP on another partition, so I know it
wasn't the ISP.
Today I have a connection. I don't know what is happening. This
has happened a couple of times now. I haven't changed my
connections physically or changed the files on my computer.
Can anyone explain this? I would like to prevent this in
the future.

Thanks

I think I found the problem. Network Manger was choosing the
wrong card: eth0 instead of eth1. I can't find a way to change
this. I could have a connection and then I would lose it
(without rebooting). I shut off Network Manager and then ran
dhclient and got a connection; also have a connection after
reboot, so I hope things will be ok.

Thanks

If you are not using wireless you really do not need network-manager. I would get rid of it.

I think I spoke to soon. I started having problems again. Also having
problems with my XP installation. I think I will try another
network card. Maybe the drivers are buggy with the onboard card. The
connection will come and go even though I don't reboot.

Thanks for help

The ping output "From 174.0.169.113 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable" says your computer does not have a connection with the gateway 174.0.168.1. Not surprising unless you are using an unconventional netmask because one is on 174.0.169.0 network and the other on 174.0.168.0 network. If there are other computers connecting with the gateway OK then the problem is with the link between your computer and the gateway (including possibly configuration at either end that stops the link working). If there are no other computers connecting with the gateway then the problem may be with the gateway. You can test the connection with the gateway by ping 174.0.168.1.

I tried ping 174.0.168.1
I get: Destination Host unreachable
What can I do to fix this?

I have a single desktop computer connected to the Internet with a modem.

Windows doesn't work, linux doesn't work.

So that neatly narrows down the problem to your ISP, modem/router or cables. It's not the OS you are using.