This comes straight out of the book of Mandrake 8.2, lets hope they didn't make to many changes

"first open Control center" which should be in the menu like Windows has a start button, "next click on Network & Internet, then click on Conection. You could first try looking at the conection that you have set up and see what mistakes you have made, or you could create a new conection by clicking New profile and going though the wizard step by step. Make sure you set up both the ADSL connect and the Lan(ethernet card). [B]

On my conection for 8.2, I have to wait around 10 seconds before my poppe finally conections and began playing around the internet.

um ok it doesnt connect to the net thtas what i ahve been saying!!!!!! It tries but fails.

arg, ya, mine always says fails too but then it connects after like 5-6 seconds after it gives the message it failed to connect. Don't ask me why this happens, I have no idea. : D

For your problem, hmm, well, you tried making a new connection and didn't work. Hmm, we need a techy in hear to help out.
What i've done in the past is reinstalled Mandy (I have done this a couple of times, i don't really have anything important) and tried it again.

Post something in the Hardware or Networking part of the forums, I bet their is someone that would be able to help you.