Ninju,

Please clarify something for me. Do you have a router between your computer and the jack in the wall or do you plug the computer directly into the jack in the wall? If you connect directly, then you definitely should not assign yourself an IP address manually.

I don't have a router, I plug it straight into the wall from my computer. No hub, no nothing.

Ninju,

Can you verify whether or not your FC5 is setup for a static IP address or whether it uses DHCP? I am sure you can find out graphicaly, although I am not sure of the exact procedure in FC5. I think you can also find out by looking at the BOOTPROTO parameter in a file called /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (at least that is how it used to work in RH).

I am sure the University expects you to be using DHCP to avoid conflicts on their network. If you are configured with DHCP and ifconfig shows that an IPv4 IP address has been assigned (look for a line that starts inet addr:xx:xx:xx:xx) then you should try the tests outlined by I_like_TUX in post #9, and post the results.

Guys, I'm really sorry, I've been pretty stupid, though I don't just ask questions here because I can't be bothered to find out what's wrong; I was trying to figure it out for quite a while and just missed it I guess..

Anyway, it seems I had a static IP setup from home still, which is weird, because I did setup a static IP but then changed back about 2 days later to using DHCP; I guess I didn't change the settings on Linux but it still worked - I never thought to look at if I had one setup because I thought I had changed it. Basically, I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't looked at ifcfg-eth0 (thanks blackhole54!). Also had to enter the primary DNS as the default gateway and turn off and unplug both my computer and ethernet cable for around 30-45 seconds, but hey, it works now.

I just want to thank you guys for putting up with me asking these somewhat stupid and simple questions; thanks for the help.

Trudging through stuff like this is how you learn to know what questions to ask next time. It was obvious from your first post you were trying to figure it out yourself. I am glad you got it working and I hope you have a good school year.