Connecting online/error 678...

I've got a desktop and laptop at home. The desktop is connected to a netgear wireless router with the usual yellow cable, the lap top connects to it wirelessly.

It all used to work fine, but now only the laptop is connecting to the net. If I try to connect the desktop nothing happens, and if I look at my accounts in control panel, I can make it start to dial, but I get an "error 678" message. I've tried one Google fix for this, to do with running command and reset the netsh interface, but this didn't work.

I've been on to Netgear about the router, and we've worked through all their solutions, and I'm convinced the router is fine. I think it is the card in the pc the yellow internet cable connects to, either that has packed up, or the software that controls it has. I've taken the back off the pc and that card is physically in the right place etc. All the devices show as working fine too.

I'm reluctant to delete my account and re set it up, as I think that will probably damage the working wireless account. I need this to stay functioning as the wife is looking for a job and the kids need it for their homework...my life won't be worth living if I mess that up!

Is there anything else it could be?

I tried winsockfix, no change, and there are pages of fixes on Google for error 678, but none of them seem to have worked. I am wondering if I am doing something really basically wrong. I've looked at all the hardware in Devices and they say they are all working correctly; the phone line is working and we can still connect wirelessly.

Here's a screenshot of my connection options, if I try to go get connected on any of them, I get the error 678 message. I wonder if I have messed up a setting or property in one of these?

Maybe the filter that you connect between the pc and the phone socket is the source of the problem? But then, after the filter it connects to the wireless router; the only connection between the desktop and the router is the yellow network cable, and that works if you plug both ends into the router, both lines light up.

Has anyone got any ideas?

If you're connecting to a router via an ethernet cable (the yellow one) you should not be doing any dialling on the computers at all as the router should be handling all that.

Who is your ISP?

EDIT:

In Control panel > Network connections there should be an icon called Local Area Connection, what is the status of it? (right click > status)

EDIT2:

Chances are that something has just configured your pc to use an old dial up connection, if you open control panel > internet options > connections tab, check that the selection just about half way down is set to 'never dial a connection' rather than anything else.

Agree with Dano. In most DSL setups, the router does the dialing. In your case, does the laptop also dial in every time it gets online? I've seen such setups, but they are rare - where every computer dials trough the wireless for it's own PPTP. Most often the router does it for everyone, which is something you could try to set up.

Is the laptop using the same account to dial in as your desktio? Maybe your ISP is at fault blocking a particular account and not the other. I'd give them a call in any way to make sure it's nothing on their end.

Can you reach the router from the desktop on it's normal web interface IP adress? I mean a simple ping - that would indicate whether cable or NIC have a problem.