How-To Geek

I started noticing the problem this past spring but since going back to school I plugged in my laptop and plugged my ethernet cord into the appropriate and only ethernet port there is on my laptop, I have an HP and it's 4 years-old. But sometimes and most often it says "Local connection unplugged" when it's not. So I clicked on 'start, all connections, and I looked at my options and where it usually is connected there's a red x throught it' even though the internet cord is plugged into my laptop and the wall ethernet jack. I know it's my laptop because I tried two different ethernet cords and two different ethernet jacks. Any opinions on what it could be? I'm thinking about buying a new laptop since I rarely can use the internet now and it makes a weird sound like it's loading but its a constant loud humming noise. I don't want to shell out money to fix it when I can probably get a few hundred bucks out of it, it runs fast when the internet is working. It was a customized laptop for about $1500, I got it as a gift when I started college and I don't have alot of software on it because I mainly use it for school work, internet, and sometimes go to yahoo games but after I'm done playing them I uninstall all their components.

"I know it's my laptop because I tried two different ethernet cords and two different ethernet jacks. Any opinions on what it could be?"

Yes, I already stated in o.p. that I have tried two different cables and neither will work, so I'm leaving towards my computer going to hell.

And it is also possible to get a USB-Ethernet adaptor (quite cheap).