problem with my mic and wired internet

[quintinius]

hey, ive been having some problems with my microphone recently, i sound like a chipmunk and i really have no idea why, im running on windows xp home so pretty old i comparison to u vista users, but does any1 know what the problem is? it was literally working normaly one day booted up the next opened a skype call and boom, chipmunk. it appears to be playing exactly 2 times the speed im talking (i tested it on the sound recorder, turned 120 secs of messing around into 60 seconds of hyper speed ) hell i even reinstalled my sound card to get it to work, to no avail and i think i screwed my internet in the process i have an ethernet cable plugged in but it isnt showing up anywhere

so to be brief

wired internet is looks just non-existant but was working earlier today
microphone is taking stuff in at half speed/playing it out at double
any help is appreciated because im simply confuzzled

[CX23882-19]

What sound card do you use (or is it onboard audio and if so, which)?

[quintinius]

the mic appears to have sorted itself out not sure how but booted it up today and boom working again.
still cant get my internet working right now im using a belkin 54g wireless and the router that sky gave us when we switched to sky. i bridged the connections when it was working but now my computer doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the Ethernet cable in its backside. i cant remember what i was doing when it happened. can anyone give me some possibilities to repair it because this wireless is super dodgy im going at 54mbps the next second its going at 1 and that's little more than a disconnection

[Spleen]

if your pc has a wireless card why are you connecting via ethernet? Just use one method or the other or you will get problems.

Create a system restore point then unbridge any connections. reboot and plug in the ethernet cable from your sky router into your pc - that should be all you need.

Also in the sky router turn off uPNP - that makes the connection more stable for a lot of people

[CX23882-19]

i bridged the connections when it was working but now my computer doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the Ethernet cable in its backside.

Do the LEDs light up on the appropriate port on your router, and on the Ethernet socket on your computer (when the cable is connected)?

Is your Sky router a rebranded Netgear? If so, look in the router config pages at "Attached Devices" and see if your computer is listed there too.

[quintinius]

Also in the sky router turn off uPNP - that makes the connection more stable for a lot of people

OK what's uPNP? and how do i turn it off, yes the appropriate lights turn on in the router but im not even aware of a light acknowledging that a cable has been plugged in.
im using the Ethernet cable because its faster for gaming.