PS3 can no longer obtain IP from my PC

I'm been running my PS3's internet connection through my PC via my iPhone. Basically my phone (using MyWi) is tethered to my PC, which is connected to my PS3 via an ethernet cable. This has been working great actually, and I've even been playing online for weeks with no issues or lag. But all of a sudden my PS3 can't connect to the internet via the PC anymore. My computer gets internet from my phone just fine, but it's not getting to my PS3 anymore.

I've checked my settings in my Network and Sharing Center (windows 7) and everything looks good, the connection is being shared and all that. I've tried restarting my computer/phone/PS3 several times with no luck. What could it be? It just keeps timing out when searching for an IP address.

Any help would be appreciated.

165 views and nobody has any ideas?

There is no router involved currently, here is the path:

iPhone 4S (MyWi app) --> PC (via standard iPhone USB) --> PS3 (via ethernet cable)

As I said before, this was working perfectly for weeks and just stopped. I figured it was because I restarted my computer and maybe an update had changed something behind the scenes. So I restored the system back a few days before the issue started, but no luck with that either. I still can't get the PS3 to obtain an IP. I can however get the PS3 to connect the the phone wirelessly (which is not preferred) so clearly there is a communication breakdown between the PC and the PS3 since the internet is working fine on the PC end.

I have read elsewhere that other people (who are using MyWi for their PS3) have used a router in between their PC and the PS3 for this type of setup. Could that help? I have a Belkan N router sitting around I could try. But I'm at a loss as to why this initial setup worked so well at one time but won't anymore...

EDIT: to answer your question I haven't tried setting a static IP either, but honestly I'm not even sure how. My network knowledge is very limited.

Thanks Josh, I'll get a screenshot of the IP config this afternoon.

I'm not sure specifically what type of ethernet cable I'm using. I've tried three different cables that I had at home. I'm not sure how to visually tell the difference between a regular old ethernet cable and a crossover, is there a way to tell them apart?

You need to tell it to stop trying to look for WiFi and to chose Ethernet connection in the PS3's Network settings before it will actually detect and use the Ethernet connection (consult your user manual, it should tell you exactly how to navigate the PS3 settings to switch it off of WiFi and onto the physical Ethernet mode). If that fails, then it is very likely that the Ethernet port on the PS3 and/or the modem(router) is dead. You might even just need to unplug the power cord to the modem/router itself, wait 30 seconds and plug it back in (to clear its cache and reboot it. They often get jammed; this fixes that).

Now, to use a PS3 on WiFi for either network gaming or also to stream HD Netflix video through it over WiFi, you would actually need a WLAN router capable of this load. One such as a WNDR37AV or better. However, a special WLAN AV router is NOT necessary IF you opt for a physical LAN Cat5e connection directly between the PS3 and the modem/router that supports Gigabit Ethernet (also why you need the Cat5e cord to actually get those full 1,000mbps or Gigabit speeds). LAN is faster and less work on the modem/router than WLAN is, always been that and I don't see that changing anytime soon. This is why you can get away with some AV load on a standard router on LAN but usually not so much on WLAN (just FYI). You should NOT have to mess with any settings on the PC or the modem/router, it should pick it right up and work automatically (after you change your PS3 network settings as already stated).

What you have been forcing a phone to do, it was never meant to do. They're not even meant to serve as a basic LAN-access point like a modem, let alone to try and handle streaming AV content while playing 'router'. Most basic LAN-access only modems and routers cannot handle that (which is why so many people are forced to pay between $100-170 on a special WLAN AV router that actually is capable of handling this load and without burning itself up in the process, if they're dead-set on WiFi despite that added cost to get it).

I speak from plenty of personal experience here. I have been the sole network administrator in my household for twelve years. Once we started all of these AV activities on WiFi about three years ago (PS3, DB-Player, multiple wireless computer systems etc), even our Verizon fiOs M1424WR router couldn't handle it all AND the three STB's it also was feeding (and that's not just a basic one either, to give you an idea. Its actually the best ISP-issued router you can get. But still not enough for heavy AV streaming).

Thanks for the intel Magnus.

I was able to get a hold of a proper crossover cable but unfortunately it made no difference, the PS3 still can't get an IP before it times out. Anyway here is what I pulled up on the command prompt: