Travel Technology - problem with laptop connector

Hi, all and thanks for reading. I have broken off a piece of plastic(?) just inside the connector on my laptop. The missing piece prevents me from connecting successfully with the cord inside the connector, sorry, don't know what to call it. I have tried different adaptors but no help.

Years back I remember if you could not get a good connection with your tv, you could fashion like a clothes hanger or aluminum foil as an unconventional way to solve the problem. I guess that is what I am looking for, an unconventional way to fill in the on the missing piece, even if it looks funny, to try to temporarily solve the issue. OR of course, if there is something on the market I could buy to remedy this, please, someone let me know. Do computer repair shops have something?

It's been really hard on being on travel and having to rely on the public library to do my internet stuff, but of course, i am grateful to have the access.

Thanks for replies, Best wishes, Jan_believes:D

to what does the inside connector connect? power?

what is the exact make and model of the computor?

If it's a Thinkpad, you can download the Hardware Maintenance Manual
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-39298.html
and figure out what the part is, and whether you can replace it.

Sounds like you've boken off something inside the RJ45 network connector, so your network cable connector doesn't make proper contact. So long as it's just a piece of plastic, you may stand a chance of jerry-rigging something with a toothpick/popsicle stick/etc.

However, if you have a free PCMCIA/Cardbus slot, it may be simpler just to buy a network adapter like these http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=13983731 or if you don't have a free slot, a USB network adapter will do the trick http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_pc?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usb+network+adapter&x=14&y=12