omg, i just rebooted and... IT WORKS! : )
it took me some time to find out what i did differently, and indeed, anon, it was just selecting LAN connection instead of Cable. (this shot in the dark was worth 10 points :)) But weird, it used to be Cable before and worked fine..
Anyways, thank you guys for your help. I've probably also learned a few things about my Mandrake.
This is a board to recommend.