Tips
Sometimes the issue might simply be a broken port. So, make sure that you are using the right port of the router. There are multiple ports on a router and you should connect your Ethernet cable to another one. Once you are done, check if the problem is solved.Temporarily disabling your antivirus is another thing that might be causing the problem. Almost every antivirus has a disable option. Disable your antivirus for a few minutes and check if Ethernet is working or not.
Check if Ethernet is enabled
Sometimes, the problem might be caused by a disabled Ethernet. Ethernet, and various other devices, can easily be disabled from the Device Manager. Even if you don’t remember disabling the Ethernet, it is good practice to check the status. Sometimes devices are disabled randomly or because of a bug. Follow these steps to check and enable your Ethernet
Once done, check if the Ethernet is working or not.
Unload Power
This is an old trick but it has worked for a lot of users. Unloading power from your PC resolves the issue. Follow the instructions given below to perform this method This should solve the issue. Everything should be fine now.
Update Drivers
If the above two methods didn’t work then the chances are that you have a faulty driver. There are a couple of things that you can do with your drivers. Firstly, you should try to roll back the drivers if the problem occurred after a driver update. The latest drivers sometimes have a bug or compatibility issue. Next, you should update the drivers to the latest version. You can do it both automatically as well as manually. Lastly, you should uninstall and let the Windows install a generic driver version for your network card. Note: Since you are having trouble connecting to the internet, some of these steps might not work for you. For example, you cannot search the latest driver on the internet and download it. You should do it from another PC, ideally from the one you are reading this article, and copy it to your system with the problem.
If you recently installed an updated driver
Although it’s unlikely that an updated driver will cause this issue but it’s not entirely impossible. If you recently installed a new version then there’s a good chance that rolling back to the previous version might solve the problem.
If you reverted back to the previous version, restart the computer once the process is done and check if the problem is solved or not. If the problem is still occurring then try to update the driver.
Update
Note: You might not be able to follow all the steps because these steps require internet access. So, follow these steps on another PC and transfer the downloaded file via USB. You can update the driver automatically as well as manually. However, the automatic update won’t work for you because your Windows will search for the driver and it requires internet access. The manual update also requires the internet but you can download the driver from another PC and transfer it to the victim computer.
Manual Update:
Once done, restart your computer and check if the problem is solved.
Uninstall
Installing your driver is the way to go if updating didn’t work. When you uninstall a driver, Windows will automatically install a generic driver for your device the next time you start up your machine. These generic drivers aren’t the latest but they are the most compatible versions. So this might work for you.
Restart your computer once the uninstall process is completed. On the restart, the generic drivers should be installed. This should solve the problem if it was caused by a driver problem.
Check Network Cable
In the Network connections window, once the Ethernet connection is enabled, you can also check its status. This process is very important to identify the root cause of the issue. For example, if your computer isn’t recognizing the cable from the start, of course, there wouldn’t be any connection established. This unrecognition can be due to a number of reasons. In order to check the network cable, follow the steps below. If your cable appears to be connected try disconnecting it and connecting it back again. Cables can deteriorate in time or from improper handling. If your Ethernet adapter still shows the network cable as unplugged try switching to a different cable. You can also try a different port on the router, switch or modem (if more are available) as sometimes these ports can malfunction.
Monitor Your Connection Details
In some cases, it is entirely possible that the ethernet isn’t being properly recognized by the computer because you or your computer might’ve misconfigured some of the network details that are required for the connection to be established properly. Therefore, in this step, we will be monitoring some connection details and check to see if we have correctly identified all the parameters. For that: NOTE: While most connections use IPv4, in the Ethernet Properties window you can also find an option called Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6). If your network uses IPv6 then you’ll have to make the changes here and not in the IPv4 option as described above.
Turn OFF Antivirus Protection
In some cases, it is entirely possible that a Windows component might actually be the root of this issue on your computer. The Windows Firewall or the Windows Defender might be causing this issue on your computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be disabling both the Windows Defender and the Windows Firewall to make sure that they are not the culprit. It is also possible that the third-party antivirus protection is causing this issue so make sure to disable any third-party protection as well. In order to proceed:
Reset Network Settings
Sometimes, the issue might be caused by some invalid ethernet network configurations that we have been unable to fix until now. This might be because these are some root system configurations or cache that have been corrupted and the only way to fix it is by performing a complete overhaul of the network settings. In order to do so, follow the guide below.
Enable Ethernet Adapter Through BIOS
Some motherboard manufacturers might disable the ethernet connection from the Bios in the factory default settings or in some cases while tinkering around with the Bios, you might have disabled this setting yourself. Therefore, in this step, we will be enabling the Ethernet Adapter from the Bios. For that:
Run the Internet Connection Troubleshooter
If due to some issue, you are still unable to get your ethernet connection functioning properly, a great option to try with Windows 10 is to run the internet troubleshooter. Not only does it provide you the reason due to which the ethernet isn’t working, but it might also attempt to fix the issue. In order to run the troubleshooter, follow the guide below.
Ping the Loopback Address
A loopback address is a special IP address, 127.0. 0.1, reserved by InterNIC for use in testing network cards. This IP address corresponds to the software loopback interface of the network card, which does not have hardware associated with it, and does not require a physical connection to a network. Some users have highlighted that this issue may arise due to system corruption or malware installed that prevents networking from functioning properly, hence perform the ping operation to verify whether your network card is working properly or not:
Verify Router’s Firmware
There are often new firmware updates to a router/Access Point that may resolve some issues. These are especially for the equipment more than a few years old that is running the original firmware. Consult the equipment manufacturer’s product documentation or website for details and instructions on how to perform an update. Often, vendors of the router/Access Points will add features to improve their product. Unfortunately, these extra features are not always compatible with all wired hardware. Consult the product documentation or manufacturer’s website for the router/Access Point about the possible need to disable these features.
Reset Network Stack
If you are still unable to fix this issue on your computer, it might mean that the computer has acquired it as a result of some corrupted DNS cache or due to invalid network cache. Therefore, in this step, we will be completely resetting the network stack which should get rid of this invalid cache and replace it with a newly generated one. In order to do that: Note: Please note that these commands affect all of your networking adapters, both physical and virtual, both used and unused, so you will see some errors when running these commands, where the resets targeted adapters that are not being used. These errors are perfectly normal, and not a cause for concern. Please complete each step, in order, even if you have done some of these previously, and even if you encounter errors.
Disable Virtual Ethernet Devices
If you haven’t found a solution yet and are still receiving Ethernet port error then you should try to remove any virtual Ethernet drivers on your PC as these can cause major issues with how your PC connects to the internet. A virtual Ethernet driver could be anything from a VPN to software designed to improve ping or packet loss. You can find virtual Ethernet devices and disable them by following the steps below.
Disable Auto-Tuning Feature
The Window Auto–Tuning feature lets the operating system continually monitor routing conditions such as bandwidth, network delay, and application delay. Although it lets the operating system configure connections by scaling the TCP window to maximize the network performance it has proved to be the potential culprit in this case. Hence, temporarily disable the auto-tuning feature to get rid of the Ethernet port problem:
Tweak Duplex Settings
There are two types of duplex settings used for communications on an Ethernet network: Half-duplex and full-duplex. According to users, sometimes you might experience Ethernet problems due to your duplex settings. After changing your duplex settings not only the Ethernet port problem would be resolved but your LAN speed will also increase.
Disable Large Send Offload (LSO)
Large Send Offload is one of the latest features in Windows 10. LSO is actually meant to improve the overall network performance of the system, but contrary to its purpose, this feature actually allows background applications to consume a considerably large amount of network bandwidth. Some users reported that they were able to get around this problem by disabling this feature on their Operating systems:
Resolve Issues With Your Network Adapter
There may be some underlying issues with your network adapter that can be quickly diagnosed within the Windows control panel. If you’ve already updated your network adapter drivers, follow the steps below to try and diagnose other issues. By default, if your network adapter is set to use a static IP address but it should be using DHCP, this should fix it. However, it’s a good idea to check yourself too.
Verify Whether Ethernet Port is configured for Dynamic IP
If your computer is unable to communicate with other networked devices or connect to the Internet via Ethernet, check your network settings to confirm that the Ethernet port is configured for a dynamic IP address.
Decrease Your network adapter’s power output
The network adapter allows the device to communicate over the local area network (LAN), connecting to the internet or to other computers. Some computer geeks reported that they were able to get around this problem by reducing the power output of their network adapter, therefore, follow the steps throughout to get rid of this problem:
Disable Energy Efficient Ethernet for your network adapter
Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is a set of enhancements to the twisted-pair and backplane Ethernet family of computer networking standards that reduce power consumption during periods of low data activity. Hence, to reduce the power consumption of modem at the idle state and get rid of the Ethernet problem disable energy-efficient Ethernet by following the steps indexed below.
Enable QoS Feature
You might be able to solve this problem by enabling the QoS feature. This feature is in charge of limiting your network speed, but a couple of users reported that the issue was resolved after enabling QoS on their router. To do this, you need to open your router’s configuration page and enable QoS. We have to mention that QoS is an advanced feature, so it might require some configuration before you can properly use it. It’s also worth noting that this feature might not be available on your router, so be sure to check your router’s instruction manual for more information. In order to login to your router’s admin panel:
Connect USB to Ethernet Adapter
A USB to Ethernet adapter is a device that is capable of connecting a USB port to an Ethernet cable. USB to Ethernet adapters allow the users to connect multiple devices together via an Ethernet cable which is generally shorter and less reliable. USB to Ethernet adapters rely on Plug and Play technology that allows a user to simply plug the device into any USB port and then connect an Ethernet cable to it. If you are facing the Ethernet port problem then this adapter might be able to do the job for you.
Remove any USB devices from the ports below the Ethernet port
If you have any USB devices connected to the USB ports located directly below the Ethernet port, remove these devices, and see if that resolves the problem for you. While it may sound a bit peculiar, something as bizarre as having one or more USB devices connected via the ports located below the Ethernet port is the culprit behind this problem for many people. Workaround: If you’re sure that there’s nothing wrong with the Ethernet connection, you can check other places like the ports on the router. If the Ethernet port being used is not working or damaged, you will be unable to connect to the router. As for the Ethernet port not working cause, unplug the cable and plug it into another port to check whether the issue still appears.
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