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A month or two ago, I bought an ethernet cable to replace my existing wireless connection on my computer, as I frequently live stream and wireless connection is too unstable to do that. I should also mention that my ethernet cable is not a crossover cable.

Upon plugging the cable into my router (Virgin Media Super-Hub) and my computer (Onboard Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller) it didn't work, ipconfig showed the following:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

Sometimes, after a few hours, a connection will suddenly be made, however only Skype will successfully connect. Steam, Chrome, TeamSpeak and any games will still fail.

Last week it suddenly started working properly, and continued to work up until a few days ago. When my computer went to sleep overnight, the next morning the connection was lost again.

I have tried updating my drivers, only to find I am using the latest version. I've also noticed that restarting my computer after the fake Skype connection has been made will cut the connection again.

The orange/yellow light by the ethernet port on the router lights up normally when any internet connection is there, including the one only Skype can use. However when no connection is made it slowly flashes with a regular pattern (2 flashes and a pause).

The ethernet cable works fine with my laptop, and I've tried reinstalling the network drivers and changing the port used on the router.

A lot of other people with this issue have found the problem to be anything from a faulty cable to needing to plug the cable directly into the modem as opposed to the router (not an option in my case) to an issue with the network adapter on my computer.

However I don't think it's a hardware issue. I know the router works fine, as does the cable, I've tried them with my other computer and laptop. And I don't think it's the computer's network adapter as it was working with no issues for over a week.

The only possible explanation I can think of is some software issue I don't know about.

It may be worth noting that back when I was still using wireless, sometimes my internet connection would act weird, and browsers would be unable to connect, but Skype, Steam, TeamSpeak and any games I already had open would be fine. I found that restarting my computer fixed this at the time.

It may also be worth noting that since the week of functional ethernet connection, my computer has been unable to detect my USB wireless connector either, however that may be due to damage to the USB device itself.

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    Net cables can be the straight through type or the crossover type. Back years ago a person would specifically use the right type for the connection, or it would Not Work at all. With the new hardware it auto detects and reverses for you (bad way to say it). Do I really trust stuff to work right in these new auto ways? Nope :-) It helps to have both cables available , to at least test. Having 2 extra cables of a good quality one of each type is cheaper than aspirin. It could help an issue with One connection that does not work as expected.
    – Psycogeek
    Commented Mar 3, 2014 at 10:25
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    Try: Open Device Manager -> Expand Network Adapters -> Right click your Ethernet adapter -> Properties -> Click Power Management tab -> Untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power -> Click OK. It may be that because you put your computer to sleep, upon it waking up Windows isn't turning it back on.
    – Kinnectus
    Commented Jul 14, 2015 at 11:36
  • It sounds like a firewall problem. Check windows firewall and if you have an antivirus, check its firewall too
    – ek.bic
    Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 17:15
  • Have yo checked for malware/viruses and those sorts of things? Perhaps combofix will help. You say the cable is fine but there is a chance that it isn't terminated correctly or has a short and you are getting lucky with the intermittent working. You say the network card doesn't recognize the cable so to me that points to hardware somewhere or the drivers are messed up.
    – TheXed
    Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 19:23
  • Do the live-cd option as suggested in the below answer or re-install Windows-7
    – Prasanna
    Commented Apr 30, 2016 at 2:19

1 Answer 1

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You need to narrow down the problem. Firstly try booting your pc from a "live cd". My personal preference is an Ubuntu image loaded onto a usb stick but you can also burn and boot from a DVD.

If your router-cable-pc then connects to the internet with no issues, you can rule out hardware and attempt to diagnose problems within windows. My suggestion would be some or all of the following:

  1. Disable or remove software that might interfere with your connection. eg firewalls, anti-virus or other internet security software, connection managers.
  2. Scan for malware or viruses.
  3. Delete the network card from the device manager and then reinstall the card and drivers, perhaps trying once with the Windows default drivers and then again with the manufacturers drivers.
  4. System restore might also help you get your pc to a working state.

If the live cd also shows problems, then it suggests a problem with the hardware but the symptoms could also be due to a problem with drivers or support of the card. Check via google to see if your card is fully supported. Ubuntu can be downloaded from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

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  • scan for malware/viruses first, right? ;-) Good luck to all.
    – shellter
    Commented Oct 6, 2016 at 14:49

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