Question Anyone know why the NIC would periodically become unresponsive?

[tlmcca]

Hardware:
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3
Intel Core i5-4460

OS: Linux Mint 19.1

Issue:
I periodically lose connection to my LAN. It will work fine for a while but then drop out again.

Observations:
The first week in April I woke up to find I had no internet service. Suspecting problems with Spectrum I rebooted all of the LAN components which did not fix the problem. I wrote a quick bash script to ping google, amazon, and yahoo every minute or so to see if I could find a pattern and did not see anything. I ported the script to another computer on the LAN and saw no problems there while the issue persisted on my main computer.

My next thought was that the mobo was installed in 2011 so maybe the onboard NIC was getting funky. I installed a PCIE Network Adapter and the problem went away only to surface again May 16. I again restarted all LAN equipment and ran my script on the failing PC and another with the same results as with the onboard NIC. I can't see that both the onboard and PCI NICs are failing so I'm reaching out for help.

I've ordered parts to replace the mobo but I would stil like to hear from anyone with ideas on what the root cause might be.

Thanks,
Terry McCann

 

[Grobe]

Have you recently replaced the router/WiFi hotspot ?

 

[tlmcca]

Nope, nothing has changed in the LAN infrastructure. I also ran a test by swapping the network cable from the failing PC to a laptop which worked fine and returned to failing when swapped back to the PC.

Terry

 

[Grobe]

Do you have other wifi devices on the same network, and do they too experiences internet dropout ?

Right - this is a cable problem only ?

 

[tlmcca]

Do you have other wifi devices on the same network, and do they too experiences internet dropout ?

Right - this is a cable problem only ?

That's correct. While there are wi-fi devices connected to the LAN the device with the problem is not using wi-fi nor is the other PC I used in my comparison test.

Terry

 

[Grobe]

Just to rule out some settings are wrong, or some updates are responsible - try to boot using the live boot medium and see if the LAN still doesn't work.

 

[tlmcca]

Just to rule out some settings are wrong, or some updates are responsible - try to boot using the live boot medium and see if the LAN still doesn't work.

I failed to mention in my OP that I did try running from the ISO and saw the same issue.

Terry

 

[Grobe]

I failed to mention in my OP that I did try running from the ISO and saw the same issue.

If that is the case, it seems like there is something faulty about the network card. Have you checked bios to see if it is disabled or something?

 

[tlmcca]

If that is the case, it seems like there is something faulty about the network card. Have you checked bios to see if it is disabled or something?

I think I can eliminate that possibility since the scenario is:

no problems for long periods​

starts failing periodically​

resumes working again without any change being made​

Terry

 

[Grobe]

Ok, then it seems that the problem is narrowed down to the nic itself.