Question Ethernet connection intermittent and slower than Wifi

[mjwhelan]

Hi All,

My desktop in the past 3 months has picked up an odd Ethernet connection issue which I have temporarily resolved by using a USB wifi dongle, but this is causing ping/latency issues.

PC's connection via Ethernet cable directly into the Virgin Media Hub 3.0 has recently become throttled from 100+Mbps download and 10Mbps upload to a varying speed between 25-70Mbps download and 0.5-0.9Mbps upload. Connection by Ethernet cable is also intermittently cutting out around every 10 minutes. I have tried changing Ethernet cables several times and all of the ports on the Virgin Media Hub 3.0 none of which has helped. When using Wifi I am getting 90+Mbps download and 5Mbps upload, the PC and Hub are directly beside each other. Speed tests recorded by Ookla Speedtest.

My only other devices (smart TV and girlfriends desktop ) connected by Ethernet via a powerline adapter aren't suffering from the same issue. I have tried connecting the PC via powerline adapter but the issue remained, so I am confident the issue is with the PC not the Virgin Media Hub 3.0 or cables.

In thinking that it could of been a PSU issue, I changed my PSU from my 9 year old Corsair CX500 500W to a new Cooler Master MWE Gold 650w today, but it hasn't improved the Ethernet connection issue.

PC Specs:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Ryzen 5 3600
Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming (Apparently Rev 1.xx if that means anything useful)
16gb DDR4 Crucial Ballistix RGB BL2K8G32C16U4BL 3200 MHz
Nvidia Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super OC 6gb
Cooler Master MWE Gold v2 650w
250gb SSD
1tb HDD

PC's Reliability Monitor doesn't raise any events from when the issue started.

ISP is Virgin Media on the M100 Fibre Broadband plan. The Ethernet cable is connected directly to the motherboards Ethernet port to the Virgin Media Hub 3.0 ports. I have kept my Asus motherboard drivers (including LAN) up to date but this hasn't made any difference at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if there is any further information needed that would help.

Many thanks,

MJW

 

[Grobe]

Have you ever tried connecting another computer to the same ethernet cable? I'd suggest trying to connect your girlfriends desktop to that same ethernet cable - just to rule out the possibility that there is some issue with the Virgin Media Hub.

 

[mjwhelan]

Have you ever tried connecting another computer to the same ethernet cable? I'd suggest trying to connect your girlfriends desktop to that same ethernet cable - just to rule out the possibility that there is some issue with the Virgin Media Hub.

Good shout I will try!
I have changed several ethernet cables without any success and her desktop is achieving better speeds and no intermittent connection issues.

 

[SamirD]

Boot your system using a linux live cd/usb and see if the speeds go back to normal. If they don't, it's potentially a hardware issue or a network issue (probably still the cable--these can fail even after working fine).

 

[mjwhelan]

Boot your system using a linux live cd/usb and see if the speeds go back to normal. If they don't, it's potentially a hardware issue or a network issue (probably still the cable--these can fail even after working fine).

I have tried changing cables and it doesn't make a difference, swapped cables between desktops and there isn't any issues with them. I'll try linux live a shot cheers!

 

[Sophiaclark]

Hi,
I read carefully your issue. I am sharing with you a link regarding your ethernet issue. Might it helps you. Have a great day!

Telecoz.com

 

[SamirD]

I have tried changing cables and it doesn't make a difference, swapped cables between desktops and there isn't any issues with them. I'll try linux live a shot cheers!

Yep, the linux test should help to narrow down the issue.