Ethernet Connection Off & On

[Bmacker]

Now before you comment, let me make this VERY clear.
I have three custom built PCs in my house. My computer is the ONLY one experiencing this issue.

Every 10-15 minutes, my connection just drops.
I've changed the ethernet cable. I've ran rests on both the modem and router, no results. I've called my ISP to have a technician come out. I've changed out the LAN Switches as well.

I have absolutely NO idea why my internet would be dropping every 15 minutes, and it's just mine exclusively. Mobile devices stay connected (wireless), and both of the other PCs stay connected (hardwired).

I really, really can't afford it to be my Motherboard having these issues (MSI Titanium XPOWER Gaming Z170). Does anyone have any idea what could be going on, even simple possible solutions?

 

[InvalidError]

Try a PCIe Ethernet card or USB3 adapter and see if you still get the connection issues. If they go away, then it is either a driver issue with on-board networking or a faulty PHY/MAC on the motherboard.

 

[Bmacker]

Try a PCIe Ethernet card or USB3 adapter and see if you still get the connection issues. If they go away, then it is either a driver issue with on-board networking or a faulty PHY/MAC on the motherboard.

Will I have decreased speeds using PCIe cards or USB3 adapters?

 

[mazboy]

Just curious, have you swapped ports on your router? Next step is to reload/update your motherboard drivers. If that doesn't fix it, you've got a motherboard problem. Fix it with a USB-to-ethernet dongle or a PCIe network card or a USB wifi adaptor.

 

[Bmacker]

Just curious, have you swapped ports on your router? Next step is to reload/update your motherboard drivers. If that doesn't fix it, you've got a motherboard problem. Fix it with a USB-to-ethernet dongle or a PCIe network card or a USB wifi adaptor.

Yup. I swapped my problem port with my girlfriends working port to see if she experiences any issues; she has not. I will give the drivers a shot.

Would you recommend USB3 or a PCIe card if money wasn't a factor (I do a lot of work from home, so this is very important at the moment).

 

[InvalidError]

Will I have decreased speeds using PCIe cards or USB3 adapters?

USB3 can do 5Gbps, as does PCIe 2.0 while your LAN and internet connection are likely well below 1Gbps with the modem adding orders of magnitude more latency than the PCIe/USB-to-GbE adapter. The performance difference should be negligible.

 

[Bmacker]

Will I have decreased speeds using PCIe cards or USB3 adapters?

USB3 can do 5Gbps, as does PCIe 2.0 while your LAN and internet connection are likely well below 1Gbps with the modem adding orders of magnitude more latency than the PCIe/USB-to-GbE adapter. The performance difference should be negligible.

Good to hear. I'll pick up a PCIe Network Card tomorrow to test this. I have Gig Internet through my ISP that I definitely pay a pretty penny for, so I want to make sure I'll still manage those speeds.

 

[bill001g]

It depends what you mean dropping. It is a very different issue if you get for example the ethernet port actually going down compared to losing ip addresses. If you are getting a red x then it is more likely a physical problem if you get the yellow ! then it can be software.