[SOLVED] Internet Randomly Disconnects until System Restart

[Silver Volpe]

Problem:
This only started to happen recently (a week or so, ago). My computer (internet is cable connected) would randomly disconnect within a few hours of being turned on. It appears to happen when I allow my computer to idle for a short while (seemingly). The weird thing is, the connection continues to appear online with no disconnection or error signs. But the PC is completely disconnected. The issue is only fixed when I completely restart my system. Only to occur again after a few hours.

By troubleshooting the router, and using other internet connected devices, I've confirmed that the problem is exclusive to this machine and not the router or network itself. But I haven't made any significant changes recently that would warrant this problem (to my knowledge). Though I cannot discount the numerous w10 background updates.

Computer specs:
ASRock Z87 Extreme 4, Intel i7 4790K, GTX 980, 16GB RAM, Windows 10 (10.0.18362), Bitdefender (no other AV/security software).

Things I've tried:

• Logging off and back into the windows user.
• Using the builtin w10 troubleshooting tool on the internet connection.
• Restarting the router.
• Changing the router's cable port.
• Switching between cable and Wifi (disconnection presists on both cable and wifi).
• Testing other connected PC's (they work, proving the problem is exclusive to this PC).
• Enabling hibernation.
• Turning off fast startup.
• Reinstalling Intel adapter driver.
• Updating all the recent w10 updates.
• Reducing my router's MTU (as per an online suggestion).

Things I've not tried:

• Make any updates or changes to my Motherboard's Bios.
• Reset/reinstall windows (that's not an option).

Any suggestions would be welcome. This is a highly inconvenient problem, as I really tend to leave my PC running for days, and having to restart multiple times a day, means I have to reopen all my applications and explorer windows so frequently.

Thank you.

 

[onespeedbiker]

Go to the Hardware Manager and double click on your Ethernet adapter. Click on the Power Management Tab and clear the box in front of "Allow the Computer to turn off this device to save power", than click okay and do a restart.

 

[Silver Volpe]

Go to the Hardware Manager and double click on your Ethernet adapter. Click on the Power Management Tab and clear the box in front of "Allow the Computer to turn off this device to save power", than click okay and do a restart.

I've done that. And I will report back a little later, when I can confirm whether or not this worked. It looks like it may very well be the culprit, though. Thank you!

 

[Silver Volpe]

Go to the Hardware Manager and double click on your Ethernet adapter. Click on the Power Management Tab and clear the box in front of "Allow the Computer to turn off this device to save power", than click okay and do a restart.

Unfortunately, that didn't work. It looked like it did, for a while. But when I left my PC running overnight, it was disconnected again in the morning. And if it matters at all, when this happens, I can't even access the router homepage from my web browser until I restart.

 

[Silver Volpe]

Update: On the off chance anyone is having a similar problem, here is how I ended up solving this.

A few days ago, I decided I would test my last few suspicions about what could be the reason for the disconnections. So, I completely replaced my router, internet cables, and at a mere whim, I uninstalled Bitdefender. And evidently, Bitdefender was the problem. I have no clue why or how it was causing these intermittent disconnections, but since I've uninstalled the AV, I've not had any disconnection of that sort.

So, to anyone who has this problem and also has Bitdefender installed, that may very well be it.