[SOLVED] Internet stops working 1 minute after boot. Both Wired and Wireless.

[Dustin_10]

I have a very odd and frustrating problem. I lose internet about a minute after booting up. Nothings changed. I use my PC every weekend. It's not a daily used machine since I work on a Mac. But Last weekend the machine was perfectly fine. Now it won't keep an internet connection after it boots up. Nothings changed as far as I'm aware of.

Before it's been running off the wired ethernet port on the back of the motherboard. No flashing lights anymore. So I figured it may have gone back. So I plugged in a wifi dongle and it will find wifi, connect, but will disconnect after a minute, and there's nothing more I can do to get the internet back. It says that it's still connected to the router, but I can't even access the routers admin area. So I purchased a USB ethernet adapter, and it does the exact same thing. Connects for a minute, then loses connection, and it's done.

The only thing I can think of is a Windows Update bricked the internet somehow, but I can't stay logged in long enough to download any updates that may correct the problem.

Does anyone have any ideas before I go through the process of resetting my Windows 10 install? I've rebooted the router and modem several times. I've uninstalled and reinstalled drivers. I tried to wipe everything I could think of. Nothing works. Everything else in the house works just fine. Wired and wireless. Just my PC is giving my fits.

 

[Colif]

i would suggest safe mode but no drivers work there

Try a clean boot and see if it changes anything - make sure to read instructions and make sure NOT to disable any microsoft services or windows won't load right - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

if clean boot fixes it, it shows its likely a startup program. You should, over a number of startups. restart the programs you stopped to isolate the one that is to blame.

try running malwarebytes on the PC maybe, might be malware. Run defender as well

 

[Dustin_10]

i would suggest safe mode but no drivers work there

Try a clean boot and see if it changes anything - make sure to read instructions and make sure NOT to disable any microsoft services or windows won't load right - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

if clean boot fixes it, it shows its likely a startup program. You should, over a number of startups. restart the programs you stopped to isolate the one that is to blame.

try running malwarebytes on the PC maybe, might be malware. Run defender as well

Okay. Yep. That makes 100% sense. And now that you've said that about the only software that may have been new is my new Logitech mouse. Love Logitech hardware, but have zero trust in their software. I know it worked the weekend prior, but they could have pushed a new update. But if not, I have something to troubleshoot now before resorting to a fresh install. Thanks!

 

[Colif]

Logitech software used to be bad, 15 years ago when they were top of heap. Now they not the first choice for keyboards or mice, I don't find G Hub to be that bad. Instead I avoid razer as their software is almost as annoying as Logitechs used to be. Seems if your hardware is good, it doesn't matter so much about your software.

it doesn't make a lot of sense that LOgitech mouse software would cause internet to drop off though. Until you work out USB all interconnected.

 

[Dustin_10]

Logitech software used to be bad, 15 years ago when they were top of heap. Now they not the first choice for keyboards or mice, I don't find G Hub to be that bad. Instead I avoid razer as their software is almost as annoying as Logitechs used to be. Seems if your hardware is good, it doesn't matter so much about your software.

it doesn't make a lot of sense that LOgitech mouse software would cause internet to drop off though. Until you work out USB all interconnected.

Okay, did the clean boot. Still lost internet. Decided that I was tried of trying to track down the issue on the computer so I did a reset. I did the option where it will re-install WIndows 10 and wipe the apps, but not completely wipe my drives. System came back up was able to get on the internet, and then went back offline. I have no clue now. Seems like my next step is to re-boot my router with a fresh setup. Maybe somehow it's blocking my PC? I don't get it.

 

[Colif]

could try booting from ubuntu live usb just to see if its some odd windows bug - https://itsfoss.com/create-live-usb-of-ubuntu-in-windows/

 

[Dustin_10]

Its so weird. I've figured out that it has something to do with the internet browser. And it doesn't look like it matters which one. So after boot, I was able to to the Windows update. Downloaded all the security updates and stuff. Took about 10 minutes to install. But as soon as I open a browser, either Chrome or Edge, I have about 20 seconds before my computer doesn't recognize that it's even connected to the internet. Acts like the ethernet cable is unplugged or can't find any wifi networks.

So weird. Why would a browser cause that? But yet it can still download other stuff before a browser is used.

 

[Colif]

makes me wonder.

try safe mode with networking

1. go to settings/update & security/recovery
2. under advanced startup, click restart now button
3. this restarts PC in a blue menu
4. choose troubleshoot
5. choose advanced
6. choose startup options
7. click the restart button
8. choose safe mode with networking
9. Pc will restart and load safe mode

if that works for longer than 10 minutes, it must be a driver of some kind.
If it still happens in safe mode... i think about it then.

Can you download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any (this is intentional as 3rd party driver updaters often get it wrong)
When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

Now its up to you, you can look through the drivers and try to find old drivers, or you can take a screenshot from (and including)Driver name to (and including)Creation date.

upload it to an image sharing website and show link here

 

[Dustin_10]

Getting closer, but not 100%.

Rebooted in safe mode and played around for 10 minutes. Didn't have any issues. So I rebooted and downloaded the driver view utility. Updated/reinstalled Nvidia, Sound Blaster, and Reltec drivers. After I installed the Reltec ones for my new USB Ethernet the internet came back on, but is spotty. It's on longer than it's off. But the weird thing is, this is a new device. My old ethernet plug was a Marvel one. And Wireless was different too. So is their something else happing, and somehow this is just a coincidence?

Took a screenshot of all my drivers currently running. I did notice that when the internet does go out, the Reltec USB Ethernet one disappears from the list and has an exclamation point next to it in the Device Manager. But so did the previous adapters.

Thanks for you help with my unusual case. Link to List of Drivers

 

[dbareis]

Took a screenshot of all my drivers currently running. I did notice that when the internet does go out, the Reltec USB Ethernet one disappears from the list and has an exclamation point next to it in the Device Manager. But so did the previous adapters.

So I'm assuming that nothing shows up in the event logs for some reason. What shows up in the events tab for the failing device? Surely it says something.

 

[Dustin_10]

I'm not sure what I'm looking for in the events viewer. It does say something about the built-in Intel ethernet not working. Im going to guess it's dead. I can never get any lights on it to flash.

But I've been having the same issue. I've completely done a fresh install of Windows. Wiped the drive, and reinstalled it, and the official motherboard drivers. Anything else was set up by the Windows Update. Still, same issue. Wi-fi, and USB ethernet. In the process of elimination, I've unplugged everything except for monitor, keyboard, mouse, and USB ethernet. Still nothing.

But now I'm thinking it's beyond drivers. I rebooted in Network Safemode again, just to double check. This time, I couldn't get the USB Ethernet to work. Lights were flashing on it, but computer wouldn't recognize it. Then I plugged in the WiFi adapter, and found my local router. Connected, and about 20 seconds later, connection lost. So in safemode it does the exact same thing.

Is it possible that the onboard ethernet is fried, and somehow affects ALL internet?

Super frustrating.

 

[Dustin_10]

I'm getting somewhere. So my suspicion is probably correct. The onboard ethernet got hit by lightning. Haven't seen that on ethernet. Just dialup back in the day. My home theater AV receiver died about the same time my PC wasn't connecting to the internet. Took the receiver to a place to repair it. They said that the HDMI board was hit by lightning. Either came through the HDMI or ethernet. It was connected to ethernet, so pretty sure that was it.

So being that I knew the lights weren't flashing on back of mothboard, but the USB dongle was, I figured the onboard device must still be trying to take over. So I disabled it in the bios, and sure enough, I have constant internet now....but.

My connection is SOOOOOO slow. like .2k/s. No idea what's going on now. I've updated the driver for the USB ports, the ethernet dongle, and anything else I could think of. The ethernet dongle is supposed to be gigabyte. I have a tiny Wifi dongle, and it does have a faster connection. But caps out at 21Mbs and disconnects frequently. My Mac laptop maxes at 220Mbs. So I've ordered a new wifi usb that supports 5G wifi and has a built-in antenna.

Hopefully that will fix it until I build a new machine sometime next year.