Question Lenovo y700 - wifi works and cable doesn't

[blue_jay]

Hello, I have recently moved and got an internet upgrade (don't know the specifics, but I used to have a phone cable connection internet and now live in the city and got fiber). The internet is visibly better, but I disconnect sometimes when playing online games. I've been using wireless and so I decided to try using cable to eliminate the connection stability issues but my laptop seems to not like cables very much.
Even though I'm connected directly to the router via cable, the PC still uses wifi and seemingly disables the internet cable port. When I put in the ipconfig command in command prompt it said this on Ethernet connection:

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

I have tried disabling power saving settings, updating the drivers and using a third-party program to try an override the wireless connection with Ethernet, but nothing worked. When I accessed BIOS to try and turn it on there, I didn't even had the choice - I could only disable wireless.
I tried 4 different cables and the LED light lights up on the router end but not the laptop end. Another person in the house is using cable on their stationary PC and it's working fine so in general I don't think it's on the router's end.
My laptop model is Lenovo y700 and I run Windows 10.
I'd appreciate any help!

 

[SchizTech]

I'm going to suggest something to rule out a Windows issue: you can run the Ubuntu desktop off the install media without installing. Thus you can run this and without affecting the Windows file system troubleshoot other issues on a system.

An install image can be downloaded for free for either base Ubuntu or other variants (Kubuntu for a more Windows-like interface) at www.ubuntu.com or www.kubuntu.org and you can use a program like Rufus to create a bootable flash drive with it.

 

[blue_jay]

I'm going to suggest something to rule out a Windows issue: you can run the Ubuntu desktop off the install media without installing. Thus you can run this and without affecting the Windows file system troubleshoot other issues on a system.

An install image can be downloaded for free for either base Ubuntu or other variants (Kubuntu for a more Windows-like interface) at www.ubuntu.com or www.kubuntu.org and you can use a program like Rufus to create a bootable flash drive with it.

I did that, it still didn't work. I honestly think it might be a problem with Realtek drivers - I'm also having problems with the audio Realtek drivers and can't make my headset's mic work. Do you think that could be the case?

 

[COLGeek]

If those devices did not work when you booted the system with Ubuntu, it would imply a hardware issue,not a Windows driver issue (especially since Windows wasn't running at the time).

Is your Lenovo still under warranty?

 

[blue_jay]

If those devices did not work when you booted the system with Ubuntu, it would imply a hardware issue,not a Windows driver issue (especially since Windows wasn't running at the time).

Is your Lenovo still under warranty?

I'm afraid it's no longer under warranty.

 

[blue_jay]

Out of curiosity, I tried connecting via a switch (Linksys SE2500) and now the cable is detected, but I can't connect to the Internet - I get an error saying that it doesn't have valid IP configuration. I tried various fixes I found online but nothing worked so far. Any ideas?

 

[COLGeek]

How is the switch connected to your router? Starting to sound like the router may be the issue. Have you tried alternate cables/ports on the router?

 

[blue_jay]

I just connected the switch to the router via an ethernet cable. I tried 3 different cables and all different ports but the result is the same

 

[blue_jay]

I fixed it! It turns out that the router model that I have (Icotera i5800) has only one usable LAN port, so I just connected the Ethernet cable that's connected to the switch to that port and put all the other cables in the switch.

 

[COLGeek]

Good job!