[SOLVED] Lost Internet on my Router and/or PC --- which happened first ?

[Blackink]

So I started having connection issues with my TP-Link AC1750 smart router.
The wireless would work in all of my wireless accessories: iPad, wife's laptop, etc, but I could not connect through any of the Ethernet ports.

While I was trouble shooting the problem, I noticed none of my 2 computers was getting an Internet connection through the Ethernet cable.
I could connect one of them (PC1) directly to the modem and get Internet but the other PC (specs for that one in my signature below) I could not get a connection. I'll call that PC2

I tried changing the Ethernet cable but that did nothing. I also tried plugging into the other 3 Ethernet ports on the back of the AC1750 router to no avail.
I wasn't even getting a light on the back of PC2 where the Ethernet cable plugged into.

Luckily I had another router to try and it worked on all my PC's except PC2. I looked in Device Manager on PC2 under Network adapters and checked the properties of the Intel Ethernet connection and it said it was working properly but obviously something wasn't working properly.

I had a spare PCIe network card from a previous build so I installed that into the PC2 computer, connected the Ethernet cable and I had Internet access through the spare router.
I then connected PC2 to the AC1750 router and still no Internet. It seems the Ethernet ports were dead on the AC1750 router but the wireless function still worked.

So here's my question: what died first? The router's Ethernet ports died/shorted out and only affected one computer (PC2) or the Ethernet port on PC2 died/shorted out and that caused the Ethernet ports in the AC1750 router to stop working??

Any insight into this would be helpful....

Thanks, Steve in Central Vermont

 

[Lutfij]

what died first?
Very hard to say, since there's no error log for both of them...when to pronounce them dead.

That being said, can you check and see if your TP Link router has any firmware updates pending? If there are none, then see if shutting the router off for a few minutes(preferably 10 or more) and then powering it back up changes your experience. If not, then the router has conked out. You could try a shorter length of Ethernet cable to rule out the length being an issue for the router(long shot but I've seen weird things happen).

Parsing your specs for PC2 here for relevance;
Intel i5-6600k CPU, Asus Z170-A Mobo, CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO Cooler, Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory, Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB SSD, WD Blue Series 1TB HD, MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Super Ventus GPU, Seasonic Focus 750W 80+ Platinum Full-Modular Power Supply, 4 - Dell 27" Monitors.
(Why did I do that? Sig space specs can and will change over time. When that happens this thread and it's relevant suggestions end up being moot to the person in the same boat as you're in now.)
As for your motherboard's bundled NIC, you might want to see if your motherboard has any BISO updates pending. I've had some friends and colleagues, who reported loosing NIC capability on their Asus boards when an update for Windows 10 rolled out, taking out Intel based NIC's.

 

[bill001g]

It is very rare for ethernet to damage other devices. Just because of how they work there is magnetic and many time optical isolation between the main electronics of a device and the port itself. So a device could fail and it should not affect anything else. So this will stop most things like a power surge etc. I had a lighting strike near the house that passed though surge protectors and UPS and still damaged stuff including ethernet ports.

Since both the router and the end device failed at the same time it is likely some rare failed electronics that caused it.

 

[Blackink]

what died first?
Very hard to say, since there's no error log for both of them...when to pronounce them dead.

That being said, can you check and see if your TP Link router has any firmware updates pending? If there are none, then see if shutting the router off for a few minutes(preferably 10 or more) and then powering it back up changes your experience. If not, then the router has conked out. You could try a shorter length of Ethernet cable to rule out the length being an issue for the router(long shot but I've seen weird things happen).

Parsing your specs for PC2 here for relevance;
Intel i5-6600k CPU, Asus Z170-A Mobo, CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO Cooler, Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory, Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB SSD, WD Blue Series 1TB HD, MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Super Ventus GPU, Seasonic Focus 750W 80+ Platinum Full-Modular Power Supply, 4 - Dell 27" Monitors.
(Why did I do that? Sig space specs can and will change over time. When that happens this thread and it's relevant suggestions end up being moot to the person in the same boat as you're in now.)
As for your motherboard's bundled NIC, you might want to see if your motherboard has any BISO updates pending. I've had some friends and colleagues, who reported loosing NIC capability on their Asus boards when an update for Windows 10 rolled out, taking out Intel based NIC's.

I'll check the routers firmware tomorrow (I hope). I didn't think of that option.
I did check the BIOS and I am up to date there.
I did try another Ethernet cable that was shorter, thinking there was a problem with the one connected but no-go there either!

And I didn't shut the router off for any amount of time before trying it again, I did many re-starts (power off for a couple of minutes and then power back on). The router has been off for 3 days now so that should be enough time down to see if it makes a difference.

Great suggestions and I'll look into what I haven't done that you suggested.

(Why did I do that?)......... Are you saying I should post my PC specs instead of depending on what I have listed in my signature to make sure future troubleshooters will see the complete message because they may not be able to see my specs in the future?
If so, I'll do that in the future.

Thanks for the help.
Steve

 

[Blackink]

It is very rare for ethernet to damage other devices. Just because of how they work there is magnetic and many time optical isolation between the main electronics of a device and the port itself. So a device could fail and it should not affect anything else. So this will stop most things like a power surge etc. I had a lighting strike near the house that passed though surge protectors and UPS and still damaged stuff including ethernet ports.

Since both the router and the end device failed at the same time it is likely some rare failed electronics that caused it.

I don't quite follow what you're point is when you say "Since both the router and the end device failed at the same time it is likely some rare failed electronics that caused it."

Are you suggesting that it was a fluke that both the NIC on the mobo died at the same time as the Ethernet ports on the router but that things like this happen?

 

[bill001g]

No what I am saying is maybe the router failed in such a way that it damaged the pc or the reverse. So one caused the other.

 

[Blackink]

No what I am saying is maybe the router failed in such a way that it damaged the pc or the reverse. So one caused the other.

Ah.....got it!
Whatever happened, I was lucky it didn't break both desktop PC's connected to it!!!

 

[Blackink]

what died first?
Very hard to say, since there's no error log for both of them...when to pronounce them dead.

That being said, can you check and see if your TP Link router has any firmware updates pending? If there are none, then see if shutting the router off for a few minutes(preferably 10 or more) and then powering it back up changes your experience.

So.....when I powered up the AC175 router, after being unplugged for several days, I got a surprise....the ethernet ports were working again but....the wireless was not working!! Go figure!?!

I did a firmware upgrade but that didn't help the problem.
I guess the router is trash. I can't trust that it will continue to work through the Ethernet ports when it keeps flip-flopping from working to not working.

Thanks for the suggestions though.
A new TP-Link AC1900 router arrived today so I'll put that to good use tomorrow.

Steve