Storm fried motherboard's ethernet port! What are my options?

[1-800-Get-Rags]

There was a bad storm here. Lighting like gunshots. Boom boom. Torrential rain. Bad stuff.

One particularly nasty bolt seemed to have done something to my internet, I thought at first. Computer said that the ethernet cord was broken or not plugged in. I tried three different cords and they all gave the same message. It's not the cord. I can plug up the cord to the modem and get internet, and the modem itself seems like it's working fine. I'm using the internet wirelessly now on a laptop, after all.

So, I think it's the ethernet port on the motherboard. Ugh. That sucks. What are my options to get my desktop back online? And without anything slowing down the connection?

I have an ASUS Hero VI motherboard, if that means anything.

 

[DSzymborski]

There's no repairing it. Your best bet -- assuming ASUS won't do anything with you -- is to simply purchase a new PCI ethernet card. They're inexpensive enough that even if ASUS does allow an RMA (not sure if you're still under warranty at all), they're so inexpensive that I'd personally just buy the card rather than go through the hassle.

 

[1-800-Get-Rags]

There's no repairing it. Your best bet -- assuming ASUS won't do anything with you -- is to simply purchase a new PCI ethernet card. They're inexpensive enough that even if ASUS does allow an RMA (not sure if you're still under warranty at all), they're so inexpensive that I'd personally just buy the card rather than go through the hassle.

Huh...I noticed those existed, but don't know anything about them. I have two 980Ti's in SLI...will that leave me room? And what is the installation process for that? I can do basic stuff, but past that...it's meh. Can you recommend me any card in particular that will not cause any internet slowdowns?

 

[R4DIO4CT1VE]

As the first reply stated, you should check your warranty to see if it can do anything for you, if not buy an Ethernet card.

 

[DSzymborski]

There's no repairing it. Your best bet -- assuming ASUS won't do anything with you -- is to simply purchase a new PCI ethernet card. They're inexpensive enough that even if ASUS does allow an RMA (not sure if you're still under warranty at all), they're so inexpensive that I'd personally just buy the card rather than go through the hassle.

Huh...I noticed those existed, but don't know anything about them. I have two 980Ti's in SLI...will that leave me room? And what is the installation process for that? I can do basic stuff, but past that...it's meh. Can you recommend me any card in particular that will not cause any internet slowdowns?

They use the PCI slot and are essentially "plug it in and install the drivers" to use (your GPUs are using the PCI-Express). There are also USB to ethernet dongles, though I tend to prefer the simple PCI solution. Your motherboard has three PCI slots (they're the short black ones above and below the PCI Express once), so hopefully at least one of them isn't hard to access because of your GPUs.

But first, contact ASUS if you're still in warranty period so that you have all your options laid out for you.

 

[J_E_D_70]

"I can plug up the cord to the modem and get internet" - plug what device to the cord and then to the modem?

 

[ChaoticWolf]

Use a USB Ethernet adapter.