Question Such a WEIRD issue with Ethernet - at my wit's end.

HassanMahmood

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Jul 24, 2013
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I honestly cannot understand what the problem I am facing is.

I bought a new router today - the Asus AX58U - great, powerful little thing that was purchased to increase the speeds and stability of my Wi-Fi network.

As it happens - it does not seem to have done either, so I could just go back to my Archer AX20 and return this one (I'll be returning one of them regardless).

The reason I initially bought it was because I thought maybe the AX20 was suffering from CPU bottlenecks or something since it was definitely receiving and passing on a full gigabit connection, but yet over Wi-Fi 6 it would not pass those speeds on - substantially less in fact. The Asus is doing the same thing so I am not sure what the problem there is - if anyone has insight as to why a router that has shown capability of 500-600mbps consistently over Wi-Fi with my previous ISP would only give out 100-200mbps on the new ISP even though it is still definitely receiving the full gigabit and passing it on via wired, that would be amazing!

Okay so back to the current issue - for some absurd reason my PC will not consistently has an issue obtaining an IP from the new router when plugged in via ethernet. The same cable plugged into the old router works flawlessly. The same cable plugged in from the NEW router to my laptop works flawlessly. The same cable plugged into a switch that is plugged into the new router works flawlessly.

So basically, the cable clearly isn't the issue. But also - the laptop is able to resolve an IP and obtain full speeds via the same cable connected to the same port on the same router.

Does ANYONE have any idea as to how I can get the cable to send internet to my PC directly without the use of a switch? It is mind boggling why it's behaving this way.

I have tried a bunch of reset commands I found online through command prompt, I have cleared the DNS and tried releasing/renewing, I have tried assigning a static IP via the MAC address on the router. I have tried configuring the PC to request a specific IPv4 address from the router and manually inputted the IP/DNS/Gateway settings accordingly.

I have reinstalled the drivers for the ethernet card.

I am truly flummoxed by this situation. The router does not recognize my PC's device name when it is connected via ethernet, but it does when it is connected via the switch.

At the end of the day the switch workaround seems to be working, but I would rather have a dedicated line directly from the router that I can QoS max bandwidth to.

I also realize I could just return the Asus router and use my TP-Link one now that I have determined the Wi-Fi speeds will remain the same, but I would rather figure out how to tinker with the Asus to get max Wi-Fi speeds and use it for the ethernet purposes that seem incredibly basic.

The reason I've gone down this path is because I wanted to bypass my ISP's modem whilst still being able to get IPTV working on my receiver - something I have succeeded at doing, I just need to finalize this process and I can't fathom what it is that I'm doing wrong.
 

pctech2005

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Mar 13, 2010
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Does ANYONE have any idea as to how I can get the cable to send internet to my PC directly without the use of a switch? It is mind boggling why it's behaving this way.

You may want to try a gigabit cross over cable if going from the router directly to your pc. Also what kind of ethernet cable do you have cat 5e, 6 ,7 ?
 

HassanMahmood

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Jul 24, 2013
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Does ANYONE have any idea as to how I can get the cable to send internet to my PC directly without the use of a switch? It is mind boggling why it's behaving this way.

You may want to try a gigabit cross over cable if going from the router directly to your pc. Also what kind of ethernet cable do you have cat 5e, 6 ,7 ?

See but I should not need to do anything other than connect the PC to the router directly to obtain an IP and internet.

i already have a working solution via the unmanaged switch, but that is not the point.

I SHOULD be able to connect directly to my router and I don't understand what is making that not work.

It's a Cat6 cable. Brand new. Works perfectly from the switch, and also works perfectly from the router when I plug it into my laptop, it just won't work directly with the PC.
 

kanewolf

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See but I should not need to do anything other than connect the PC to the router directly to obtain an IP and internet.

i already have a working solution via the unmanaged switch, but that is not the point.

I SHOULD be able to connect directly to my router and I don't understand what is making that not work.

It's a Cat6 cable. Brand new. Works perfectly from the switch, and also works perfectly from the router when I plug it into my laptop, it just won't work directly with the PC.
Some network adapters are more finicky than others. Verify that you don't have any power saving features enabled on your PC.
Can you post a link to the cable you purchased ?
 

HassanMahmood

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Jul 24, 2013
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There is your problem. FLAT cable. It doesn't meet spec. The wires are too small in diameter.
Get a standard round cat5e or cat6a cable. Something like this -- https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Flexboot-Cat5e-Ethernet-Patch/dp/B00KWS7GAC

As explained, the same cable is working flawlessly from the switch. This is an unmanaged switch, so it is still the router assigning the IP that it is refusing to assign when connected directly.

Given it works flawlessly from the switch, and works flawlessly when used with my laptop connected directly to the router, the problem does not lie with the cable.
 

kanewolf

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Moderator
As explained, the same cable is working flawlessly from the switch. This is an unmanaged switch, so it is still the router assigning the IP that it is refusing to assign when connected directly.

Given it works flawlessly from the switch, and works flawlessly when used with my laptop connected directly to the router, the problem does not lie with the cable.
Working with SOME devices and not working with others, just reinforces the fact that the cable does not meet spec. The resistsnce of those too-small wires prevents it from working universally.
 

HassanMahmood

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Jul 24, 2013
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Given it works from another router to the PC, from the same router to another device, from the same router to a switch to the PC, and basically in any other configuration but this one, I do find it hard to swallow that as the reason for the issues.

I am receiving a full gigabit connection from the switch as I type this - it just seems unlikely that the cable is the culprit.
 
If you are SURE it is the ethernet cable then start replacing your hardware. It must be a hardware port problem then. Ethernet is actually very simple electronically, it is not some big fancy software thing like wifi is. So you either have a bad cable or you have bad ports. Trying a different cable is going to a lot cheaper. There is no cost effective way for a home user to actually test cables or ports. The symptoms you get are exactly what a cable that does not meet standards does. Even cable that are fully certified can have similar issues if a end would get slightly loose internally.