Question Wired Network Connection Lost After PC Randomly Restarted

Mar 31, 2023
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I was watching a youtube video when my desktop PC decided to restart. When it booted back up (Windows 10) I no longer had a wired connection.
I'm not sure what all information I should include so I will add what I think is relevant.

Steps I've taken to repair the issue (some tried multiple times and in various orders)
  1. Power cycled modem and router
  2. Checked for router firmware updates.
  3. Uninstalled my network adapter's driver, reinstalled, tried updating to latest from mobo manufacture website.
  4. Clean Installed Windows.
  5. Updated Mobo Bios
  6. Hooked up a brand new Cat7 network cable.
  7. Tried plugging the desktop straight into the modem to bypass router.
  8. Ran all cmd commands to reset winsock, flush dns, release ip, renew ip
  9. Tried all relevant windows troubleshooters. Results are as follows: (Default gateway is not available, Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration) it goes back and fourth between the two.
Every other device both wired and wireless are still functioning. Though I tried bypassing the router completely and are using a new network cable so I feel the issue is related to the desktop itself. I don't have a PciE NIC card to test to rule out the mobos onboard network adapter.

Windows 10 Home Edition (22H2)
MSI x570 Gaming Plus Mobo
 
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Not have a wired connection can have many meaning.

Does the ethernet appear in the device manager, if not it likely is a hardware failure.
If it is in the device manager does it have any warning about drivers, windows could have updated them on you.
What does IPCONFIG /all show.

Is the ethernet port connected or disconnected status. If it is connected do you get IP addresses....other than the 169.x.x.x ones it assigned when it can't get a IP.
 
Mar 31, 2023
5
0
10
Not have a wired connection can have many meaning.

Does the ethernet appear in the device manager, if not it likely is a hardware failure.
If it is in the device manager does it have any warning about drivers, windows could have updated them on you.
What does IPCONFIG /all show.

Is the ethernet port connected or disconnected status. If it is connected do you get IP addresses....other than the 169.x.x.x ones it assigned when it can't get a IP.
The ethernet adapter does show in device manager and says it's functioning correctly.

IPCONFIG /All

Windows IP Config-

Host Name: Desktop-XXXX
Primary DNS Suffix:
Node Type: Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled: No
WINS Proxy Enabled: No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet-

Connection Specific DNS Suffix:
Description: Realtek PCIe Gbe Family Controller
Physical Address: 2C-F0-5D-2A-93-B4
DHCP Enabled: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address: fe80::xxxx:xxx:xxx:xxxxxxx(preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4:169.xxx.xxx.xxx (preferred)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway:
DHCPv6 IAID: 338489437
DHCPv6 Client DUID: 00-01-00-01-2B-B9-0E-FA-2C-F0-5D-2A-93-B4
DNS Servers: fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
" 2%1
" 3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip: Enabled

Network Status says: No Internet Access, Your device is connected, but you might not be able to access anything on the network.

Unidentified network
No Internet
 
All this means is your pc did not receive a IP from the router. Could be a DHCP issue. The easy test is to go into the nic setting and put in a static IP. If your router is using 192.168.x.1 address a IP that tends to be safe is 192.168.x.250. The router tends to give out IP from the bottom.

If this works then it is a matter of figuring out what is wrong with dhcp. Worse case if you can't figure it out is you just use static IP.

If it still does not work then you might have a different kind of hardware issue. I had a bunch of ethernet ports destroyed by a nearby lightning strike and they seem to be functional but would not pass any data. Be sure it is not something silly like you have your pc plugged into a switch or somethings and the switch does not have a connection to the main router.
 
Mar 31, 2023
5
0
10
All this means is your pc did not receive a IP from the router. Could be a DHCP issue. The easy test is to go into the nic setting and put in a static IP. If your router is using 192.168.x.1 address a IP that tends to be safe is 192.168.x.250. The router tends to give out IP from the bottom.

If this works then it is a matter of figuring out what is wrong with dhcp. Worse case if you can't figure it out is you just use static IP.

If it still does not work then you might have a different kind of hardware issue. I had a bunch of ethernet ports destroyed by a nearby lightning strike and they seem to be functional but would not pass any data. Be sure it is not something silly like you have your pc plugged into a switch or somethings and the switch does not have a connection to the main router.
Right idk what I would do if it were something silly. I've spent nearly 8 hours on this today. I think I mentioned I tried plugging the PC directly into the modem to bypass everything else with no luck still. I will try setting a static IP...would it be just the IP or do I need to add anything else?

I think I set everything up right. Still no luck, all the info is showing up in ipconfig. Can't see the PC on the routers network map.
 
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