Ethernet keeps dropping

RoflWaffles02 · April 10, 2020

I am having a problem with my internet connection. I just upgraded my system to Ryzen, replacing the mb, cpu, gpu, and ram. I use a Netgear EX3700 wifi extender to connect to the internet using the ethernet port on the side of it. Ever since I upraded, i have been dropping connection constantly. I noticed initially that the port on my mb (MSI Tomahawk B450 Max) wasnt locking in, and I thought I was losing connection because the cable kept coming loose. I added a TP-LINK TG-3468 ethernet card, and the problem was fixed for about 2 days. The problem came back, so I decided to reset the wifi extender, no luck. I tried moving the ethernet card to another slot, no luck. I tried connecting via a usb-ethernet adapter, no luck. Everytime I lost connection, I tried fiddling with the cable, and the connection would come back. I am sure the wiki extender, cable, router, and usb adapter are working. I tested them with other known working hardware. I also checked to make sure my cpu has no bent pins, i found none. I am worried I need to replace my mb. Please help

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600

GPU: Nvidia 2060 Super

MB: MSI Tomahawk B450 Max

Wifi extender: NETgear EX3700

Ethernet card: TP_LINK TG-3468

Cable: AmazonBasics ethernet cable

OS: Win10 64

Lurick · April 10, 2020

Did you try a new ethernet cable? If wiggling it about fixes it I suspect the connector on the cable or the clip that holds it in place is missing/bad/etc.

RoflWaffles02 · April 10, 2020

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Did you try a new ethernet cable? If wiggling it about fixes it I suspect the connector on the cable or the clip that holds it in place is missing/bad/etc.

Yes I have tried another cable, and I also tested the current cable and it is working.

Jinu · April 11, 2020

the fact that the problem continues inspite of using another LAN card (Tplink) would indicate that the issue is not with your motherboard (assuming your PC is working fine and you are not seeing any other issues other than LAN failure). The problem is with your Extender. Some testing you can do to identify the source of the problem

1. Can you bypass the extender, put a long ethernet cable directly to your ISP access point/modem/router ? or Move your PC closer to the ISP access point/modem/router just for testing purposes

2. Install a wifi adapter directly on the PC and connect to the ISP access point/modem/router. but since you are using an extender i assume you will have to move the PC closer to the ISP access point/modem/router to get a decent signal for testing purpose.

Once you identify the problem you will atleast know what to troubleshoot.

Another thing you can do is update the firmware of your extender to the latest version and then hard reset the extender and configure it all over again, that will clear out any faulty configuration that might be stuck in the extender causing only your PC connection to fail, but i would try options 1 or 2 mentioned above to be very sure where the problem is.

Falcon1986 · April 11, 2020

20 hours ago, RoflWaffles02 said:

I am having a problem with my internet connection. I just upgraded my system to Ryzen, replacing the mb, cpu, gpu, and ram. I use a Netgear EX3700 wifi extender to connect to the internet using the ethernet port on the side of it. Ever since I upraded, i have been dropping connection constantly. I noticed initially that the port on my mb (MSI Tomahawk B450 Max) wasnt locking in, and I thought I was losing connection because the cable kept coming loose. I added a TP-LINK TG-3468 ethernet card, and the problem was fixed for about 2 days. The problem came back, so I decided to reset the wifi extender, no luck. I tried moving the ethernet card to another slot, no luck. I tried connecting via a usb-ethernet adapter, no luck. Everytime I lost connection, I tried fiddling with the cable, and the connection would come back. I am sure the wiki extender, cable, router, and usb adapter are working. I tested them with other known working hardware. I also checked to make sure my cpu has no bent pins, i found none. I am worried I need to replace my mb. Please help

Firstly, as long as you see lights on the LAN ports after you complete an ethernet connection (end-to-end), the link should be active, despite the cable locking mechanism being absent.

Secondly, when you say that your connection is "dropping", do you mean that you get a sudden slow down or does the network card become undetectable and your internet disconnects? Does your 'Network Connections' show a missing device? How long does the connection take to re-establish? When you go to 'Device Manager', is anything showing up as needing attention? Have you installed all of the relevant drivers and Windows Updates for your computer?

Thirdly, what Windows power plan are you using? Have you disabled the power-saving features of your network card?

Finally, wireless extenders are prone to lag and connection issues by the nature of how they're designed. Not only do they have to wirelessly communicate with the wireless base station, they also have to wirelessly communicate with client devices, which can bog down many under-powered units especially when handling lots of traffic. In your scenario, you have your computer wired to the extender (which is an improvement, but keep in mind that the LAN speed of that yellow port is limited to 10/100Mbps), but if other wireless client devices are also connecting through that extender, I would imagine that the slowdown would also be felt by wired clients.