Connection issue with the server occurred without warning.
Connection issue with the server occurred without warning.
Hi everyone!
Apologies if this isn’t the right place to ask, I’m not very familiar with these discussions.
To begin with, on Sunday at 2:07 AM, I received a notification from some friends that my game servers went offline. Using my network monitoring app, I noticed both the virtual machines and the server hosting them lost connection to my internet.
I wasn’t home at the time, but after returning on Monday night, I checked the server and it was still operational. I unplugged the cable and reinserted it, but nothing changed. Then I looked at the router and saw a small piece of plastic broken near the port I was using.
After pulling the cable out, it appeared to be damaged—most of the bottom plastic was missing, and several contact pads were also missing. I don’t know how this happened; I had just replaced the cable two or three weeks earlier after switching ISPs and routers.
I replaced the cable and tested the same port again, but while the green connectivity light was on, no data transfer occurred. I attempted to change the router ports, which showed some activity, though pinging the network or checking the app still failed.
I reset the network settings on the device itself, but that didn’t help. I changed the static IP I assigned, but nothing worked. I tried DHCP, but it couldn’t assign a new IP address. I tested known working ports on the router, but still had no success.
I’m unsure what might have caused this or don’t have any idea of a possible solution.
I can share details about the server and router if that would be useful.
Any help would be really appreciated!
Additional info:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX
Memory: 32G DDR5 6000 MHz
Power supply: Unknown – included in the minipc running the server (Beelink EQR6)
Peripherals: Keyboard and monitor (only when needed)
Connection: Only wired
OS: Debian - Proxmox
We altered the ISPs, which means there are other people in the house. It seems someone might have accidentally knocked over the cable while you were away, pulling it out and causing the damage, or they could have touched something they shouldn't have. There doesn’t appear to be another plausible reason for the extent of the harm. Have you checked both the router and the PC’s ports? It looks like the computer port was affected too, which isn’t resolved by just using a new cable and a different router port. You’ll likely need a PCIe or USB Ethernet adapter to fix it. Even if you can’t see the damage, this is probably the only way to confirm the issue. The green link lights offer little help when there are suspect physical ports.
Yup! I live with my family, though there is a near 0% chance that anyone touched it. It is sat in the garage in a corner all on a shelf with no cables on the ground. No one besides my father and myself even know where it is exactly. Plus, everyone in the house was asleep by that time and nothing was out of the position I left it. Both ports looked perfectly fine, no debris, burning, or visible damage. I'd have to open up the router and server to check internally though.
A few people I spoke to suggested it was potentially electrical damage, but nothing else was damaged, so I'm not sure. The port and cable on the server end was fine, no visible damage there. I can't really put in a new PCIe card for it easily, but I did buy a gigabit USB ethernet adapter for testing. If I need to consistently use it, it isn't a big deal since the NIC in the system anyway is only 1000mb/s. It'll arrive tomorrow so I can test it then.
It might be that working inside a garage without a controlled setting influenced the plastics, making them break randomly. It would be unusual for only this port to fail suddenly and quickly, especially damaging the cable pins. Removing a connector tab is normal, but not when it's just lying around. If that part disappeared completely, where would it have vanished while connected? Without any trace, it’s hard to say if it vanished without a trace. Visual signs like scorching or melting aren’t required for an electrical fault to cause damage, but they wouldn’t have broken plastic pieces and would likely affect the whole router’s electronics to reach the port. It would also probably affect other ports unless the issue originated from the PC side. I really can't imagine any explanation except someone or something forcefully pulling the cable and damaging both ends. I doubt you recall the exact position of the gear down to a millimeter, so just because it seems in the same spot doesn’t confirm it’s there unless dust outlines are visible.
My thoughts were the same. Before switching routers and ISPs, I never experienced any problems. I made sure to check the cable first, and there was nothing visible damaged. I've had tabs break often, but this one didn't break—it was the opposite side that failed.
I wasn't sure if the piece was missing, but it was actually positioned right below the port. I have pictures of it if I can get them here.
That was my reasoning too. It could have been a possible solution, but it wasn't the best or most accurate one either. I think I can confirm there was no force applied to the system or router. I'm very careful with my gear and set everything up precisely. I checked, and it looked exactly where I left it. Plus, I know everyone's sleep patterns, so it wouldn't have been someone else who was awake at that time or in that garage.
Update your message with complete hardware details, operating system info, power supply specifications, storage capacity, connected peripherals, network type, and router logs. Also mention the router's admin privileges and who can assist.
It seems pets might be attracted to your gadgets. My neighbor's cat often comes into my garage when the door is left open.
I refreshed the post with the details I have, thank you!
I’m not sure if I have any logs from that time, but I can look them up.
I have complete admin rights for the router, which let me check connections and adjust settings to verify changes.
Not used to Proxmox, but you can experiment with VMware Workstation 17.x for Linux—it's also free. Keep in mind that for automatic starts, VMs need to be placed directly in the VMware UI root directory, not in any other folders.