Could a lightning strike have damaged just the Ethernet ports on the router?
Could a lightning strike have damaged just the Ethernet ports on the router?
Hello, recently I experienced a severe lightning storm with intense power outages. Since then, my router has been performing poorly, while the wireless connection remains stable. The Ethernet connection, however, has significantly weakened. After plugging and unplugging it multiple times to try boosting speeds, it consistently only reaches about 3mbps, far below the expected 300mbps or higher. I've tested various Ethernet cables, updated drivers, and refreshed the router firmware, but faced difficulties. I'm wondering if it's feasible to disable only the Ethernet ports without affecting other functions?
I reside in rural East Texas on a big property with cable modem. We experience regular lightning strikes over a wide area where the cable is installed, causing damage to various network devices such as the modem, router, switches, and distant adapters. These are the most commonly affected parts based on my observations. After around ten years of dealing with component failures, I started routing my cable through a UPS, which appears to lessen the effects of strikes. It has been several years since I've needed to replace anything.
A bit late but let me add my 2c: I can testify that lightning can damage only the ethernet section of a system. Here's one of my experiences:
Around 20 years ago, someone's quite-new system died after lightning struck a neighborhood gaming network. I replaced the motherboard after confirming that it was the part that had died.
A couple of years later, I had an inspiration and checked the motherboard more closely. Sure enough, the Realtek LAN chip had blown apart. Moreover, it shorted the 5V rail to ground. I desoldered the supply pins and the short went away.
I put in a CPU (an Athlon XP) and voila! it booted up without a problem. I installed a 10/100 Mbps LAN card and that worked too. I added more parts and used it as a second computer and later sold the whole thing after explaining the mobo's history to the buyer.