Problem with the Ethernet port on your motherboard
Problem with the Ethernet port on your motherboard
Hey everyone! Last night there were a lot of lightning strikes in my area, and I suspect my house got hit. I connected my router and modem to a surge protector, which is plugged into a UPS. The surge protector went into the surge protector, and that protected everything. After replacing the gear, my WiFi and internet worked perfectly. However, my computer's Ethernet port isn't showing any signal—even after reinstalling drivers. Every cable I try just says "Cable unplugged," and it seems like the port isn't even trying to connect. I think the lightning might have damaged the Ethernet port on my motherboard. Is that possible given what happened with the other devices?
It might be useful to purchase a PCI Ethernet card and exchange it if it doesn’t resolve the issue
I thought about it too. I’m feeling frustrated because it affected my new motherboard as well.
What's happening isn't uncommon—lighting spikes can damage Ethernet ports. I'd check the switch or router port, ensure the cable is intact. If that fails, I'd test another operating system and consider the NIC inactive if it still shows no activity. 1Gbit AICs are affordable. For better performance, PCIe is preferable to USB.
The router and modem are both damaged, but the other devices connected were working. I don’t understand why.
It's possible the surge could have traveled from another network device, damaging others through their Ethernet connections. The braided metal inside coaxial cables serves as shielding, extending to ground and linking to the ISP network. A coax modem might have been responsible for the issue with your Ethernet equipment.