Problem with Windows 11 Ethernet card during startup
Problem with Windows 11 Ethernet card during startup
Hey there! I noticed you're experiencing some strange behavior with your motherboard's second built-in Ethernet adapter. It seems to have started acting up without any recent Windows updates. You're using a Gigabyte X570 xteme board with two Ethernet ports—one standard gigabit and one 10Gb port. Despite installing the drivers from the manufacturer, the connection doesn't perform at expected speeds once it starts up. When you check your internet speed via Speedtest.net, you're seeing much lower than normal rates, even though your NAS is working fine. The issue appears to be intermittent, happening only at startup and not during regular use. I've tried everything—restarting the PC, resetting network settings, power cycling hardware, and checking for driver updates—but nothing seems to fix it. Could there be a hardware fault or a compatibility problem with your current setup? Let me know what you observe next time you power on the system!
Changing the Ethernet cable from the 10G port to the 1G port may not provide the complete 1G performance. A faulty cable could be causing the slower speeds.
Not the cable. Tested both ports consecutively with it. After switching back to the 10G port after trying the 1G port, speeds on the 10G port fell to 1.23 megabits on Speedtest, while maintaining a normal 50 megabits. The 1G port works fine for restarts and power-ups. I need my 10G port to achieve faster speeds on my NAS box, so keeping it in the 1G port isn’t ideal for me.
The OS displays the network adapter's connection speed as a link speed. The rest of your network configuration isn't specified in this query. Are your NAS and PC linked to the identical 10G switch or router?
Windows appears to be treating it as a 10gig adapter. It isn't delivering the expected performance. I need to run the network troubleshooter and apply the "reset the adaptor" feature to restore functionality. Once that's done, speeds remain inconsistent. My main cable modem connects from its main port into the main input of my Asus GT-AX11000 Wi-Fi 6 router. The router has been updated with the latest firmware for some time. No other devices in the house are causing connection problems. My NAS is connected to the Asus router, and my desktop PC is also linked. The NAS functions as a large external storage device on Windows. Essentially, both the PC and NAS are directly connected to the router.
In the Windows settings under Network and Internet, Ethernet details display the link speed options—receive and transmit rates. Since there’s only one 2.5G port available, the device will attempt to adjust its speed accordingly.
2.5G remains a solid 90 megabits, which is still better than the 10g speeds I expected. I know I won’t reach the full 10g, but the Ethernet card doesn’t turn on immediately when Windows starts. I need to troubleshoot and reset it using the troubleshooter before it functions, after which I get 90 megabits. Yesterday this port had no speed problems—it worked right away once Windows booted. I didn’t have to make any adjustments to get it working. With this configuration and setup, I’ve had no issues for more than two years. That’s why I’m trying to understand what might have caused this. I haven’t applied any repair updates or installed any apps that could trigger this behavior.
You're looking to understand how the operating system estimates the cable's speed in Windows settings. Check the Network and Internet options, then look at the Link Speed section—both Receive and Transmit values will indicate the perceived connection rate.
It appears the link speed is still at 100/100, but there seems to be a problem. The adapter isn’t powering on during startup as expected, even though I’ve never experienced speed issues before. I recently connected my full ISP connection—1,000 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up—and successfully transferred large 4K video files to and from my NAS with normal speeds. Now, the 10G port is significantly slowing everything down.
Update: The system is now functioning correctly. Due to an assigning glitch with the router, disconnecting the Ethernet cable from both devices while they were on and then reconnecting restored operation. I restarted twice and performed a cold boot. Each time the Ethernet adapter activated smoothly during startup, delivering full 1Gb speeds. Windows now displays the link speed as 2500/2500 for both receive and transmit.