Random internet incidents occur and systems report themselves as operational.
Random internet incidents occur and systems report themselves as operational.
Yo forum! I think this is the best spot to share about it. Over the past few months my workstation’s internet keeps dropping unexpectedly. I’m connected via a cable from our router, so there’s no Wi-Fi or external setup—just pure cabling. It happens at random times, sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. On my phone and laptop everything functions fine, but my workstation is dead.
Another annoying thing is that the internet icon in the toolbar shows as connected, even when I hover over it—it gives me that “everything’s fine” popup. I’ve tried moving the cable from the PCI card to the motherboard port, power cycling the switch, changing cable ports on the switch, and even rebooting the machine. Still nothing.
I’m hoping someone with more Windows expertise can help. I’ve attached some screenshots and a short video to illustrate what’s going on. Sorry for any confusion, and thanks for reading! Stay frosty, everyone!
I didn't attempt tracert this time. I'll need to try again when the problem arises again. However, based on what's happening now, it seems this could happen more often than expected.
Tracrt helps determine if the issue goes beyond your router or modem. If it works, the problem could be outside your home. Otherwise, it might be related to the modem/router itself—have you checked the cables and/or NICs? Also, confirm your router settings are correct and that the firmware is current.
I'm not sure if the router is fully updated because it's a device from the ISP (this comes when I realize I'm not very familiar with the difference between routers, modems, etc.). Yes, I've tested other options—swapped cables, changed connectors on both my switch and computer. I still use the original cables since they work reliably after rebooting, fixing the problem each time. I don't have another PCI NIC available, so I haven't tried a different one. I've also used the built-in NIC and the mainboard's chip card, but the issue persists with both.
It seems there might be one of two problems. The ISP-provided router or modem could be faulty, or you might have two defective network cards.