I’ve been using ethernet for almost a year, but today my PC won’t connect to the internet even though the LAN cable is plugged in. It’s just stopped working and I don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?
Check your taskbar for an icon that looks like a globe or sphere. It should be near the sound icon and the time/date area. Right-click on it, then select ‘troubleshoot problems’. The Windows network troubleshooter will run. It may give you a solution or even fix the issue for you. Let us know what it says if you’re unsure about the next step.
If you need internet temporarily, try plugging your smartphone into your PC with a USB cable. On your phone, go to Settings, find ‘USB tethering’ (probably under the network or internet section), and turn it on. This will let your PC use your phone’s data. It’s slower, but it can help with things like reinstalling the adapter or fixing DNS issues. Also, Ethernet cables can sometimes get damaged. Try swapping out the cable or testing it with another device (like a laptop or console with Wi-Fi disabled) to rule out the cable.
Go to the Device Manager, find the Ethernet adapter, and remove it. Then restart your PC.
Check your IP address after plugging in. If it’s something like 169.254.x.x, that means your DHCP server isn’t assigning IP addresses.
Try unplugging your router for a minute, then plugging it back in and letting it reboot. I had to do this recently when my ethernet stopped working. Also, check if the Ethernet cable is damaged by testing it with another device, or use a different cable to see if that’s the problem.
I had this problem after a big thunderstorm. Turns out the surge fried my network card, but the modem and router survived. I tried switching cables and router ports, but in the end, I had to go wireless.
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Try restarting everything—your PC, router, and any switches between them. Also, unplug and re-plug all connections. Check if the link light is on at both ends of the cable. I’ve seen issues where one end lights up, but the other doesn’t. The cable might have gotten damaged over time without you noticing.
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If the issue isn’t fixed, use an Ethernet tester or just swap cables with known-good ones.
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If that doesn’t work, plug in a USB Ethernet adapter and see if that works with the same cable. If it does, your port might be the problem. You could try updating drivers or turning the port off and back on in the BIOS. If nothing works, it may be time to replace the port. You could also continue using the USB adapter.
Also, try running ‘NETCFG -d’ in the command line and reboot. This will reset your network settings.
Have you tried turning everything off and back on again?
I’m glad you figured it out! Sometimes the old ‘unplug and plug back in’ trick really works. It’s nice when the fix is so simple!