Hi, really sorry if this is the wrong forum category, or if I'm using this site incorrectly; I've never really posted to a computer support forum before. Not really a tech person.
I've been having problems with the Ethernet connection to my home PC. It started a few days ago, rather suddenly, and it's just me at home with nobody who could have fiddled with it, so at first I thought it was a problem with my router; I restarted the router, etc, and when that didn't fix it I thought it might be a problem with my Internet company, so I decided to leave it a day or so. Sometime that day or the next, I was able to access the Internet again so I assumed that was it, some broken cable somewhere the company had repaired. But then it went out again, and hasn't shown any signs of working over the few days since.
When it didn't clear up, I started doing more tests; I realised my phone and laptop both connect to the Wifi just fine over the same router. So I figured it was a problem with the Ethernet cable or the PC; first thing I tried was turning WiFi off on the laptop and just plugging in the same Ethernet cable that connects to my home computer. The Ethernet worked just fine to give me internet on the laptop, so I don't believe the cable is at issue.
Also, the cable seems to light up just fine when plugged in. It has a pure orange light (unclear if that's its normal colour or indicating a fault) with an additional smaller green one that flickers on and off.
So, at this point, I assume this is either a hardware issue with my Ethernet port, or a software issue of some kind? But I'm not sure which. Unfortunately, my computer doesn't have multiple Ethernet ports, or (I think) WiFi capabilities.
On the Ethernet page, it says "Unidentified Network- No Internet". Network and Internet page says "No Internet Access: your device is connected, but you might not be able to access anything on the network." and indicates that I'm connected to an "Ethernet Public Network."
The only useful information the troubleshooter gave was "the default gateway is not available- not fixed." as well as telling me a problem was detected in "the connection between your access point, router, or cable modem."
I have tried following a guide to use Command Console to reset the TCP/IP stack, release and renew the IP address and flush and renew the DNS client resolver cache, and it didn't seem to do anything. Oh, and I ran a malware check that turned up nothing, just in case.
So, at this point... I'm stumped. That's about the extent of my technical knowledge, and I'm unsure how to proceed from here? So I'd appreciate any help with that.
TLDR; my Ethernet connection is broken. It seems most likely to be some kind of software issue, but I'm not sure what.
I've been having problems with the Ethernet connection to my home PC. It started a few days ago, rather suddenly, and it's just me at home with nobody who could have fiddled with it, so at first I thought it was a problem with my router; I restarted the router, etc, and when that didn't fix it I thought it might be a problem with my Internet company, so I decided to leave it a day or so. Sometime that day or the next, I was able to access the Internet again so I assumed that was it, some broken cable somewhere the company had repaired. But then it went out again, and hasn't shown any signs of working over the few days since.
When it didn't clear up, I started doing more tests; I realised my phone and laptop both connect to the Wifi just fine over the same router. So I figured it was a problem with the Ethernet cable or the PC; first thing I tried was turning WiFi off on the laptop and just plugging in the same Ethernet cable that connects to my home computer. The Ethernet worked just fine to give me internet on the laptop, so I don't believe the cable is at issue.
Also, the cable seems to light up just fine when plugged in. It has a pure orange light (unclear if that's its normal colour or indicating a fault) with an additional smaller green one that flickers on and off.
So, at this point, I assume this is either a hardware issue with my Ethernet port, or a software issue of some kind? But I'm not sure which. Unfortunately, my computer doesn't have multiple Ethernet ports, or (I think) WiFi capabilities.
On the Ethernet page, it says "Unidentified Network- No Internet". Network and Internet page says "No Internet Access: your device is connected, but you might not be able to access anything on the network." and indicates that I'm connected to an "Ethernet Public Network."
The only useful information the troubleshooter gave was "the default gateway is not available- not fixed." as well as telling me a problem was detected in "the connection between your access point, router, or cable modem."
I have tried following a guide to use Command Console to reset the TCP/IP stack, release and renew the IP address and flush and renew the DNS client resolver cache, and it didn't seem to do anything. Oh, and I ran a malware check that turned up nothing, just in case.
So, at this point... I'm stumped. That's about the extent of my technical knowledge, and I'm unsure how to proceed from here? So I'd appreciate any help with that.
TLDR; my Ethernet connection is broken. It seems most likely to be some kind of software issue, but I'm not sure what.
