Struggling to work out what the issue is here - cable, networking card or EE SH router?

[RT123]

I have a PC with an ASUS Prime B550m-WIFI II that I recently had a cable installed to (handyman was the cheapest option by far, but even then I’m feeling overcharged - others were wanting £500+ but really regretting it now) - have tried updating the LAN drivers

I have a disability so can’t really remove the cable to try and test it (however, I note that the speeds of the cable are fine - reaching the 500mbps, so presuming the termination of the cable is OK)

The issue is that the connection is still struggling (like it was on WiFi) - the router logs aren’t particularly useful, but I’m seeing random drops on even the other Ethernet devices connected. Other Ethernet devices are fine for the most part, but I have seen the same issue on my laptop testing using a different cable occasionally- haven’t noticed any issues with my Xbox, but still suspect that I’ve got lucky with that.

Also worth noting is that I had a PC that I had to return due to unrelated reasons (with an Intel WiFi card) but this worked fine (by WiFi standards anyway)

Sorry for the long post but I’m really struggling because I’m unable to play games on my preferred device still (which I was hoping the cable would help)

 

[RT123]

My thoughts (no expert so may or may not be correct!):

- The fact that you are getting internet, albeit with drops, implies that the physical cable connection is ok.

- The most likely explanation would be your router and motherboard not playing nicely together for a software reason (TCP/IP protocol issue). I'm not sure if there are analysis tools available that would enable you to diagnose this.

- Who is your broadband provider, and would they also be able to check the line to rule out an external issue?

Rgds

Hi,

That’s a little bit reassuring to know (about the cable itself most probably being fine)

I’m using EE FTTP - their tests do indicate that the line is ok (and although WiFi is poor, I realise that it’s because the signal is poor, so really need to do something about that!)

 

[RT123]

When the problem happens, what issues do you notice? Pages loading slowing? Not loading at all?

Can you explain the physical layout and connection a bit? Is your PC wired directly to the router by the cable that the handyman installed? Is there a network switch between the PC and router? The cable that was installed, is that a single cable the whole way or is it left with wall sockets and then a patch cable at each end?

You need to work out where the problem is. Run a continual ping to your router, do you see any packet loss? Check that specifically when you're having problems. Chances are the cable is fine, intermittent cable problems are a thing but this doesn't sound like it.

Whilst running the continual ping to the router, run another to 8.8.8.8 and see what happens. If you find that pings to the router are fine but there's packet loss to 8.8.8.8 then it's likely something with the router itself or the internet connection.

It’s wired directly - not through a switch or anything atm (although I’m planning to add a basic one)

When it happens the symptoms are:

Slow page loading
Buffering
Ping spikes (in game)

I can’t see what’s inside the trunking but I’m assuming it’s all one cable (the end by the router is the same as the one at the computer)

I’m not at home right now but pinging the Google DNS didn’t cause any packet loss issues when I tested that before. Router pings were <1ms

 

[RT123]

It's worth trying Drivers direct from Realtek rather than either Microsoft provided drivers, or drivers from Asus' site.

The latest ones here are from 2024/05/29, rather than the ones on Asus' site which are from 2022.

Realtek

www.realtek.com

PRIME B550M-A WIFI II｜Motherboards｜ASUS United Kingdom

PRIME B550M-A WIFI II features dual M.2, PCIe 4.0, MediaTek Wi-Fi 6, 1 Gb Ethernet, HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, and Aura Sync. PRIME B550M-A WIFI II caters to daily users and all builders looking for well-rounded specs and a range of options for performance tuning via intuitive...

www.asus.com

Also worth Turning off any power management options on the network adapter in device manager
i.e. :
"Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
and things like "Green Ethernet" / "Energy Efficient Ethernet" / "Power Saving Mode" under the Advanced Options





What DNS is your router PC actually using? If you haven't changed it then it could be the ISP's DNS server causing the delays, so get it changed to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4

I have changed the DNS from the defaults, and downloaded drivers from the Realtek website that were the most recent ones available already (noticed the ASUS ones were out of date)

Will have a check of the properties later.

 

[RT123]

Oof

So was running the ping -t 8.8.8.8 command (it was fine for a few minutes)

Then it came up with PING: transmit failed. general failure for a bit.

10% packet loss in total

checked my logs and around the time I did it, the router logs were saying "eth1 (that one the PC is going to) port went down"

 

[RT123]

Have tried making sure it's set to 1Gig Duplex (with no improvement)

i'm beginning to worry about the cable actually being faulty.

 

[RT123]

I think I’m going to replace the built in networking with a PCiE card first and go from there (it seems relatively simple)

Although let me know if my plan is wrong.

 

[RT123]

What cable/brand did the handyman actually use? Cat5e, Cat6, solid core or stranded? Proper copper or cca?
How is it terminated faceplates or actual rj45 connectors.

Outside of the odd issues that e.g. some recent intel network chips have had, I'd suggest the onboard network will likely not be the problem.

Far more likely to be a fault with the cable imo.
Easiest way to rule that out is move the pc near to the router and test with a short ready made cable, but appreciate that might not be possible.

As far as I can tell, it’s a CCL cable (so ready made) - it seems to be a Cat6 cooper cable, but don’t know whether it’s solid core or stranded (but not really sure how to check the difference between CCA and copper). It’s just standard RJ45 - not had a faceplate added. Only thing I can think of is that it’s been stapled perhaps?

Unfortunately there’s not really a lot of space (for a big PC like I’ve got anyway!) but I can see if I can figure something out - I’ve got family members that could move it down there (but also limited by plug sockets where the router is)

And just wanted to say (you’ve all been really helpful) and hopefully I’ve just got very unlucky and the next cable will be fine (though not ideal to have to pay for 2)

 

[RT123]

Agreed - it definitely is worth trying that first (it's the cheapest and least inconvenient option)

 

[RT123]

Good thing I checked before ordering anything!

So my GPU’s taking up 3 slots - leaving no room for a NIC! Is my best option really to get a smaller GPU

 

[RT123]

I have a very strong inclination to believe it’s the NIC causing it - Since I can’t replace it (and not sure on USB Ethernet adapters) I’ll be contacting the company I got the PC from on Monday, in hope they can do something about the motherboard.

Thanks everyone!

 

[RT123]

Unfortunately they’re all blocked - all I’m seeing is USB/SATA headers

I noticed when I was checking through the logs on a different PC yesterday that the connection was randomly dropping on that PC. (Although I’m not ruling out the built in NIC being the problem still - been having some issues since I got it in September)

Would that be the router causing that?

 

[RT123]

Tested with a USB NIC and that is also poor. The connection remains poor (on both the Ethernet cabled device and the WiFi) and devices are randomly getting what can only be described as ‘kicked off’. This is despite an Openreach engineer visit to correct issues with the light/power levels, so the connection to the house is not the fault.

The cable itself seems fine (it works fine with an Xbox, but then the issue itself is a bit weird)

If I was getting a new router, what would be best? (I’m currently limited to a £50-100 budget)

 

[RT123]

Too early to say whether it’ll stay this way yet - but I had a motherboard replacement done today (luckily under warranty) and so far, the connection on the PC has been much better!

A replacement EE SH+ that arrived yesterday after it was requested on Monday has not been any help whatsoever - it lost the connection within 15 minutes of getting one So probably looking at a replacement for that too - not that I wasn’t already The networking world is overwhelming (so many choices and I don’t really know what I’m looking for!)

 

[RT123]

As far as I can see, there is no devices sharing a MAC address.

PC is still having the most issues (despite a replacement Mobo of the same kind) but others are having some issues. A USB NIC didn’t make any difference (they both are using Realtek drivers in case that’s of any relevance)

I’ve already had a replacement SH+ that has fixed nothing (in fact, it’s probably worse than the original one!) In regards to routers, I know that ASUS and TP-Link should be good (is there any that I’ve missed)

Connected a laptop directly to the ONT for about an hour today and that seems fine - saw none of the weird issues.

 

[RT123]

Hi,

I've been experiencing random slowdowns/disconnections (some of which are affecting my other devices, but mostly affecting the gaming PC, so planning to replace the router to see if that helps at all before wasting money there, but it's been ongoing since I got the PC in September when I was using VM) - provider is EE and connection type is FTTP. I've tried to get them to send the older Smart Hub2 with no results. Previous PC (on WiFi at the time, with an Intel NIC) and a Mac Mini (also WiFi) were fine. Issues persisted on the first board with a fresh install of Windows, so doubt that will help here.

So the motherboard has been replaced (on this PC that's been having problems - no difference (was replaced with the same board - an ASUS PRIME B550M WiFi II with a Realtek NIC - and can't swap it for an Intel NIC). USB NIC (Realtek) had the same fault. My ThinkBook (with an Intel NIC) was fine for 2 hours when I tested last night. There's no space on this board for a PCiE NIC as my GPU is "hogging" 3 slots (all I can see are the USB/case headers - can't read

So, I was wondering:

• any USB NICs with an Intel/alternative chip that isn't Realtek? Or am I going to have to ask one of my friends with more "PC Building" experience (given mobos are more difficult to replace, my Mum gets scared by having to take out a GPU) to help replace the motherboard with an ATX motherboard - I can't do this myself (company took over a week to come out and do this - don't want to wait that long again, and that's even if they would do it, cause in their eyes that should've probably fixed it)
• What good routers are out there? (I'd prefer <£100 but wouldn't mind a bit more)

 

[RT123]

I already spent lots of money(it’s not quite the same for me - I can’t do it due to a disability and my family either can’t or won’t help with drilling - mistake #1: getting a handyman to do it) One thing that might be do-able is get the PC close enough for testing purposes and test it with a cable closer to the router.

Ok, maybe should’ve added onto the existing thread (and don’t mind a merge) : but the PC issue happens on any connection method (whether it be Ethernet, 5G through mobile hotspot or WiFi)

 

[RT123]

Thank you - I will try and get and run a very long cable up the stairs to the room - that’ll help rule out the cable (or whether I need to replace that)

I’m having issues with other devices on WiFi as well (sometimes they experience it) but these aren’t as significant as the ones plaguing my PC and that’s what I’m hoping the router will help.

 

[RT123]

Certainly some of the way there.

I noticed a disconnect (well, recognising a connection but not working) on a WiFi device this morning, so tried to access the router gateway and couldn’t even get the loading screen. So will be ordering a router today

Have also ordered a long Ethernet cable to check that the issue is not there and will go from there

 

[RT123]

Not as far as I’m aware

I haven’t tried that with the PC (yet) but when I connected a cable directly to the ONT using my laptop, that was fine