TheBackShed.com

Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Win10 keeps losing ethernet

Author

Message

Bryan1

Guru

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1507

Posted: 03:42am 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

G'Day Guy's,
I have my shed computer hooked upto that wifi router via ethernet and when the computer is turned on it finds the wifi straight away no problems. Now about a hour later the connection is lost where it reports unidentified network.

Now this also happened with my win10 laptop that I used before I got the shed computer so it isn't isolated to one machine.

The wifi router has a clean sight to the house wifi and even when the connection is lost the wifi router is still showing a strong signal so the issue is with win10.

Now once the connection is lost I have to reboot then the connection comes back and rinse and repeat and hour or 2 later the same problem.

so not sure what is going on here but my guess is win10 decides with no action it just deletes the connection.

Grogster

Admin Group

Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9626

Posted: 06:26am 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

I had EXACTLY the same issue recently. I also had to do full-reboots - NOTHING would make it work again, once it had dropped off. The ONLY way I could get it going again, was a full reboot as you are having to do.

I remember checking all sorts of things, including making sure that W10 was NOT trying to power-down the WiFi adaptor to save power(it was set to never shut down the WiFi adaptor), various command-line commands to try to revive it/refresh the IP and DNS settings, etc, etc, etc.... NOTHING worked. Once it dropped off, it was OFF for good till you did a full reboot, then it came back online, but a full reboot every couple of hours is a major PITA, if you have lots of applications running and more then just a handful of websites open.

The work-around in my case, was to DISABLE the built-in WiFi adaptor(via Device Manager), and plug in an external USB WiFi adaptor. That solution was suggested by the members here at the time, and it did seem to work - for me, anyway.

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

Bryan1

Guru

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1507

Posted: 07:18am 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

Grogster this mini computer doesn't have wifi so that isn't the problem now to find this happening again after using my laptop I did contact the company I got the wifi router from and they say it isn't their router thats doing it if the full signal is there which it is all the time.

Now this afternoon when it happened again doing a computer reboot didn't work and only resetting the router did the trick. Now I am using a ethernet hub and can see the computer is linking with the router by the led signalling but win10 decides not engage at all.

What really peeves me is lack of support by win10 to solve the issue and when the signal is gone win10 won't even register a link was there.

This really makes me want to go back to linux but I bought this computer for my CNC and now I have it working no changing will happen.

PhenixRising
Guru

Joined: 07/11/2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1437

Posted: 08:20am 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

I was using Gemini and so I thought I would ask for ideas:

Quote If the hardware seems fine, the problem likely lies within Windows itself.

Run the Network Troubleshooter: Windows has a built-in troubleshooter that can automatically diagnose and fix common network issues. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Status, and then click on Network troubleshooter. Follow the on-screen prompts.

Update or Reinstall Network Drivers: Outdated or corrupted drivers are a frequent cause of instability.

Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.

Expand Network adapters.

Right-click on your ethernet adapter and select Update driver. You can try searching automatically for a new driver, or if you've downloaded the latest one from the manufacturer's website, browse your computer for it.

If updating doesn't work, you can try uninstalling the driver entirely. Right-click the adapter, select Uninstall device, and then restart your computer. Windows will typically reinstall a generic driver upon reboot. You can then install the latest one from the manufacturer.

Disable Power Management: Windows has a power-saving feature that can sometimes turn off your network adapter to save energy, leading to dropped connections.

In Device Manager, right-click your ethernet adapter and select Properties.

Go to the Power Management tab.

Uncheck the box that says "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."

Click OK.

Reset Network Settings: This will reset all your network adapters and their settings to their default state.

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Status.

Scroll down and click Network reset.

Confirm the reset. Your computer will restart, and you may need to re-enter any Wi-Fi passwords if you also use a wireless connection.

Other Potential Issues
If the above steps don't resolve the issue, consider these additional possibilities.

Third-Party Software: Sometimes, third-party software like a VPN client, firewall, or antivirus program can interfere with your network connection. Try temporarily disabling or uninstalling these programs to see if the issue goes away.

BIOS Settings: In some cases, power-saving features related to your ethernet port may be enabled in your computer's BIOS. You may need to enter the BIOS/UEFI settings and look for options like "Energy Efficient Ethernet" or "Green Ethernet" and disable them.

Hardware Failure: If all else fails, it's possible the ethernet port on your computer or router is failing. To test this, you can try using a USB-to-ethernet adapter on your computer. If the new adapter provides a stable connection, it suggests the built-in port is the problem.

Bryan1

Guru

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1507

Posted: 08:49am 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

Thanks for that mate I will try those things tomorrow and some of what it stated does sound like the problem.

Volhout
Guru

Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 5138

Posted: 06:38pm 05 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

Power saving mode in W10 could definitely be an item to look at, especially for these mini PC's (they are typically build around a laptop chipset, so there could be bios settings that are laptop related, such as power savings).

Also in Linux that played a role (in Ubuntu 16.04 with some WIFI chips).

Note that there is only so much Linux/Windows can do about that, since typically all WIFI chips have firmware that is a "binary blob" (no source code, proprietary).

Volhout

PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS

Bryan1

Guru

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1507

Posted: 01:06am 06 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

Well just booted up my shed computer and sure enough going via the device manager and right clicking on the ethernet icon under power management it was set to turn off to save power so lets see today if that has fixed it

Edit 1: Well that didn't fix the problem as it happened again 2 hours later, anyway I do have that USB to ethernet cable so I have used that and it did assign a different network, where before it was network 3 it is now network 4. Now on my laptop using this dongle it did happen so it will be interesting to see if it cuts out.

Edit 2: So the usb-Ethernet dongle has now been on 4-1/2 hours with no problems so thats a good sign.
Edited 2025-08-06 17:06 by Bryan1

Bryan1

Guru

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1507

Posted: 02:57am 14 Aug 2025

Copy link to clipboard

Print this post

Well finally got around to activating this shed computer and it wasn't that hard

just googled it and got a few activation codes to use and it figures the last one worked.

Anyway the ethernet just kept dropping out every 10 minutes and I did see a button that said Network reset

So clicked on that and a message popped up saying it will reboot in 5 minutes, well that was close to an hour and since no dropouts at all.

Now I am using the USB-Ethernet dongle and later I will switch back to using ethernet straight off this mini and see how it goes.

Print this page

To reply to this topic, you need to log in.