Lost wired network connection overnight

I have two PCs cabled directly to a Netgear WNDR4500 router. This morning, my Windows 7 PC had no network connection when I turned it on. These computers don't get moved, I wasn't messing with the cables beforehand. Everything was fine yesterday.

The Troubleshooter suggested I had a broken cable. I tried another cable, but it still would not work. I connected the Windows 7 machine to the same router connection my XP machine uses, but it still did not work.

Device Manager reports the Network Adapter is working properly. The system tray network icon reports "Not connected/No connections are available." The Troubleshooter reports, "A network cable is not properly plugged in or may be broken."

I tried disabling/enabling the Local Area Connection, but it still reports "Network cable unplugged."

My gut feeling is that the Ethernet jack on the motherboard is physically broken. But it blows my mind that it would break for no reason.

Could an automatic update of some sort disabled networking in a way that it only appears the cable is bad? Could the physical connection at the back of the machine spontaneously break?

I suppose I could go buy a network card, which would be cheaper than replacing the motherboard. I'm gonna get cleaned up and head to the store now.

Windows 7 Home 65 bit
Motherboard: EVGA 131-GT-E767-TR LGA 1366 SLI3
Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (on motherboard)

First response is same as yours - sounds like a problem with the card/rj45 socket. You have made an appropriate set of eliminating tests and ss there is no reason to suspect physical damage to the socket it may well be just a hardware failure on the card. As they are relatively inexpensive I'd now be doing the same as you and heading for the the store.

Wow.

No one in town sells a NIC. Not Staples, not Best Buy. I'd have to drive an hour to Fry's to get one today, so I ordered this from NewEgg:

Intel PWLA8391GT 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Desktop Adapter PRO/1000 GT - OEM

Hopefully, that will do it.

I did check my BIOS, to see if the network had been disabled some how, but it wasn't.

I think this will be the last EVGA motherboard I ever buy. The one this replaced had a faulty BIOS circuit, and kept resetting CMOS whenever the power was turned off. Eight months later, this happens....

nothing's easy is it - fingers crossed . . .

8/22/2012

Hi Slyder,

If this happend to you sometime between 8/17 to 8/22/2012, then it may not be your network card! Many people seem to have this issue. Seems to be a combination of Window 7 update and McAfee updates. I just restored to 8/16/2012 and the issue was solved.See this link for what people did to fix it:
Recent Windows Update is knocking out my internet connection - Microsoft Answers

Yes apparently the same thing here DNS Server isn't responding.....

It took 6 days to get the NIC using NewEgg's free shipping. I've had things arrive one and two days after ordering; don't know why this had to take so long. Next time, I'll pay for the 3-day delivery!

I disabled the Realtec adapter, then installed the NIC. Windows 7 supplied the drivers (there are none for download). And now my newer Windows 7 PC is back online.

So, there you go: Spontaneous failure of the RL45 jack at the back of the motherboard. Condensation, perhaps?

Originally Posted by Mo9

8/22/2012

Hi Slyder,

If this happend to you sometime between 8/17 to 8/22/2012, then it may not be your network card! Many people seem to have this issue. Seems to be a combination of Window 7 update and McAfee updates. I just restored to 8/16/2012 and the issue was solved.See this link for what people did to fix it:
Recent Windows Update is knocking out my internet connection - Microsoft Answers

I don't have McAfee. Windows 7 reported that I was physically disconnected from my network (router). It wasn't a matter of not connecting to the Internet; I couldn't even communicate with my router.

Installing an Intel PCIe NIC resolved the issue.