Ethernet Connection Not Working

[SamirD]

Wifi IPv4: 192.168.1.122
Ethernet IPv4: 73.139.63.145

And, yeah, tried another cable and all 4 ethernet ports on back of router.

Maybe I spoke too soon--that ethernet should also be a 192.168.1.x ip. The ip it's getting is straight from the cable modem.

Another system? Do you mean another laptop?

If you have one. I've seen a handful of just hardware ethernet conflicts in my life. They are extremely rare, but do happen.

I see others have replied and you're pretty much at your wits end at this point. So here's an end-all beat-all test.

Turn off everything. Modem, router, laptop, even the lights if you want.

Turn on only the router and do a factory reset on it. Make sure it is completely factory defaulted. And then for good measure, factory reset it one more time.

You should have some factory default wifi information on the router. Turn on your laptop and see if it gets a 192.x.x.x address via wifi. If so, good--make the laptop forget the connection and reboot the laptop.

Run an ethernet cable between the laptop's ethernet port and the router's lan port. The laptop SHOULD NOT be picking up a wifi address, but should be getting one via the ethernet port. It should be in the 192.168.1.x range.

If the laptop passes this test, leave it on and plug the cable modem ethernet into the wan port on the router and power up the cable modem. Wait about 15 minutes (go do something else). Then try internet access on the laptop and see what happens.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The ip it's getting is straight from the cable modem.

That's why I feel, if OP does have the cable modem and router and laptop wired to the appropriate ports, then my theory makes the most sense.

It also need not necessarily have to do with a power issue, it could be a firmware issue, if it happens at boot. Sometimes, the router won't initialize it's internal firmware (bad factory flash? bad EEPROM/NAND?), and doesn't configure the switchports VLANs for WAN and LAN. I had a router like that, sometimes you had to power-off reboot it several times before it would work properly. It was scary stuff to discover that it "failed open".

 

[SamirD]

I agree that such a scenario is plausible, but then that's a manufacturing defect/bad unit and a replacement is in order for sure.

If the OP is able to try my series of tests with success, then I think the unit still has a chance of being okay. I think the config just got all messed up, possibly from amazon's tendency to mix returns and new stuff together...very shady...my dad may be dealing with an issue on something like that now.

 

[Carbo]

I confirmed that the latest drivers are installed. All cables are new, but I plugged in the old cable that was working fine. Tried two laptops. Same results. Yeah, it could be many things, but with the unlimited possibilities and limited time to play tech-detective, I've already arranged to send the unit back to Amazon. I'll try another make/model. No big deal, shit happens.

 

[Ketchup]

Almost sounds like there is something amiss with the port switching function of that router, e.g, they aren't getting IP addresses. Not sure if you mentioned it, but did you try different ports on that router?

Another final option is to run ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew from command mode, to make sure the laptop isn't hanging onto IP addresses from the modem for that LAN port.

 

[SamirD]

I confirmed that the latest drivers are installed. All cables are new, but I plugged in the old cable that was working fine. Tried two laptops. Same results. Yeah, it could be many things, but with the unlimited possibilities and limited time to play tech-detective, I've already arranged to send the unit back to Amazon. I'll try another make/model. No big deal, shit happens.

Yeah, if you've factory reset it and tried it with 2 different laptops, it sounds like it's a dud.

I wouldn't give up on that particular make/model though as you'll find almost everyone's support just as terrible. Did you search the netgear online community for anyone else having similar problems? The moderators there are decently good at helping fix stuff. I've had them fix 3 things that would have never been addressed otherwise.

 

[SamirD]

There could be plenty of reasons:

Most of the times, it happens because of the device drivers in other words not installing the correct version of device drivers.

Some time there may be defective ethernet cable also.

Device drivers and ethernet cables are now in the <3% chance imo since the era of modern computing. I don't think I've ever run into a bad cable (just one that may not work with a particular set of ports), and drivers these days for nics are pretty trivial and 'just work'.

 

[Carbo]

. . .Not sure if you mentioned it, but did you try different ports on that router?
. . ..

4 ports, tried them all.

 

[mxnerd]

Some has similar experience.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07PCMG75T

All reviews on Amazon for this particular model. (79 of them)

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nigh...eviews&formatType=current_format&pageNumber=4

I personally will never rush out to buy first batch products based on newest technology.

 

[Carbo]

Some has similar experience.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07PCMG75T

All reviews on Amazon for this particular model. (79 of them)

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nigh...eviews&formatType=current_format&pageNumber=4

I personally will never rush out to buy first batch products based on newest technology.

I agree about buying new technology. It's often buggy, almost like you're a beta tester. And the reviews on the RAX40 on Netgear's community forum are harsh, as well.

 

[Carbo]

Follow up: returned the Netgear RAX40 and bought a TP-Link Archer 10. Not as many bells and whistles, but also about $50 less.
It was an easy plug-n-play setup. Ethernet and wifi are solid and fast. Pulling 450/25 throughout my house. When I walked out to the far corner of my yard, behind two mango trees, my speed dropped to about 140. So I guess I won't be eating any mangoes while I'm surfin' the net. I'm going to assume the Netgear was a glitchy piece of hardware out of the box.
Many thanks for all the replies and options and suggestions.

 

[Ketchup]

Switched from Netgear to TP Link Archers two years ago, after Netgears started lasting not much longer than a year a two. So far very pleased. Glad you are up and running!

 

[SamirD]

The Archer series is quite strong and really good on the bang for the buck. Glad the new one worked out of the box.

ps. 140Mbps is plenty! Eat your mangos and enjoy.