Ethernet cable not recognized/Ethernet "Not connected"

Question

So when i firstly bought this laptop, Ethernet seemed working for the first 3 week.

Then I noticed that my internet was using wifi to connect and not Ethernet, I tried unplugging, restarting the modem and even re-installing the Ethernet Driver,

[It's already uptodate].

I  troubleshooted the device, and it says "Ethernet cable is not properly plugged or might be broken"

The ethernet status is currently Not Connected, though it is physically connected, to both ports [modem; laptop port]

I hope this get fixed soon, because wifi is so slow.

thanks,

zorcus

Answer 1

Hello Zorcus,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you are receiving message about Ethernet not connected and I appreciate the effort made towards trying to fix the issue.

Let's try a few tips that may help diagnose the cause:

1. Try to change the ports of the Ethernet. The port that you connect to computer, try putting it into the modem and then one connected to the modem, try putting in to the computer.
2. Try connecting the same Ethernet cable to any other computer, if available and check to ensure the cable is not faulty.
3. If available, try using another Ethernet cable and check.
4. Try to disconnect Wireless connection first and then try to connect through Ethernet only and then check.

You might be facing the issue due to several reasons like network adapter issues, driver issues, hardware or software issues. Let's try the methods below and check.

Method 1: Network Troubleshooter

An automated troubleshooter is a tool that can find and automatically fix some problems with your computer. These troubleshooters aren't designed to fix every problem, but they're a useful tool to try because they can often save you time and effort.

Follow the steps to run the Network troubleshooter:

a. Press Windows key + C on your keyboard to show the Charms bar.

b. Type Troubleshooting and click Troubleshooting under Settings.

c. Now type Network Troubleshooter in the search option.

d. Click on Network troubleshooter to run the troubleshooter.

Method 2: I would suggest you to open device manager and then try to roll back the network drivers and check if it helps. If you encounter problems with your computer or device after upgrading its driver, you might want to restore the driver for a device to a previous version.

Here's how:

a. Press Windows key + R and type devmgmt.m sc

b. Double click the category containing your device driver and then double click the name of the device that you want to restore to a previous driver version.

c. Click the Driver tab and then click Roll Back Driver

Note: If there's no previous version of the driver installed for the selected device, theRoll Back Driver button will be unavailable even if you are logged on as an administrator. 

Method 3: Kindly refer to the suggestions provided from the article below and check.

**Wired and wireless network problems**

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

Answer 2

Hello Zorcus,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you are receiving message about Ethernet not connected and I appreciate the effort made towards trying to fix the issue.

Let's try a few tips that may help diagnose the cause:

1. Try to change the ports of the Ethernet. The port that you connect to computer, try putting it into the modem and then one connected to the modem, try putting in to the computer.
2. Try connecting the same Ethernet cable to any other computer, if available and check to ensure the cable is not faulty.
3. If available, try using another Ethernet cable and check.
4. Try to disconnect Wireless connection first and then try to connect through Ethernet only and then check.

You might be facing the issue due to several reasons like network adapter issues, driver issues, hardware or software issues. Let's try the methods below and check.

Method 1: Network Troubleshooter

An automated troubleshooter is a tool that can find and automatically fix some problems with your computer. These troubleshooters aren't designed to fix every problem, but they're a useful tool to try because they can often save you time and effort.

Follow the steps to run the Network troubleshooter:

a. Press Windows key + C on your keyboard to show the Charms bar.

b. Type Troubleshooting and click Troubleshooting under Settings.

c. Now type Network Troubleshooter in the search option.

d. Click on Network troubleshooter to run the troubleshooter.

Method 2: I would suggest you to open device manager and then try to roll back the network drivers and check if it helps. If you encounter problems with your computer or device after upgrading its driver, you might want to restore the driver for a device to a previous version.

Here's how:

a. Press Windows key + R and type devmgmt.m sc

b. Double click the category containing your device driver and then double click the name of the device that you want to restore to a previous driver version.

c. Click the Driver tab and then click Roll Back Driver

Note: If there's no previous version of the driver installed for the selected device, theRoll Back Driver button will be unavailable even if you are logged on as an administrator. 

Method 3: Kindly refer to the suggestions provided from the article below and check.

**Wired and wireless network problems**

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

Not helpful at all. I have same problem. The cable and router port are working (tried on Apple MacBook Pro). Error message of "cable not plugged in" comes up on both my Lenovo desktop running Windows 10 and my Surface Pro3 dock. The Lenovo worked fine under Windows 7.

Answer 3

In addition, hours of Internet searching reveals this is a widespread problem since Windows 8.1 (which is running on my Surface Pro3).