Ethernet/Wi-Fi Problem?

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KidRyan

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Does anyone here know why our PC loses internet connection when I plug the ethernet cable into our Xfinity Wireless Gateway?

The Wi-Fi does work, and when the Comcast technician connected his laptop to our internet via ethernet, he got impressive speeds.

System Info:
PC Model: HP 110-326 Desktop
OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
CPU: Intel Pentium G2030T @ 2.60 GHz
RAM: 4.0 GB
Video: Intel HD Graphics
HDD: 500 GB
 
ToddlerNaruto said:
Does anyone here know why our PC loses internet connection when I plug the ethernet cable into our Xfinity Wireless Gateway?

The Wi-Fi does work, and when the Comcast technician connected his laptop to our internet via ethernet, he got impressive speeds.
Click to expand...

Sorry -- I'm not quite sure I understand what's happening. Do you mean that your PC is connected wirelessly, but when you plug in an ethernet cable it loses all network connectivity?
 
tiny said:
Sorry -- I'm not quite sure I understand what's happening. Do you mean that your PC is connected wirelessly, but when you plug in an ethernet cable it loses all network connectivity?
Click to expand...

That's correct. I want to be able to have the ethernet running at the same time as the wireless, if possible.
 
Using both Wifi and Ethernet at the same time is rather redundant and doesn't do anything for your speed if it's on the same computer. So if you're trying to achieve faster speeds by using both wifi and Ethernet at the same time it won't work.

-And if you're not using this on the same computer, using wifi and Ethernet at the same time can also slow down a router-
 
AddyShadows said:
Using both Wifi and Ethernet at the same time is rather redundant and doesn't do anything for your speed if it's on the same computer. So if you're trying to achieve faster speeds by using both wifi and Ethernet at the same time it won't work.

-And if you're not using this on the same computer, using wifi and Ethernet at the same time can also slow down a router-
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. Can I disable our wifi? I'm wondering if our ethernet can only run if the wifi isnt enabled.
 
It shouldn't be a problem from the computer end having wifi and ethernet on, but as AddyShadows said, it can slow down the router having to deal with all of that.

So does your connection work just fine when you are running over wifi? Unless you are transferring data within your network, or you have a really really good internet connection, connecting by ethernet isn't going to make it any faster. Your bandwidth is being limited by your internet connection simply because most internet costs more for bandwidth than it does to have a 100mb or even 1Gb router in your house.

If you do want to test if it is an issue with having wireless on, you can disable your wireless by going into the network and sharing center (find it from either the wireless bars on the bottom right, or press "windows-key + q" and type a search for 'network and sharing center'). You can then go to a button that says "change adapter settings," from there you can right click on wireless and 'disable', or 'enable', depending on its current state.

You may want to go into that same area and right click on the ethernet connection and go to properties, and then double click on ipv4 and make sure that it is set to "obtain an ip address automatically" and "obtain dns server address automatically." Sometimes those get changed, and they will mess you up. Your computer is set to choose an ethernet connection over a wireless connection, so if there is some setting messing up your ethernet, then it will think it is connected, but really you are just screwed, so this would kinda make sense why you are having this problem.
 
ToddlerNaruto said:
Oh, I see. Can I disable our wifi? I'm wondering if our ethernet can only run if the wifi isnt enabled.
Click to expand...

Just for a reference point, my computer, a TV DVR, Security DVR and a wired-to-WiFi TV signal converter are all Cat 5 connected to my U-verse system. My wife's tablet communicates over WiFi via a repeater. We do not have noticeable speed problems, but then we are not gaming either. Since the technician had no problem with his laptop speed, I agree with Tyger that it has something to do with your computer hardware and/or its settings.
 
Depends on the age and make of your PC. The older ones can't handle wired and wireless at the same time, while the newer models have no problem. If you're using a desktop PC, most aren't equipped with a wireless adapter anyway. If it's a laptop, most have a button along the top row of keys that toggles wireless on and off. No need to go into your network settings for that.
 
ToddlerNaruto said:
Oh, I see. Can I disable our wifi? I'm wondering if our ethernet can only run if the wifi isnt enabled.
Click to expand...

Wifi on the router end can be disabled easily, there's usually a button somewhere on the router to disable it, but as long as the router is turned on and plugged into your exterior internet source from your isp (The wire that runs from outside into the house) You should be able to plug into your router with no problem and go on the internet. Generally being plugged in is faster than wifi because the further you are away from the router the weaker the signal is, other things like cell phone signals and electrical interfearence slow down wifi, walls and doors can also hamper wifi. That said I use both wifi and ethernet on my router as I run laptops, desktops, some game consoles and 2 kindles, the laptops, consoles, and kindles I need to be portable so I'm stuck unless I want to run a 100 foot ethernet cable (Which I do actually run one from my router to a blu-ray player for the upstairs TV for netflix.)

So in short: Yes you can disable wifi and run ethernet perfectly fine, however keep in mind that if you disable your wifi things like Ipads and such won't be able to connect to the internet unless you have another wifi source for them.
 
Oops. Pardon me for not noticing the specs. Your PC does come with both capabilities, but as many others already stated, there's no point. However, no need to do it the hard way. Just use one or the other. If you'd rather plug in, you can disable your wireless adapter. I haven't done that in Win 8.1 though. I'm resisting the 8.0/8.1 like the plague.
 
AddyShadows said:
Wifi on the router end can be disabled easily, there's usually a button somewhere on the router to disable it, but as long as the router is turned on and plugged into your exterior internet source from your isp (The wire that runs from outside into the house) You should be able to plug into your router with no problem and go on the internet. Generally being plugged in is faster than wifi because the further you are away from the router the weaker the signal is, other things like cell phone signals and electrical interfearence slow down wifi, walls and doors can also hamper wifi. That said I use both wifi and ethernet on my router as I run laptops, desktops, some game consoles and 2 kindles, the laptops, consoles, and kindles I need to be portable so I'm stuck unless I want to run a 100 foot ethernet cable (Which I do actually run one from my router to a blu-ray player for the upstairs TV for netflix.)

So in short: Yes you can disable wifi and run ethernet perfectly fine, however keep in mind that if you disable your wifi things like Ipads and such won't be able to connect to the internet unless you have another wifi source for them.
Click to expand...

I disabled our wifi before enabling our ethernet, but it still keeps switching between Connected and offline when I plug in the ethernet cable.

As for no wifi affecting handheld/mobile devices, that's not an issue since I don't own any.
 
ToddlerNaruto said:
I disabled our wifi before enabling our ethernet, but it still keeps switching between Connected and offline when I plug in the ethernet cable.
Click to expand...

I've had problems with DHCP on routers in the past. DHCP is the service that runs on your router to allocate local IP addresses automatically. It might be worth reserving a static IP for your PC via the router's web interface to see if that helps.
 
tiny said:
I've had problems with DHCP on routers in the past. DHCP is the service that runs on your router to allocate local IP addresses automatically. It might be worth reserving a static IP for your PC via the router's web interface to see if that helps.
Click to expand...

We don't have a separate router, our Gateway is both the modem and the router.

Does this advice of your still apply? I'd love for it to be as simple as switching to Static IP.
 
How many devices other than the router are there on the network?

Also, static IPs are set on the client, not at the router.
 
Ok, so you lose internet on all wifi devices (not just the device being pluged in with ethernet)?
That is strange indeed. however if you mean only the connected device loses internet, then that's probably just it not knowing what to do with the multi wan configuration.

As for disableing the wifi, on windows you can disable the wifi adapter under change adapter settings in Networking and Sharing Center.
As for the router if no button exist, then you may be able to disable it in software by connecting to it over lan. open cmd type in ipconfig and press enter. Under the IPv4 address section there will be a "Default Gateway" it will look like 192.168.0.1 copy the number that it shows into you're browser as if its a website but without any www. it should connect to a page. if it prompts for password defaults are 1234, password, 4321, admin, and just nothing at all the username if it asks is admin.

this was posted at 2am so I'm sure I left something out some where, but hopefully it's helpfull.
 
If you google the manufacturer and model, you should be able to find the defaults for your specific device. They could also be listed on your router. I know mine are.
 
ToddlerNaruto said:
We don't have a separate router, our Gateway is both the modem and the router.

Does this advice of your still apply? I'd love for it to be as simple as switching to Static IP.
Click to expand...

Yes -- in a consumer setting, the "router" (in inverted commas) is actually an all-in-one device that includes a router, firewall, ethernet switch, wireless access point, DHCP server, etc.

Not sure if you know all this, but you'll be assigned one public IP address by your ISP to connect your router/modem to the internet. Your "router" will then assign a local IP address to every device on your local network, and (effectively) split the one public IP connection across all your local IP addresses.

Usually (by default) you'd run a DHCP server on your "router" which will automatically assign local IP addresses to all your devices. Normally this works well, but I've had a few random problems where the PC disconnects and reconnects intermittently when using DHCP. The other main thing to check would be the cable and connection -- it would be worth trying another cable, and/or plugging the cable into a different ethernet port on your router (or giving it a good wiggle!).

You should be able to set a static local IP address for your PC via your router's web interface. (You can access the web interface by typing the router's local IP address into a web browser -- maybe something like http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.254.)

Amcon said:
Also, static IPs are set on the client, not at the router.
Click to expand...

That's not quite true. You can request a static IP in the network settings on the client, but you can also set the "router" to assign a static IP to the client. Technically the client is still using (its own) DHCP service to request an IP address, but you can set the router to always assigns the same one.

It's easier to manage IP allocations on one device (the DHCP server), rather than on each of the clients, and in my (limited) experience, using server settings has resolved intermittent dropouts in certain cases.
 
Someone on another forum suggested that I should get a plugin or USB wired ethernet network adapter.

Do you think that would help?
 
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