Ethernet Not Working? Find Out If the Cable Made a Link

The cable is in at both ends, the router is lit up, and Windows is still showing you a globe with no connection. You went to the trouble of running a cable precisely so this would not happen.

The good news is that a wired connection is easier to diagnose than a wireless one. There is one physical path. It either exists or it does not.

So I want to give you the thirty second answer, then the depth underneath it. Almost everything here is Microsoft's own order. I will say where it is not.

The thirty second version

Take the cable out of the PC and put it back in until it clicks. Do the same at the router.

Then look at the port on the PC. A link light means the two ends are talking. No light at all means they are not. Nothing inside Windows will change that.

Microsoft puts the same check first on its Ethernet troubleshooting page: "Make sure the Ethernet cable is securely plugged into the Ethernet port on both your router and Windows PC."

⭐ A broken retaining clip is the commonest reason a cable looks fine and is not. With the clip snapped, the plug sits in the socket without seating. It looks identical to a working one.

One command that splits hardware from Windows

If the lights are ambiguous, ask Windows what it can see. It takes one line to do.

Open Start, type PowerShell, open it, and run:

Get-NetAdapter

You get a table with a Status column and a LinkSpeed column.

Ours, and read off my own machine: with no cable in, the entry read `Ethernet Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller Disconnected 0 bps`.

⭐ Read those two columns together and you have your answer. Disconnected at 0 bps means no link exists. The fault is the cable, the port or the router end.

Up at 1 Gbps or 100 Mbps means the link is fine. The problem is further up, in addresses or DNS.

⚡ That single distinction saves the most time of anything here. Half the advice online for this fault is Windows commands. None of it helps when the cable never made a link.

If it links, but at 100 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps

Worth a look while you are in that table, because it points at something physical.

A gigabit link uses all four pairs inside the cable. A 100 Mbps link needs only two. So a cable with a damaged pair, or a crushed one under a chair leg, will quietly negotiate down. And keep working.

⚠️ It will not announce this. Everything works. Downloads are just capped. People go hunting through Windows settings for months.

Ours, and it is our call not Microsoft's: if LinkSpeed reads 100 Mbps on a router and PC that both do gigabit, swap the cable before anything else. It is the cheapest test on this page. And it is right often enough to try first.

If it links and Windows still says no internet

Now Windows is genuinely involved. Microsoft has a route for it.

Microsoft's first move: "Start by running the automated Network troubleshooter in the Settings app." It is worth the two minutes. It fixes the address cases on its own, and tells you what it changed.

On Windows 11 it lives under Settings, System, Troubleshoot, Other troubleshooters, then Network and Internet. Depending on your build it either runs there or opens the Get Help app to do the same checks.

If that gets nowhere, open Command Prompt as administrator and run Microsoft's five commands, in this order:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns

Restart afterwards. Those five rebuild the networking stack. They drop the address your router gave you and ask for a fresh one. And they clear the cached name lookups.

⚠️ Unidentified network is the label to look for on your connection. It means Windows has a link but no working address from the router, which is what `ipconfig /release` and `/renew` above are aimed at.

When the browser works and your apps do not

This one is specific, and it may well be yours. It is genuinely different. Microsoft's Ethernet page does not carry it.

Reported by an owner in August 2024, after three cumulative updates landed on a Windows 11 23H2 machine. In their words: "it connects to the internet but will only through windows and browsers."

They were precise about it. Firefox opened pages but would not download anything, the Microsoft Store would not load, and no app needing a connection worked.

Their workaround: "Connecting to the network via usb tethering and wi-fi is the only way I can use my pc normally, otherwise I'm limited to just using the browser."

⭐ The detail that makes this believable is that it was not only their machine. Their partner's Windows 10 PC took the same updates the next day and did the same thing.

A Microsoft support specialist added a sixth command to the five above for exactly this shape:

netsh winhttp reset proxy

That clears a proxy setting. Windows applications use it and browsers largely ignore it, which is why your browser works and your apps do not.

⛔ No owner returned to say it worked. They had already tried uninstalling the updates, rolling back, safe mode, a repair install keeping their files, and a system file scan.

I am printing the command because the reasoning fits the symptom exactly, not because somebody proved it.

If this started on the day of an update

The pattern above is the reason to check your update history before anything drastic.

Go to Settings, Windows Update, Update history, and look at the date. If the fault and the update share a day, suspect the adapter driver. Not Windows itself.

Microsoft's own next step: "Try to uninstall the network adapter driver, and then restart your computer."

Open Device Manager, expand Network adapters, right-click the Ethernet entry, and choose Uninstall device. Restart. Windows reinstalls it on its own.

⚡ If that leaves you back where you started, fetch the driver from the maker rather than from Windows. A laptop takes the laptop manufacturer's, and a desktop takes the motherboard manufacturer's, because that is who wrote it.

⚠️ Do that download on a phone or another machine first. Getting halfway through and finding you need the internet to fix the internet is a bad hour.

Network reset, and why Microsoft puts it last

There is a button that resets everything. It is tempting when nothing else works. Read this section before you press it.

On Windows 11 it sits under Settings, Network & internet, Advanced network settings, Network reset. On Windows 10 it is Settings, Network & Internet, Status, Network reset.

Microsoft's own instruction: "Using network reset should be the last step you try."

And what it costs, in Microsoft's words: "After using network reset, you might need to reinstall and set up other networking software you might be using, such as VPN client software or virtual switches from Hyper-V."

Plus one that catches people out later: "Network reset might set each one of your known network connections to a public network profile." Printer sharing and file sharing stop working after that. It looks like a new fault.

⛔ It can also leave you worse off. An owner in July 2021 pressed it and lost every connection. Device Manager then reported a problem with the adapter driver. Command line repairs did not bring it back.

What eventually worked was a full Reset this PC, which deleted their installed applications. They were honest about their own limits when they posted it: "I am somebody with no experience in technological issues, so I cannot guarantee that the answer provided will resolve the issue you are experiencing."

⭐ So treat network reset as Microsoft describes it. Last, deliberately, and after the driver route rather than before it.

When it is not your PC at all

Worth ruling out. It is free, and it is right more often than people expect.

Move the cable to a different port on the router. Ports fail individually. A dead one behaves exactly like a dead cable.

Then try the same cable on another device. A phone with an adapter, a games console, a second laptop. If that fails too, the PC was never the problem.

⚡ And check whether anything else in the house is online. If the answer is nothing, it is worth settling whether the service itself is down before you give the machine an evening.

⚠️ If the wired connection is fine and only Wi-Fi struggles, that is the other direction entirely. A laptop capped on wireless has its own causes.

Status: written 23 August 2026 from Microsoft's Ethernet guidance for Windows 11 and 10. The cable check, the five commands in that order, the driver uninstall, and network reset as the last step are all Microsoft's. The proxy case and the reset that made things worse are dated owner reports, neither with a fix anybody confirmed.

Why does my Ethernet say no internet when the cable is plugged in?

Run Get-NetAdapter in PowerShell and read the Status and LinkSpeed columns. Disconnected at 0 bps means the cable never made a link, so the fault is physical. Up at a real speed means the link is fine. The problem is an address or DNS, which the troubleshooter and the ipconfig commands are for.

What are the commands to fix an Ethernet connection?

Microsoft's five, run in an administrator Command Prompt in this order: netsh winsock reset, netsh int ip reset, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, ipconfig /flushdns. Restart afterwards. Add netsh winhttp reset proxy if browsers work while your apps do not.

Should I use Network reset?

Only as the last step, which is Microsoft's own instruction. It can require you to reinstall VPN software and virtual switches. It may set your known connections to a public profile, which stops file and printer sharing. One owner lost all connectivity after using it and needed a full PC reset to recover.

Why is my Ethernet only 100 Mbps?

Because a gigabit link needs all four pairs in the cable and a 100 Mbps link needs only two. A damaged or crushed cable negotiates down and keeps working quietly. Swap the cable first, since it is the cheapest thing to rule out and it is often the answer.

Can a Windows update break Ethernet?

Owners report it. One in August 2024 lost app connectivity while browsers still worked, after three cumulative updates on Windows 11 23H2. His partner's Windows 10 PC did the same thing the next day. Check your update history date against the day the fault started before assuming hardware.

The Short Version

• Reseat both ends and look for a link light. No light means Windows cannot help you.
• Get-NetAdapter in PowerShell splits it in one line. Disconnected at 0 bps is physical, anything else is not.
• A gigabit connection running at 100 Mbps points at the cable, not at a setting.
• Unidentified network means a link with no working address, which the ipconfig commands target.
• Microsoft's five reset commands go in order, followed by a restart.
• Browsers working while apps do not is a proxy layer. Add netsh winhttp reset proxy.
• Uninstall the adapter driver and let Windows reinstall it, and download the maker's version beforehand.
• Network reset is the last step by Microsoft's own instruction, and it can cost you VPN setups and sharing.

Where to Next

Reseat the cable at both ends, then run Get-NetAdapter. Between them those two take under a minute and they tell you which half of this article you actually need.

If the link is up and the address is the problem, run the troubleshooter before the commands. It fixes that case by itself and it reports what it changed.

If nothing in the house is online, settle whether the service is down first. None of this applies if the fault is outside your front door.

And if you hit the case where browsers work and applications do not, say below which build you are on and whether the winhttp command helped. That thread never got an answer, and I would like better evidence than it has.