I'm facing a strange issue where my Ethernet connection drops whenever I initiate a download on Steam. It switches me to the wireless internet instead. Interestingly, I can get the Ethernet back online just by unplugging and plugging the cable back in. This problem doesn't happen when I download files through my browser. I've noticed it might be tied to other activities since it only happened when streaming on Discord as well. Any ideas on how to fix this?
4 Answers
I had a similar problem, not just with Steam but in general. I disabled my wireless adapter in the Device Manager, and that fixed it for me. Not entirely sure why it happened, but at least I'm not having the issue anymore!
I used to have Ethernet issues too, where it would disconnect and only reconnect if I unplugged the cable or rebooted. Eventually, I just got a third-party Ethernet card and popped it into a PCIe slot, and it totally fixed the issue. Might be worth considering if the built-in Ethernet continues to give you trouble.
First thing I'd check is the Device Manager settings for your Ethernet card. Look for any power management options and make sure to uncheck anything that allows Windows to turn off the card to save power. That might help with the disconnections.
I had a friend with a similar problem, and adjusting those settings actually worked for him.
Thanks for the tip! I'll look into that.
Interesting! I noticed this issue happened when I was streaming Discord as well, but it didn’t occur when I was just in chat. I thought it was related to network usage peaks. Maybe trying to limit bandwidth on streaming apps could help? Or check if there's a task that's hogging resources during downloads.
That sounds like a good idea! I’ll keep an eye on my bandwidth while streaming.
Yeah, checking your usage might reveal what's going on.
Interesting, I might try that! Thanks!