System (desktop, custom built):
Mainboard: ASUS PRIME X470-PRO
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-core 3700 Mhz
Memory: 32 GB DRAM 1330 Mhz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8 MB
Network card (current, see below for others I’ve tried): ASUS XG-C100C 10G PCI-e
Connection: wired, ethernet Cat. 6 wiring
OS: Windows 11 Home
Problem:
At random times, the internet connection cuts out and then returns at a maximum of 90 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. Normal speed is 300 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. Any reconnection initiated by user (e.g. changing a network card setting, unplugging and reconnecting the cable, etc.) will reinitialize the network connection at 300 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. After a random period of time (minutes, days, sometimes a full week or so), the internet connection will suddenly cut out and then reconnect at 90 MBPS down. The up speed stays consistent. Rebooting makes no difference, nor does the nature of the online activity; there is no apparent correlation between activities on the computer and the problem arising.
The problem first manifested sometime early in 2019 and has remained consistent with the description given above through all subsequent updates to Windows 10 in the fall of 2019, the updates in 2020 and also remains consistent after the upgrade to Windows 11 in late 2021.
I have tried every troubleshooting suggestion found on the – many – fora, websites, etc. in which other users have described this same problem:
Additionally, I have tried three different network cards (onboard Intel I211, ASUS PCE-C2500, and the current ASUS XG-C100C), each with its own (different) driver and with no other network card concurrently active/installed (disabling onboard card in computer setup settings) in each attempt. The problem arises with each one. I have also tried connecting to different ports on the modem, without effect on fixing this problem.
Furthermore, I have a Lenovo Legion Y540-15IRH laptop connected to the same modem, which consistently gets 300 MBPS down and 30 MBPS up speeds and a Sony Xperia 1-II connected via WiFi to the same modem which also consistently gets 300 MBPS down and 30 MBPS up speeds. I have also tried having no other devices connected to the modem at the same time, without effect on fixing this problem.
Changing my network card settings, as stated above, briefly fixes the problem but the problem then eventually returns, regardless of which setting I change or what it is set to or which combination of settings I apply.
The “fix” that provided the longest relief from the issue consisted of activating the Group Policy editor (via a work-around, since gpedit is not inherently available in Windows Home edition) and shutting off the automatic bandwidth throttling feature of Windows. That solution held for two months, but then the problem just suddenly reappeared for no apparent reason.
Analysis:
Downshift retries 4 (have also tried 7 and have tried “off”)
Energy-Efficient Ethernet disabled
Flow Control Tx Enabled (have also tried Rx and Tx enabled, Rx enabled, Tx enabled, and “off”)
Interrupt Moderation Enabled (have also tried “disabled”)
Interrupt Moderation Rate Adaptive (have also tried “off”)
IPv4 Checksum Offload Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Jumbo Packet Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V1 (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V1 (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Link Speed Auto Negotiation (setting this at a fixed speed kills the connection entirely)
Locally Administered Address Not Present
Log Link State Event Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Maximum number of RSS Queues 8 Queues
Priority & VLAN Priority & VLAN Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Receive Buffers 4096 (have tried different buffer sizes)
Receive Side Scaling Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Recv Segment Coalescing (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Recv Segment Coalescing (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Transmit Buffers 4096 (have also tried different buffer sizes)
VLAN ID 0
VLAN Monitor mode Enabled (have also tried all other options)
Wait for Link off (have also tried all other options)
And, of course, the “allow Windows to turn off this device” is off in power management settings for the network card.
Mainboard: ASUS PRIME X470-PRO
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-core 3700 Mhz
Memory: 32 GB DRAM 1330 Mhz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8 MB
Network card (current, see below for others I’ve tried): ASUS XG-C100C 10G PCI-e
Connection: wired, ethernet Cat. 6 wiring
OS: Windows 11 Home
Problem:
At random times, the internet connection cuts out and then returns at a maximum of 90 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. Normal speed is 300 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. Any reconnection initiated by user (e.g. changing a network card setting, unplugging and reconnecting the cable, etc.) will reinitialize the network connection at 300 MBPS down, 30 MBPS up. After a random period of time (minutes, days, sometimes a full week or so), the internet connection will suddenly cut out and then reconnect at 90 MBPS down. The up speed stays consistent. Rebooting makes no difference, nor does the nature of the online activity; there is no apparent correlation between activities on the computer and the problem arising.
The problem first manifested sometime early in 2019 and has remained consistent with the description given above through all subsequent updates to Windows 10 in the fall of 2019, the updates in 2020 and also remains consistent after the upgrade to Windows 11 in late 2021.
I have tried every troubleshooting suggestion found on the – many – fora, websites, etc. in which other users have described this same problem:
- changing (disabling and enabling) the autotuning
- flushing the ip
- resetting the network
- resetting winsock
- updating the drivers
- uninstalling and reinstalling the network card
- reinstalling Windows entirely
- etc.
Additionally, I have tried three different network cards (onboard Intel I211, ASUS PCE-C2500, and the current ASUS XG-C100C), each with its own (different) driver and with no other network card concurrently active/installed (disabling onboard card in computer setup settings) in each attempt. The problem arises with each one. I have also tried connecting to different ports on the modem, without effect on fixing this problem.
Furthermore, I have a Lenovo Legion Y540-15IRH laptop connected to the same modem, which consistently gets 300 MBPS down and 30 MBPS up speeds and a Sony Xperia 1-II connected via WiFi to the same modem which also consistently gets 300 MBPS down and 30 MBPS up speeds. I have also tried having no other devices connected to the modem at the same time, without effect on fixing this problem.
Changing my network card settings, as stated above, briefly fixes the problem but the problem then eventually returns, regardless of which setting I change or what it is set to or which combination of settings I apply.
The “fix” that provided the longest relief from the issue consisted of activating the Group Policy editor (via a work-around, since gpedit is not inherently available in Windows Home edition) and shutting off the automatic bandwidth throttling feature of Windows. That solution held for two months, but then the problem just suddenly reappeared for no apparent reason.
Analysis:
- Since the problem does not occur on any other device, it is not the modem or my ISP.
- Since the problem occurs no matter which port on the modem I use, it is not the port.
- Since the problem sometimes disappears for longer periods of time and the speed goes back up (briefly or longer) to normal speeds after each forced/manual reinitializing of the connection, it is not the cable.
- Since the problem occurs with each network card, it is not the network card (the odds of three different network cards each failing in the same way seem small).
- Since the problem occurs with each network card using its own driver, it is not the driver (same as previous point).
Downshift retries 4 (have also tried 7 and have tried “off”)
Energy-Efficient Ethernet disabled
Flow Control Tx Enabled (have also tried Rx and Tx enabled, Rx enabled, Tx enabled, and “off”)
Interrupt Moderation Enabled (have also tried “disabled”)
Interrupt Moderation Rate Adaptive (have also tried “off”)
IPv4 Checksum Offload Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Jumbo Packet Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V1 (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Large Send Offload V1 (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Link Speed Auto Negotiation (setting this at a fixed speed kills the connection entirely)
Locally Administered Address Not Present
Log Link State Event Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Maximum number of RSS Queues 8 Queues
Priority & VLAN Priority & VLAN Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Receive Buffers 4096 (have tried different buffer sizes)
Receive Side Scaling Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Recv Segment Coalescing (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Recv Segment Coalescing (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv6) Disabled (have also tried all other options)
Transmit Buffers 4096 (have also tried different buffer sizes)
VLAN ID 0
VLAN Monitor mode Enabled (have also tried all other options)
Wait for Link off (have also tried all other options)
And, of course, the “allow Windows to turn off this device” is off in power management settings for the network card.
I bought a new Cat.6 cable and removed the ASUS XG-C100C, connecting the on-board Intel I211 to the modem with the new Cat.6 cable. That fixed the problem, although I will never know what caused it - I am still using the "old" cable with my laptop for office work without any problems or loss of speed, so the cable wasn't really the problem. For some unknown reason, my tower just doesn't like that cable, but my laptop thinks it's fine.