Power surge, then working NIC card & ethernet but no internet

I'm trying to solve an internet connection problem at my mother's house. Long story short they suspect the house (or something very close) was struck by lightning a couple of weeks ago. Afterwards, lots of electrical devices turned to crap (verizon fios router, devices on the side of the house closest to the strike, etc).

My mom's pc also stopped connecting to the internet, even after we replaced the router. I thought maybe her onboard ethernet port was fried so I bought a NIC online. The NIC is installed, detected, has new drivers and is working properly, but still there is no internet connection. When I plug the cable into the port, no lights turn on. Windows also reports that the media is disconnected when I try to do an ipconfig /renew. If I do windows troubleshooting, it tells me to plug an ethernet cable in.

I know for a fact that the ethernet cable I'm using works because that's what I'm using to type up this post, on my laptop (unplugged it from my mom's PC and plugged it into my laptop, instant internet). I disabled wireless on my laptop so I could be sure I'm not connecting to verizon's wireless network.

So bottom line is her computer sees nothing wrong with any of its hardware yet it won't recognize an internet connection.

Anyone have any thoughts on how to get it working again? Should I just tell her it's time for a new PC?

You could try a usb nic as it's possible the pci interface (or the actual onboard chip) may be damaged. They are about 10-15$ for the cheap ones. Plus I'd invest in a good UPS as it would have protected the pc and anything attached.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...006519&isNodeId=1&Description=usb+nic&x=0&y=0

Are you sure the replacement card you bought isn't a dud? If the PCI controller were fried, it's highly unlikely everything else would behave normally.

thanks for the suggestions, I ordered a USB NIC from newegg, let's give that a shot

not 100% sure the PCI NIC I ordered is bad, but it's identified by the PC and I installed the latest drivers without a problem from the included CD. In device manager it shows up correctly

Actually the PC is plugged into a surge protector but either it's not a good one or the surge came in through the ethernet cable (maybe that's possible since the fios router it was plugged into was completely fried)

You sure it's a surge protector? A surge protector may be a power strip, but a power strip is not necessarily a surge protector.

you're right, good point. I didn't look closely but we might be able to assume it's not a surge protector, considering that the PC is screwed up. I'm not at my mother's house now though so I can't check

Mike521 said:

Actually the PC is plugged into a surge protector but either it's not a good one or the surge came in through the ethernet cable

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You should be ready to learn what adjacent protectors really do. Protect from surges that typically cause no damage. May even earth a surge destructively via adjacent appliances. You may have that damage.

The modem is connecte to an internet cable that already has best possible protection. Earthing (not a protector) defines protection. That earthing is installed where their cable connects to your wires. A best (and destructive) path to earth is incoming on AC mains, destructively through a computer or router, and outgoing to earth via the internet cable. If the outgoing path does not exist, then no damage. Internet cable is an ideal outgoing path.

Did you think that an adjacent protector would stop what three miles of sky could not? Many believe that myth. If a surge on AC mains is not earthed BEFORE entering a building, then only protection is that already inside a modem or computer. You had damage probably because a 'whole house' protector was not earthed. Once that surge is permitted inside, then nothing - as in nothing - will avert a destructive hunt for earth via household appliances.

Excellent information on surges and surge protection is at:
http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf
- "How to protect your house and its contents from lightning: IEEE guide for surge protection of equipment connected to AC power and communication circuits" published by the IEEE in 2005 (the IEEE is a major organization of electrical and electronic engineers).
And also:
http://www.eeel.nist.gov/817/pubs/spd-anthology/files/Surges happen!.pdf
- "NIST recommended practice guide: Surges Happen!: how to protect the appliances in your home" published by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2001

The IEEE surge guide is aimed at people with some technical background.

westom said:

You should be ready to learn what adjacent protectors really do. Protect from surges that typically cause no damage.

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Complete nonsense.

Some protectors even have protected equipment warranties.

Both the IEEE and NIST surge guides say plug-in protectors are effective.

westom said:

May even earth a surge destructively via adjacent appliances.

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Not if connected as any competent manufacturer will tell you to connect it.

When using a plug-in protector all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the same protector. External connections, like coax also must go through the protector.

westom said:

Did you think that an adjacent protector would stop what three miles of sky could not? Many believe that myth.

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It is westom's myth. Protectors do not work by "stopping".

As clearly explained in the IEEE surge guide (starting page 30) they work by limiting the voltage from each wire (power and signal) to the ground at the protector. The voltage between the wires going to the protected equipment is safe for the protected equipment.

westom said:

You had damage probably because a 'whole house' protector was not earthed.

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Service panel protectors are a real good idea.
But from the NIST guide:
"Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house?
A - There are two answers to than question: Yes for one-link appliances [electronic equipment], No for two-link appliances [equipment connected to power AND phone or cable or....]. Since most homes today have some kind of two-link appliances, the prudent answer to the question would be NO - but that does not mean that a surge protector installed at the service entrance is useless."

Service panel protectors do not, by themselves, prevent high voltages from developing between power and phone/cable/ethernet/... wires. The NIST surge guide suggests most equipment damage is from high voltage between power and signal wires. An example of where a service panel protector would provide no protection is the IEEE surge guide example starting page 30.



About 2 weeks ago moderator hokiealumnus told westom
"With two more posts-sans-reference, after staff discussion, we're done here. westom, in the future, back up what you're saying with references or do not post. You have been asked numerous times yet fail to do so, thus your posts are to most people are meaningless. If you do not wish to do that, that's fine; just don't enter the discussion."
https://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715666&page=2

Totally missing, as always, any link that agrees with westom that plug-in protectors do not work.

Still not answered from that thread - simple questions:
If plug-in protectors do not work perhaps westom can answer some simple questions:
- Why do the only 2 detailed examples of protection in the IEEE guide use plug-in protectors?
- Why does the NIST guide says plug-in protectors are "the easiest solution"?
- Why does the NIST guide say "One effective solution is to have the consumer install" a multiport plug-in protector?
- Why does the NIST guide say "Plug-in...The easiest of all for anyone to do. The only question is 'Which to choose?'"
- Why do westom's "responsible companies" make plug-in protectors?
- Why does "responsible company" SquareD says "electronic equipment may need additional protection by installing plug-in [protectors] at the point of use"?

well the USB network adapter did the trick, it works even though the onboard ethernet and the PCI ethernet are both broken. For $10 that's a much better fix than trashing the motherboard - thanks again

Mike521 said:

well the USB network adapter did the trick, it works even though the onboard ethernet and the PCI ethernet are both broken.

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A defect could be in the PCI bridge. If true, then PCI peripherals, serial, parallel, as well as ethernet ports would not operate. But USB ports would.

A computer contains a bus that can identify and setup peripherals. Once setup, then the system exchanges data via the PCI bridge - a different bus. Therefore these peripherals would be seen, reported as good (ie by Device Manager), but cannot exchange data. Because one bus works but the other does not.

If a PC bridge (or related hardware) has failed, then the computer will only support data exchanges with USB type devices and disk interfaces not connected via the PCI bus. Would be fine as long as you do not need those other peripheral ports. If curious, confirm this.

westom said:

A defect could be in the PCI bridge. If true, then PCI peripherals, serial, parallel, as well as ethernet ports would not operate. But USB ports would.

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That makes zero sense. The USB controller is attached to the PCI bus. As is practically everything else (including the drive controller). It is far more likely for the network controller to have been fried, and the new card to be a dud, than for the system to magically work with a fried PCI bus or controller.

petteyg359 said:

That makes zero sense. The USB controller is attached to the PCI bus.

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I originally thought same. Have since learned (much to my surprise) that the USB and disk drives have separate connections inside a Southbridge.

Of course, this may vary with some Southbridge designs. But I have seen USB and drive interfaces separate from a PCI bridge. As a result, one system worked using a same solution implemented by Mike521.

Any decent UPS will have coax connects. Mine does. I don't care if it blows up as long as the pc still works it's done it's job-lol. My last mobo had usb issues and actually fried a usb mouse AND my brand new patriot exporter xt 4gb flash-unbelievable. It was old though. I think the dust mites finally took over.

i remember having this on my Asrock G31M-s motherboard back then. even after reinstalling windows it would come back.

me thinks you should replace the board (if warranty is still good) or just buy a new one. intel or asrock is what i suggest.