What To Do If Wi-Fi Works But Not Ethernet?

It is difficult imagining life without the internet these days. More than 50% of the global population is connected to the internet, either via a sim card or via cable Ethernet, or a Wi-Fi through a router. However, many Windows 10 users are reporting an error where for connecting to the internet the Wi-Fi works but not the Ethernet.

Ethernet is usually referred to as the wired connection with the internet router, although the usage of the term may vary from the actual definition. You can see a wired connection running from your computer to your internet router. Although many people prefer Wi-Fi to wired connections, some people may find a use for a traditional wired connection, and enjoy the low latency and virtually no speed throttles.

Here I shall discuss why and how to solve your internet error where router Wi-Fi works but not Ethernet.

Why My Ethernet Doesn’t Work?

Since the device connecting via a cable is not connecting to the internet, there is a fair possibility that there exists some problem with either the network card and its drivers on your computer or a connection issue between your devices.

This issue can also arise from incorrect physical address change when you change from wireless to wired connection. If these cases if the computer fails to register the physical address or the MAC address, you will be presented with error messages like ‘Request timed out’ or ‘Destination host unreachable’.

Fixes For Wi-Fi Works But Not Ethernet!

If you see that there is some error message that accompanies the said error, you should start by locating what the error message states and which part of your connection is malfunctioning.

Solution 1: Check The Connection

First and foremost, check if there exist any problems with the connection between your router and your computer. If you see Ethernet not working but Wi-Fi is performing normally, this can be attributed to a poor connection between the two.

Check the cable connection first. If you see that, there is some wear and tear in the cable, which may be an indication of poor connection.

Also, check for any broken ports. Connect the cable to another port if available, or connect the cable to another device. This should be an indication of a broken port or broken adapter.

If you find any of these faulty, change the faulty piece of hardware and retry the connection. If this failed to solve your issue, try the next solution.

Solution 2: Change MAC Address

If you rarely switch between your wireless and wired connection, there is a chance that the router Wi-Fi works but not Ethernet because of a misidentified physical address. Follow these steps:

1. Find your IP address. To do this, open a Command Prompt window and type the following command
   ipconfig
   You will find your IP listed as IPv4
2. Find your MAC address for the wired connection. To do this, type the following command in the command prompt:
   ipconfig /all
   You will find your MAC address listed as Physical Address.

3. Open your device manager console. Either you can do this from a Run (Win + R) window, or from the WinX menu (Win + X).
4. Expand Network adapters by clicking on the small arrow next to it.
5. Right-click on your Ethernet adapter and select Properties from the context menu.
6. Under the Advanced tab, scroll down to locate and select Locally Administered Address.
7. Select the Value radio box, and paste the MAC address that you found in step 2.

Alternatively, you can also use third-party MAC address changer tools like Technitium MAC address changer, Advanced IP scanner, etc. which will make it easier to change the address without having to manually search for entries.

Solution 3: Update The Network Card Driver

There is also a possibility that a faulty driver is causing the Ethernet not to work properly. Drivers are the configuration files that facilitate the communication between your hardware device and your operating system. Corrupt or missing drivers often lead to device malfunctioning, and this is one of the errors that can occur.

If you started seeing this error after updating your driver recently, first try rolling back your drivers. Although this is highly unlikely, it cannot be eliminated completely.

Next, update your network drivers. You can do this from the device manager if you are connected to the internet over Wi-Fi. Else, you can update them from another device, by following these steps:

1. Open a Run dialog box by pressing Win + R.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to launch the Device Manager console.
3. Expand Network Adaptors by clicking the small arrow next to it.
4. Before updating your driver, check whether you have the latest driver version or not. Follow the steps given below to do this:
   1. Locate and double click on your network device.
   2. Under the Driver tab, you will see the driver version. Make a note of the driver version or keep this window open for future reference.

5. Now, go to your device manufacturer’s website and search for the latest driver of your device from their Downloads
6. Check if you have the latest version or not. If you have the latest version then skip to the next solution provided below. Otherwise, download the driver.
7. Locate and right-click your network device back in the Device Manager console.
8. Select Update Driver Software… from the context menu.
9. Click Browse my computer for driver software.
10. Next, click Browse and select the driver that you downloaded before.
11. Click Next and follow any additional on-screen instructions to install the driver.
12. Once done, restart your computer and check if the problem is solved.

Solution 4: Uninstall Drivers And Install Generic Drivers

If you find that you are already on the latest driver version for your network adapter, you need to install the generic driver. This can be done by uninstalling the already installed driver, which will prompt Windows to install the generic driver for that device.

1. Open a Run dialog box by pressing Win + R.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to launch the Device Manager console.
3. Expand Network Adaptors by clicking the small arrow next to it.
4. Locate your network device and right-click on it.
5. Select Uninstall from the right-click context menu.
6. Wait for the uninstallation to complete.
7. Restart your device.

Upon restarting your device, Windows should install the generic drivers for your device, and your Wi-Fi works but not Ethernet error should also be resolved.

Solution 5: Unload Residual Power

An old trick, which may work for you, involves draining the residual motherboard power. The idea revolves around removing the static charge that is stored inside the capacitors, to drain the power from your PC completely. This can be very useful if your PC is malfunctioning, and USB ports are not detecting any device.

1. Shut down your Windows 10 device.
2. Remove all the devices connected to your device via any port. This includes USB peripherals, your router or Ethernet cable, etc.
3. Remove the power cable from your device. Also, remove the device battery if you are on a laptop.
4. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds and then release it to drain the static charge.
5. Reconnect all devices to your computer, and insert the battery as well.
6. Power on your system.

Wrapping Up

So there you have it. If on your device Wi-Fi works but not Ethernet, now you know how to solve it using one or a combination of the solutions provided above. Tell us in the comments how you solved the error on your device.