title: “How To Fix Windows 11 Ethernet Driver Problems” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-23” author: “Christopher Belisle”
What Causes Problems With the Ethernet Driver
Issues with device drivers are often the cause of hardware problems because drivers are necessary components for your computer to properly communicate with hardware. Your network interface card is a physical device much like everything else used by your computer, so it, too, can run into driver issues.
Sometimes, the Ethernet driver becomes so outdated it runs into problems only an update can fix. In other cases, the driver might have become corrupted due to a software conflict or virus.
How to Fix Windows 11 Ethernet Driver Problems
It’s tempting to focus only on the Ethernet driver when troubleshooting this problem. However, since there could be slightly different reasons for the Ethernet problem which aren’t directly tied to the driver, the following are a mixture of things you can try to fix Ethernet problems.
One easy way to restart Windows 11 is to right-click the Start button and go to Shut down or sign out > Restart.
If you can’t reach the Wi-Fi network either, then there are likely broader problems at play. Continue with the relevant steps below that don’t apply to just a wired network, but then also troubleshoot Wi-Fi problems.
After a reboot, Windows will automatically identify the device and install the driver again.
This tool is in Settings as well: Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset > Reset now.
Follow that link to learn more about what this does and how to do it. If you’re already comfortable using the Command Prompt, run this command and then restart your PC:
You don’t need to buy a new router if just one port is bad, since most people can live with a non-working port, so long as there are others which can be used instead.
