Troubleshooting Four Common Network Card Problems

Friday, November 20, 2009

As the network card is popularized all over the world, it has become a bridge between computers and the network. Once the network adapter goes on the fritz, PC users will suffer lots of unaccountable troubles and feel helpless. Here I will list some common network card malfunctions and their solutions:

Network connection

A network card usually has two indicator lights (LED): the green light shows that the card is receiving electricity; the orange (10Mb/s) or red (100 Mb/s) light indicates network activity (sending or receiving data). When a network card is working regularly, its lights are sustained (flickering when transmitting data), but if the lights become too bright or too dark every now and then, furthermore, computer drops online frequently, most possibly this net card and its PCI slot are poorly connected. Different from other PCI devices, if you often plug net card or move computer, the network connection is easily loose because of poor contact. You can fix this glitch by plugging the net card again or changing to another free PCI slot. Moreover, if there is too much dust on the card, the card’s golden finger is severely oxidized, or the network cable connector is broken, the network connection also would be unstable, well then you need to clean the card, wipe the golden finger with some paper or change a connector.


Network card is the same as other hardware devices: its imperfect driver may bring about problems. If your card encounters some inexplicable errors, you can download and set up the latest drivers from some professional websites to repair these errors. In case your network adapter’s malfunction happens after you updated driver, you can restore the driver with the driver program that came with your adapter.

Magnetic field problem

Network adapter is easily interrupted by the magnetic field, so you should avoid putting your computer near to the devices like microwave oven, fridge or TV that have a large and strong magnetic field.

Network cables

Poor network cables and connectors would also affect your net card working. In addition to selecting better twisted pair, you should also note that whether the connection between your network adapter port and connector is in good, and whether the order of the data lines in the connector accords with the international 568a and 568b network cables (especially those self-made connectors).