People don’t know what they are talking about. I think you have one of those controllers that work with either the r8168 module package or the r8169 built in kernel module. I have one of those too. Some of these Ethernet of the same series don’t. They work on one or the other. The issue of it not starting i think is something other than it working or not working.
journalctl -b
What i would do is see if the module is actually loading when it doesn’t work. Then you could try creating automatic module loading via /etc/modules-load.d/ and add in the file r8168 or r8169. This way it will automatically load the module on boot in case it’s not. You just have to confirm whether that is the issue why it doesn’t work sometimes. Or it could be something else?
Next time that the ethernet will not work i will check if the module was load or not. If that’s the case i will follow your guide line and create an automatic way to load the module
I’m not sure this is what is happening but it’s something to check. I’m quite familiar with the issue regarding the r8168 package and the r8169 kernel module. As i say certain Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 work on either package. I know mine does but some don’t and require r8168 module to be used. The issue of it not starting is something other. It can be because of a conflict between modules hence why the need to blacklist. Or it can be due to Windows power management fast start up feature if dual booting.
The other question is are you running ipv6?
Edit: Not sure if you are using grub or systemd boot? But you could try a kernel parameter also. Has to be added in the appropriate place depending on what boot loader you are using.
I’d say if both r8168 and r8169 seem to work about the same way, use r8169, since it comes with the kernel. And uninstall package r8168.
I have a machine that mostly seemed to work with both of these drivers, so I thought it is the same which one to use, and started to use r8168 for testing in mind. Then some feature (sorry, cannot remember what) was not working with r8168 but worked with r8169, so I just uninstalled r8168.