Internet stops working while Steam download is active

General system Kernel, boot, graphics & hardware
1

Hello,

I’ve noticed this issue where my internet stops working while Steam is downloading a game.

It happens like this:

  1. I initiate a download on Steam
  2. Shortly after that, internet connection drops on my whole PC (Including the steam download)
  3. Re-plugging the ethernet cable or restarting NetworkManager/systemd-networkd does nothing
  4. Have to fix by restarting

Should be noted that my actual network is fine and other devices work without issues.

2

Are you connected via WiFi or network cable?

3

Connected directly with an ethernet cable, no wifi.

Should note that I’m using a Gigabyte Aorus Elite B550M motherboard.

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4

The Gigabyte website generically specifies the LAN adaptor as a “Realtek GbE”.

image

Hopefully this will clarify:

inxi -SMNx --za
5

System:
Kernel: 6.12.10-arch1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
Desktop: Hyprland v: 0.47.1 Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: B550M AORUS ELITE
serial: UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: F20d
date: 09/02/2024
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus-ID: 04:00.0

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6

It seems there are a couple of possibilities here. My first thought was that the r8169 driver is known to sometimes have issues. A common fix is to install the r8168 driver instead, and blacklist the r8169.

See details here:

When looking up the reference for that though, I spotted right below it an entry specific to Gigabyte motherboards that may be even more applicable to your situation:

7

This topic may be a helpful guide, and a heads-up to pitfalls, stepping through the process of switching from the r8169 to the r8168 driver if you choose to try that:

8

One idea is to check whether there are BIOS updates.

9

I’m already on the latest version of the BIOS as I updated recently when I was having some issues, but I will try switching to the r8168 driver to see if that fixes anything.

10

So I’m back, I tried installing the r8168 driver but it didn’t seem to fix any issues I had. Whenever I download something, my connection slowly dies after some time but strangely some websites/services can be used (E.g. discord call doesn’t drop, i can google and some sites work, etc).

I’m at a complete loss, does anyone have any idea?

11

So, I just bought a new network card that has an intel chip instead of a realtek one, specifically the Intel I210.

I just installed it and tried it out a bit and I don’t seem to be have any issues anymore, but I will update this thread at a later date after trying it out for a bit more.

Thank you all for pointing me in the driver/hardware direction and hopefully these issues are resolved in the future.

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