Freshly-built PC isn't connecting to internet via Ethernet. Is it a mobo driver issue? If so, which?

Question

I just built my own Windows 10 computer with a Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard from Asus , but when I installed windows and connected an ethernet cord to the router, I'm not connected even though it works when attached to a different device. I know my motherboard came with a CD for drivers, which I suspect may need to be installed for the ethernet to work (the ethernet port from the mobo probably needs the software driver to run, right?) But I don't have an optical drive, so I'm trying to download the drivers to a usb on a separate computer. The problem is that there's over 90 different ASUS drivers for that motherboard, and I have no idea which of them I need to use or not. I do not yet have a wi-fi card or connection. How can I get connected to the internet?

Thanks in advance.

Solution

There are at least three solutions for this:

1. Read the motherboard manual. It will tell you which onboard NIC is used (e.g. an Intel 219).
2. Or googled it with the precise motherboard model.
3. Or open the start menu (right click in the windows logi since windows 10). Select "run" and type devmgmt.msc. That will open the device manager. It probably has a triangle with a yellow exclamation mark near several devices. Find the one which is for your NIC and use another computer to put that driver on a pendrive so that you can install it.

If it is this motherboard then the NIC is an Intel I219V. So finding the driver should be easy. And once it has a working Ethernet connection it might automatically update most other drivers on its own.

Comments

[Admin]

Install the driver for your LAN adapter. That's a single driver.

[camelCaseCowboy]

Works perfectly! Could you explain how this works? I'm new to this; how does Intel have parts on an Asus board (besides the cpu)?

[ganesh]

Most of the boards logic is from Intel. The CPU, the Z170 chipset, the I219 NIC, ... Think of Asus as a house builder who buys bricks, heating and furniture from other manufacturers. Some of those others (heck, most of it even) can come from Intel. Other parts come from other manufacturers. E.g. the socket where you connected the Ethernet cabel to is probably made from plastic by Tyco. None is manufacturerd by Asus. Instead it is assembled by Asus.

[ganesh]

That is not to say that Asus does not have its own choices in the motherboard. They decide which parts to use and how to connect them. Much like an architect would design a house. Choose room layouts, choose where to have the piping in the walls. But the pipes themselves as well as the furniture would be bought from others.