"network cable unplugged" but not really unplugged, no lights on NIC?

I have an integrated network adapter on my motherboard. One day, it said "network cable unplugged." I checked the connection, no lights were on, I checked the connection and it was fine. I pluged the exact same cable into my laptop and recignized the connection right away. So then I disabled the onboard network adapter, installed a NIC and it worked for a few days, and the same thing happened, said no network cable installed, no lights, etc. Windows is still recignizing both adapters, I tried re-installing the drivers, tested cable, tried a diff cable, tested router and nothing is working. Also tried plugging the NIC in another PCI slot and same results. Any ideas out there?

"network cable unplugged" but not really unplugged, no lights on NIC?
This is odd. Are other network pcs seeing the same thing? If so it could be a problem with the router.





I have also seen CAT5 cables that have a problem in one end, they work and the stop working seemingly when they want. Try a different CAT5 cable to the router and see if the problem goes away.





Sure seems odd