Very troublesome issue with Ethernet Connection

Hi,

 

Recently, I accidentally unplugged my router, model 5268AC FXN, and hardbooted it. When I plugged it back in, my WiFi came back up but my Ethernet never returned.

 

While trying to connecting to Ethernet on my Windows 8 PC, "Unidentified Network, Public Network ..... No Internet Access" is displayed in the Network and Sharing Center. The network icon appears "limited", having the yellow triangle in the lower left corner.

 

I tried to plug the Ethernet cable into another machine, my laptop, and it still has the same issue, "Unidentified Network". 

 

Here, I tried to troubleshoot the problem by running these commands in Windows CMD on the PC connected to Ethernet:

ipconfig/flushdns

ipconfig/renew

nbtstat –R

nbtstat –RR

netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

netsh winsock reset

netsh int tcp reset

and I also set a custom DNS and IP Address for the PC:

IP address: 192.168.1.71
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default gw 192.168.1.254

preferred DNS: 68.94.156.8
alternate DNS: 68.94.157.8

Along with this, I also tried:

- Restarting the router (waiting 15+ seconds)

- Resetting the router

- Restarting the computer 

- Restarting the Ethernet network adapter (disable/enable)

- Uninstalling and reinstalling network adapter

- Uncheck power saving options for Ethernet

- Scan for updated drivers

 

- Switched up the ports for Ethernet cables on the router. (This seemed to have the biggest effect as the router actually communicated packets to the PC for a short while before stopping again. After switching ports, it showed that it was connected to "Network 3", and had Internet Access, even though I couldn't load webpages, then stopped working after a minute or two). 

 

I also tested the ethernet cable by plugging it into my laptop ([Windows 10] has working WiFi Internet) and creating a Network Bridge with my PC. This was successful but provided an incredible slow internet connection.

 

Plugging the same ethernet cable back into the router, my Desktop only displays "Unidentified Network".

 

This leads me to the belief that the problem comes from either the router hardware, or configuration.

 

Any thoughts? Please let me know if anyone can provide help as I have spent 6 hours trying to troubleshoot this.

 

Thanks.

 

Ethernet ports and front of router: