Speaking about Windows machine, there is an ability to plug the computer directly to the router, modem, or other device through Ethernet cord to instantly have the Internet. However, there might be a problem such as the Ethernet connection is not be picking up a valid IP configuration. What exactly the valid IP configuration is? Why yours is not valid?
There are three possible reasons, the common ones. The first one is bad networking device or just settings. In this case, the router, the modem, and so on is behaving incorrectly. The second one is bad automatic assignment of an IP. This is when the computer is having issues connecting via the current Ethernet cable. The last one is bad connection interface card. This one is when the NIC in the computer is not finding local connections via the Ethernet cable.
There are several methods to fix Ethernet does not have a valid IP configuration for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. The first one is called great and all. in this method, you have to reset the device. This one is such an easy and quick to do. Please poke a tiny hardware reset button with a pin. That button is located on the back of the networking device. You just have to wait for the lights of the device to flash on and off one or more times. For the issues related to the computers, you just simply need to reset the device that will often produce the result you are searching for. Also, please make sure that the Ethernet cable is plugged into the LAN port and not the WAN or Internet port. This one is a simple one but must be addressed.
What if your automatically-assigned IP via DHCP is not cutting it? what should you do? Regarding this issue, you will be given a number of options. You are able to change the IP address to fix the issue. Apparently, you can make a unique static IP address for the device that will prevents one of the most frequent problems related to DHCP assigned IP addresses by repeating the same IP address on multiple devices when using the dynamic IP address. Making the static IP address implicates manually making a new IP for the device as you connect. Do not forget to make the unique IP address.
Then, what if your hardware is bad? What should you do? This is the worst case. The easiest, simplest, and cheapest option is to replace the hardware with the new Ethernet hardware. Another one is to buy a Network Interface device that might be cheaper and more useful such as USB Wi-Fi device.
For your information, there is a very simple solution that might fix the problem. It is restarting the modem or device. With this one, you do not have to take too much of your time. Aside from that, you can also ensure the Ethernet cable is plugged into the right port of the modem. If no one of the methods above work, then, it is time for you to see the expert.