Ethernet doesn't have a valid ip configuration

Hello!

I know this has been discussed over and over again, but I can't seem to find a solution. Checked the forums, but nothing seems to help. Most fixes are related to drivers updates, disable and enable the netword card.

So, bear with me because I want to be as thorough as possible .

I've been using a TP-Link Archer C2 router and a TP-Link TG-3468 network card on my old PC. Everything worked fine.

Yesterday, I bought a new computer, and I'm using the same router and the same network card model, but brand new; just bought another one.

Here are my PC specs:

• 
  CPU: Intel Core i7 6700k @ 4.00 GHZ Skylake
  Motherboard: Asus Z-170K (LGA 1151)
  Graphic card: nVidia (Asus Strix OC) GTX 950 @ 2 GB GDDR5
  RAM: 16 GB DDR4 Dual-Channel Corsair Vengeance @ 2133 MHZ
  HDD: Western Digital @ 1 TB
  SSD: Kingston HyperX @ 120 GB
  PSU: Corsair CX 750
  OS: Windows 10 Pro. Used Windows 10 on my old PC too, where it worked just fine.

The issue:

If I plug the ethernet cable in the TP-Link network card, I get a Limited or no Internet Connection, basically no internet.

What I've tried:

Turned the router off; removed all the wires; reset the router; changed the TP-Link network card with the old one (thought maybe the new one was faulty); used ipconfig with flushdns, release and renew; installed the card's original driver and even others; disable and enabled the card; uninstalled it and restarted the PC; made sure the ipv4 and ipv6 have automatic DNS and IP; checked the router's DHCP and everything looks all right.

Frustrating temporary fix:

I've finally discovered that the only thing that works is to unplug the router for 30 seconds, then plug it back in, but the bad news is that every time I restart the computer or shut it off, then on, that yellow triangle of death appears again (Limited or no Internet Connection). So basically I have to unplug the router every time I restart or turn on the PC, which is very frustrating and annoying, especially because I have to crawl under my desk to unplug it .

What works

Now, if I put the ethernet cable in the on-board network adapter, the internet connection works without a problem. I don't know why it doesn't work on the TP-Link card, except if I unplug the router every time.

Diagnosis

I performed a diagnosis when I had the ethernet cable in the TP-Link card, and this came up: "Ethernet Doesn’t Have A Valid IP Configuration".

I also ran an ipconfig test and noticed that, when I have the ethernet cable in the TP-Link card - without the internet working, I get an IP that starts with 169...., and I've read that that's bad, meaning that my PC can't reach the DHCP servers, or something like that. When my ethernet cable is plugged in the on-board network adapter, and I perform an ipconfig, it displays an IP starting with 192..., which is the proper one.

So, I suppose I have to tweak some settings in order to make the TP-Link network connection run through a 192. IP too, but I don't know how.

Oh, and I've contacted TP-Link support, but they said stuff like download the driver and install it manually, bla bla bla. Basic stuff which I already told them I did. They did say they'll look into it and mail me, but I don't really have high hopes.

Any help from you will be much appreciated!

Let me know if you need more details.

Thanks!

Update: Just received a mail from TP-Link, saying:

Just confirmed the issue with our senior engineer. The problem seems still exist due to the compatibility between the windows 10 and the old card.

Click to expand...

And then they told me again to download the driver and install it . So, yeah...

If it worked on my old computer, which itself wasn't "officially" compatible with Windows 10, like the whole PC, I don't see why it wouldn't work on this one, especially that it does do work, if I unplug the router all the time .