Troubleshooting • Ethernet Port on RPi4 is Unstable or Becomes Unresponsive

Device: Raspberry Pi 4

I'm having a recurring issue with the Ethernet port on my Raspberry Pi 4. Initially, when I plug in the Ethernet cable, both LEDs on the Ethernet port light up (indicating a good physical connection). The Pi gets an IP and works fine.

But after some time — it could be instantly, after a few minutes, an hour, or even a full day — the Ethernet connection suddenly drops. The LEDs sometimes go off, and the Pi loses all wired network connectivity.

To temporarily fix the issue, I need to unplug and replug the Ethernet cable, sometimes wiggling or pushing it harder into the port until the LEDs come back on. But this only lasts for a while, and the problem comes back randomly.

What I’ve Tried So Far:
- Cleaned the Ethernet port.
- Inspected the pins inside the Ethernet jack – they look fine, nothing obviously bent or damaged.
- Tested the cable on other devices – works flawlessly.
- Tried different cables – same behavior.
- Switched power supplies – same issue (using official Raspberry Pi power supply).
- Checked system logs – logs show messages like:
eth0: Link is Down
eth0: Link is Up 1000Mbps Full Duplex

Statistics: Posted by TheStriker — Sat May 24, 2025 11:07 pm

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