Ethernet kicking in slower than applications

[Victus]

I'm continuously getting my Steam pop-up saying it couldn't reach the internet. I hit retry and I'm right as rain. Curious if it's a mobo issue or possibly something else?

[xeromist]

Presumably if you were losing connectivity at the ethernet level Windows would pop up a systray notification or you would see the icon change to disconnected. Do you have a software firewall installed and are you behind a home router?

[Victus]

I'm on a home router but it's never given me this type of a problem. It shows it's looking for a connection in the system tray as if my computer is booting up everything out of priority almost?

[xeromist]

Ah, so windows is losing connection as well, not just Steam? You may want to try enabling a software firewall and connect directly to your modem just to make sure it isn't a router issue. Make sure to use a different network cable as well so you eliminate that possibility. These are easy things to try before you start tinkering with your rig.

[Victus]

Sometimes it'll happen, others it wont. Even happens with Curse client. I think it's a hit or miss on how fast the connection is versus how fast the PC boots up. Some days are slower than others so I'll get that error possibly?

[xeromist]

So this only happens when you boot? I thought that you were losing connection randomly even after being on for a while.

[Victus]

Sorry for my lack of specifics. It only happens on boot.

[xeromist]

Do you shut your PC down or put it to sleep when you're not using it?

[Victus]

Full shutdown the proper way.

EDIT:

I would occasionally get a random connection drop when playing WoW and when I proceed to log back in, I hit enter to log in and the PC reboots.

[xeromist]

I'd say try putting it to sleep and see if the connection still dies. You may have to try it a few times since it's random.

And I'd still try bypassing the router to see if you still have a problem. You never know when a working router could start acting up.