Fried network card

A lightning strike fried my router. I called AT&T, and they were kind enough to drop off a replacement, so the Wi-Fi is back up and running. However, when I tried connecting my desktop via cable, the technician mentioned my network card is likely toast. I’m not exactly a computer whiz, so I’ve been falling down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to figure this out, but I can't seem to locate the actual card on my machine. Can anyone point out where the card is located in this photo?

From what I can tell, the network card is integrated—it’s most likely that upper rounded assembly right there.

P.S. You could really use a good deep clean on that PC of yours. 🙂

James Taylor37 said:

From what I can tell, the network card is integrated—it’s most likely that upper rounded assembly right there.

P.S. You could really use a good deep clean on that PC of yours. 🙂

+1 for the cleaning comment.

You'll need to pick up a new network card—either an internal one (via PCI or PCI-E x1) or an external USB one. Personally, I'd go with internal.

I’m on board with the cleaning idea, though I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about accidentally messing up the wiring while I'm at it. Regarding the network setup, I had the same thought; seeing how the cable from the router plugs directly into that circular assembly felt a bit off, especially since I couldn't find anything similar on YouTube. It looks like my best bet is to just pick up that expansion card and pop it into the correct slot.

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Yeah, honestly. You can pick up used ones for next to nothing, and even if you want something brand new, they aren't that pricey—at least not the last time I checked. Most of them are pretty much plug-and-play, so you don't really have to mess around with any complicated setups. Just a heads-up though, you'll need to clean out the dust under the shroud; since there's already a layer of dust sitting on top of the cooler, it basically blocks the airflow from reaching the radiator altogether.