I have been experiencing a conflict so bizarre between my ubuntu PC vs my tp-link router that I don't know where or what to be searching for. A few months ago, I assembled an AMD-ryzen + ASUS prime computer - and installed ubuntu 19.10 on it.
This machine has been great, no problems whatsoever - except that it keeps tripping my TPLink router (connected over ethernet), literally, in the sense that the physical port it is connected to stops working. No other device can connect to it after it has tripped. The only way around it is to connect the computer to a new port and finally to restart the router.
To clarify this:
a) It is the router that trips rather than a failure on the computer side. If I connect other machines to a previously-tripped port - they won't connect either. And if I connect this Ubuntu machine to a not-previously-tripped physical port - it works - until this port eventually gets tripped. The duration for this is quite random - from a few hours to a few days I do this until all the ports on the router have tripped after which I have to restart the router. And the musical chairs start afresh.
b) It is definitely this computer that causes the router port to trip. I have another 2 machines connected to this router. They have been running quite happily on it for years with no complaints. However, they will refuse to work on any physical port that the Ubuntu machine has tripped.
Any suggestions as to where I should start ? This problem is so strange that I don't even know what to google for. Also, apologies if this is not the right channel for this question and would appreciate pointers to the right one.