I spent a good few hours trying to figure out why my MacMini wasn't connecting to the net.

I mean, it WAS, but it seemed much slower than usual.

-=-=-

After a good bit of jiggery pokery, it turned out the ethernet cable to the router was "disconnected". The Mac was still connecting via WiFi, but was noticeably slower than it's usual speed.

I checked the cable at the Mac's side. Definitely in.
I checked the cable at the Router's side. Definitely in.
But the little light on the router wasn't lighting up.
Hmmm...

Connecting the ethernet cable between the Mac and Laptop told me that
A. The Wire was working
and
B. The MacMini's port was working.

.. So...

I plugged the Laptop into the ethernet, and..
Nothing!!
For some odd reason, that one single port on the router was seemingly fudged, and I have absolutely no idea why that would be.

Do router ports "blow"?
Seems odd.

I spent a good few hours trying various mixings of ethernet re-routing, but at the end of the day, the printer needs plugged in, the NAS needs plugged in, the Apple TV needs plugged in, and the MacMini needs plugged in.

Slowdown isn't really acceptable for any of those.

So, at 2am on a Sunday morning, I gave up trying to find a better solution and just ordered a new router.
I got to sleep about 4am, and slept like a very dead log, until 11am when the doorbell rang, and the door knocked, and I had to trawl myself out of bed and see who it was.

New Router's arrived, so I suppose that's today's plan!

Thanks, Amazon! That's inexplicably good service.

I'll probably let you know, later, how good the router actually is.