[GT2000]

Ah, well.. so when you connect from the router to your pc, you get the status light (1, 2, 3, or 4) lit up on the router, as well as blinking activity on the back of your system where the cat5 plugs in?

I guess sometimes that would still occur even if the ethernet is blown (which is way too common), sometimes tho if it is blown, then the computer wouldn't even recognize a cable being connected..

Yeah, give a different adaptor a shot, hopefully that's all you need... and having a blown ethernet port on the motherboard generally won't effect anything else if it was a small power surge.