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how to repair ethernet port
If possible use the built in wireless card to connect to your network.
Sounds like your ethernet port got zapped by a power surge. I had that happen once when a surge came through the coaxial cable for my cable internet service. Any ethernet port that was in use at the time got zapped and was rendered unusable. I lost my cable modem, my Apple Time Capsule, and a NAS drive. Needless to say, a lesson was learned and I now have surge protection on the coaxial cable as well as my network cables. Anyway, as far as repair goes, the ethernet port is soldered directly onto the logic board on the iMac, and it is very difficult to replace…although in theory you could replace it with the right tools and skills. If I were you though, I wouldn’t even bother with repair. Instead, I would pick up a USB to ethernet adapter like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethe… Especially since this is a desktop, the only downside to doing it this way is that one of your USB ports is constantly occupied. Of course, that could be solved by getting a USB hub. Either way, you’re looking at a less than $50 cost rather than many hundreds of dollars on a replacement logic board, or attempting to solder a new one onto the current logic board which will be a lot of labor and may not even work.
