Unless it was the power supply for the pc running the program, I don't see how it could have been the problem. For the etherdongle, Once you get past the Ethernet interface,there is no feedback to the pc. If using the USB dongle, once you get past the dongle, there is no feedback to the computer.
The only exception to this one way communication is the conductor.
Having said that, windows an be unpredictable at times and a simple reboot can fix many issues...