I've confirmed this issue exists for me in vanilla Kubuntu 12.04, so it seems independent of LMCE code.
I will take my problem to other forums - thanks to everyone who's offered help so far.
My NICs incase anyone runs into this:
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 01)
03:06.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82541PI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 05)