Using Nighthawk M1 to directly connect to a PC via ethernet

I'm having trouble connecting directly to a PC via the ethernet port on the M1. I've tried multiple factory resets, pressing the power button to wake the ethernet port, disabling DHCP and enabling IP passthrough. My PC detects that there is something connected but there is no internet connection. The M1 also refuses to acknowledge a device is connected via ethernet. I have the AT&T variant, does this matter at all? Because I can easily return it and purchase an unbranded one. I've also tried multiple ethernet cables and made sure they all worked on different systems. Am I missing a certain combination of settings or is my port just bunk? I refuse to believe that in order to hardwire my connection I need to connect it to a seperate router and then hardwire off of that. I do a lot of online gaming and ping is very important to me, the entire reason I purchased this system was because of the ethernet port and the supposed ability to hardwire connection.