Chromebook Wifi Testing (Browser Window)

Follow the below steps if you can log onto the customers device. If you can not click here.

On devices that have bad wifi, especially 303s, the issue may not be immediately reproducible. Because of this, we have a standardized testing procedure for verifying that it works. This procedure has two steps: a software based “ping” test and a visual inspection of the connections.

To test the wifi on any chromebook, open the browser and press CTRL+ALT+T to open up a “crosh” window. You will then be shown a screen similar to this:

This is Crosh, Chrome OS’s basic linux terminal. From here you can perform diagnostics on the chromebook. To test the wifi on the device, we run a “ping” test. To do this, simply type:

ping -c 50 -s 1MB www.apple.com

Press enter, and the chromebook will send 50 packets of 1 megabyte in size to www.apple.com. After you run this test, the crosh window should look similar to this:

This is just information that the terminal displays during the test. Once the test is done, the terminal will output something similar to this:

Now that the ping test has concluded, you can see the results. At the bottom of the terminal, there should be two lines about ping statistics. You need to put the statistics into your repair notes! This helps to cover you if the customer says it came back with a broken wifi connector.

If the number of packets received is less than the number of packets transmitted there is likely an issue. Check the device’s connection to the network first, and then check to make sure everything is plugged in.

After you’ve run the ping test and verified that the device works, take the backplate off and inspect the two wifi cables for damage, and update your repair notes.