Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Network Issues at Home

Every home network is different, but there are some basic rules you can follow should you experience technical difficulties at home related to your internet or wireless connection.

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I don't seem to have a wifi connection.

Can other people in your home connect to your wireless network? Do you have the correct password for your wireless network? If so, reboot your device. If not, make sure your wireless router is plugged in and turned on. Go to the Airport menu (on a Mac) or the wifi menu (on Chromebook or PC) and see if you're home's wireless network is listed as an available network. If you see it in the list, select it and enter the wifi network password. If you are still unable to join, try rebooting your wireless router and your computer and try to join again.

I can join my wireless network, but I can't load the web page I'm trying to reach.

Can you reach other web pages? If so, the problem is likely with the site you're visiting. If not, try turning the wifi connection on your computer on and off again. If that doesn't work, reboot your wifi router, your cable modem, and your computer (or other device).

Google Drive/Gmail/Hangouts/Calendar, etc. won't load.

Check the Google Apps Status Dashboard. Google maintains a public list of the availability of their apps. If an app is experiencing a service disruption, it will be indicated by an orange or pink dot in the box under the date column. You can also check Twitter to see if others are having the same problem. As funny as it sounds, sometimes the disruptions end up on Twitter before the Dashboard is updated. Seriously, search for "Gmail down" and you'll get a lot of results if there's an outage. There is nothing to do but wait it out if Google services are disrupted.

Troubleshooting Web Browser Issues

Sometimes if you are having a problem with a specific site, the issue may be with your web browser, or with something that is saved in your web browser's cache.

A quick thing to try is to use a different browser.

• Google Chrome

• Mozilla Firefox

• Apple Safari

If you are having a problem with a web site or web app in one browser, try it in a different one. If it works there, the problem is your browser.

Testing your Internet Speed

If you suspect your home internet connection may be slow, you can run a test to get real numbers. Keep in mind that the interpretation of these numbers below are general guidelines. Individual results can and will vary. Also if a site or service is down your internet speed will not matter.

Go to https://www.speedtest.net/. Click the Go button and wait for the results. The test will return three results:

• Ping: This tests the latency, or how long it takes for a simple piece of data to travel from you to a remote server and back. The lower the better. Results greater than 100ms may cause real time video to be spotty.

• Download: The speed at which information is sent from a remote server to your computer. Measured in Megabits Per Second (Mbps), or Kilobits Per Second if it is slower than 1Mbps

  • Less that 1Mbps - Your connection is likely too slow for reliable real time video

  • 1Mbps to 10Mbps - Your connection will likely handle real time video, but it may be unclear or blocky.

  • 10Mbps to 50Mbps - Your connection should handle real time video just fine

  • Greater than 50Mbps - Your internet connection is almost certainly not the cause of any errors.

• Upload: The speed at which information is sent to a remote server from your computer.

  • For most internet connections your upload will be slower than your download. Speeds under 1Mbps are likely to have problems. Speeds below 5Mpbs may have distortion on real time video.

If you are seeing very slow internet speeds, first try rebooting your router or cable modem. If this persists after a reboot, contact your Internet Service Provider.