How do I troubleshoot my Internet connection?

Post date: Oct 10, 2011 2:46:41 PM

Normally, our Internet speed is quite fast. There may be malfunctions however and here we'll show you how to resolve them when we are not available. Since if there is a problem with your Internet connection you will not be able to access this page, we suggest printing it out or saving it to your computer.

No Internet at all (Windows alerts you of "Limited Connectivity" or "problem with your connection").

• 1. Verify that the ethernet wire is securely connected to your computer. There is usually connection LED marked "Link" or LNK that lights up when there is a connection.

  2. If after making sure that the wire is securely connected you are still warned that there is no connection and no LED lights up then the problem is with the router or with the switch in the living room.

  3. In the living room, make sure that the equipment (switch, router, cable modem) is powered on and properly connected. Visually trace your wire to the switch and make sure that it is connected.

  4. For the cable modem, all lights should be on, except for the last one, which flickers with activity in what seems like a random pattern. If they are not all on and one light other than the last one pulsates regularly there is usually a problem with the wider Internet. Reboot everything by turning the UPS off, wait 30s - 1 min and then turn it back on.

  5. If the above problem is not going away on reboot, you might want to call my Internet provider at 1-866-330-9511. Usually, when there is a problem it affects an entire area and there is a message telling you that as soon as you press the option for technical support. Waiting on line to talk to a technician will not resolve much at that point as they are aware and working on it, but you could talk to them if you want to and mention you are a member of my household, giving my name and phone number.

Internet speed drops significantly or feels more sluggish than usual or if Windows alerts you that there is a problem with your connection please eliminate first possible reasons on your computer. These include (you don't have to do them all, just do them in order until the problem is solved):

• 1. Stop any downloads or bandwidth intensive applications such as uTorrent and others.

  2. Follow the ConsumedConsumer guide to limit your uplink.

  3. Close memory hungry programs. Start Windows Task Manager (right click on taskbar, click the Process tab, Show all and order processes by CPU usage by clicking on CPU, see if a process other than "System Idle Process" has monopolized it and if yes, click on in then on End Process).

  4. Reboot the computer to ensure that there is no misbehaving program eating up your resources

If after taking all these steps there is still an Internet problem, please ensure that the router and your connection to it is functional. To do so, please follow these steps:

• 1. Press Windows key + R (or click Start -> Run Program) to bring up the Run Program dialog box.

  2. Enter CMD and press OK (or hit Enter). This will bring up the Command Prompt.

  3. Type ipconfig and hit Enter. You should obtain an output similar to the following:

• 1. Make note of the Default Gateway number which should be in the form 192.168.xxx.xxx. We'll call it DG.

  2. Type ping DG and hit enter, as follows:

• 1. If you did not obtain an output similar to the above and you get "Request timed out" or lost packets the problem is local. Please check that the network cable is plugged in and that the router is on. Is there a connection light where the network wire plugs into your computer? Does the light flicker if you move the wire?

If there is a slowdown in the Internet speed and by going through the steps above you determined that the problem is not local (i.e., the test above completed successfully), please download and run this batch file provided by our ISP (right click and save to desktop, then double-click it). Don't worry, it is safe :)

This will create a report on your Desktop (SpeedResults.txt) and it will also run a speed test on SpeedTest.net. If for some reason SpeedTest.net page does not open automatically, please go there yourself and run the speed test by clicking BEGIN.

Please carefully record the results in this form and send us an email to alert us of the problem.