All services rendered by myself through this Google Site are subject to this disclaimer.

No Internet Troubleshooting

If you're on this page, then you're most likely suffering from one of the most devastating thing that can happen within a home in a first-world country - your internet has gone out. What should you do? Before you go calling your ISP, let's try the following steps and let's see if we can get your connection back up!

Basic Troubleshooting for No Internet Service

For those who just want to get the basic troubleshooting done before they call.

Check with your Internet Service Provider for Outages. There's really no point in going through troubleshooting steps if a main fiber optic cable is cut miles away from your home and nobody on your street has internet right now, so it's probably best to check with your ISP to save you some troubleshooting before you do anything else. While nearly all ISPs have a technical support line as their primary means of support, others also have the option of using a online chat on their website for a quicker and easier response. Contacting your ISP is usually the hardest part, but it's also what you'd usually end up doing anyways, so you might as well get it out of the way.

Check the lights that are illuminated on the Cable Modem. The lights on your modem do mean things, and can be very telling if the Internet goes out. The most important lights are typically going to be the Power, US (Upstream), DS (Downstream), Online and Link lights for most cable modem, so be sure to look at those first and troubleshoot the issue based on that. When the internet is down completely, flashing lights are much less important than lights that are out completely as lights flashing usually indicate that communication between the modem and the Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) is taking place.

Check that all of the connections and cords are secure. Another technical support stereotype, but one that has its merit. Go ahead and say that "I never go back there" or "nothing's been changed since Internet was installed here", but the fact of the matter is that cables can sometimes come loose on their own due to environmental factors. Don't just check that the connections are tight in the modem itself, as well - check the other end of the cable, to make sure that it's secure.

Try to use good old-fashioned process of elimination. If most if not all the lights are lit up and all the connections are nice and tight, then we know it's likely not going to be a problem with the cable modem or the signal coming into the home - that means there's another issue.

Attempt to take things out of the equation between the modem and your device - try connecting directly to the modem with an RJ45 ethernet cable, instead of via WIFI, or try swaping the ethernet cable itself. It may even be a good idea to try and use another device with the internet.

Perform a reset on your cable modem. OK, we're down to business now. If the internet still isn't up, then you should try to reset your modem. Some modems can be reset by unplugging the power cable for a few seconds before plugging it back in. Keep an eye on the lights on the front after you do this, and make sure that they go out before coming back and lighting up correctly.

Other modems, however, have backup batteries built into them, and it may be necessary to reset your modem using a button or a pinhole on the back - it will usually be labeled as reset or reboot. Hold down the button for a few seconds using a pin or a paper clip before releasing for the same effect.

Once the cable modem has been reset successfully, wait for a few minutes for it to reinitialize - it might take an extended period of time or even multiple resets for the modem to come back.

Need some further help? If your issue persists after performing all of these steps, then there is a good chance that the issue will likely need to be dealt with by your Internet Service Provider - this is going to be especially true if some of the lights that were mentioned in Step 2 are still not on, as your modem might have failed or there may be something wrong with the signal coming into the house.

If the lights are all lit up correctly and you're still not able to get a connection direct to the modem, there are still a few other things you can attempt to correct the problem. Please continue through this guide for more advanced troubleshooting steps - your ISP will typically have you do these steps, if you've made it this far, but it doesn't hurt to do them ahead of time!

If the lights are all lit up correctly and you are now able to get a connection direct to the modem, however, then you're most definitely experiencing a wireless-specific issue. Please use the button below to go to the Wireless Network Troubleshooting page

Click here to go to the Wireless Network Troubleshooting Page.

Advanced Troubleshooting for No Internet Service

For those who want to know how to fix their service without having to call.

Ensure that you're getting a proper IP address.

If your modem is lit up as it normally is and you still cannot get internet access through a hardwired Ethernet connection, the next step we want to take is to ensure that your device is obtaining a proper IP address. Please note: the best way to run this test is directly to your modem, not through a router.

For Windows Operating Systems: To discover your IP address on a Windows operating system, the easiest method is to access your Command Prompt - you can do this on any PC by pressing Windows Key+R and, in your Run window, typing in the letters "CMD" before hitting OK. Once you've accessed the command prompt, you can type in the command "ipconfig" before pressing Enter to run the command. Within the data that appears, you should see your IPv4 Address.
For MacOS Operating Systems: To discover your IP address on a Macintosh operating system, it's a much simpler matter. Click the Apple Logo on the top task bar and then select System Preferences. In the System Preferences field, click on Network and then use the drop-down menu beside Show to select either Built-in Ethernet or Airport. Then, click on the TCP/IP tab and your IP address will be listed beside the IP Address field.

Once you see your IPv4 address, compare it to the following list - it should be a series of 10 to 12 digits separated by dots every few digits. The IP Address itself can tell you a number of things about your connectivity to the Internet, and assist you with diagnosing issues. For more information about IPv4 addresses, please click here.

If your IP Address starts with 24.204.x.x, 24.36.x.x, 24.55.x.x, 24.57.x.x, 24.141.x.x, 24.146.x.x, 24.150.x.x, 24.156.x.x, 24.157.x.x, 24.226.x.x, 24.235.x.x, 67.193.x.x, 72.39.x.x, 108.162.x.x, 173.238.x.x, 192.186.x.x or 216.121.x.x, then your device is receiving a proper IP address from your ISP.
If your IP Address starts with 192.168.x.x, then you're most likely connecting to a network behind a router or gateway and you're currently seeing your private IP address, not the public IP address provided by your ISP.
If your IP Address starts with 169.254.x.x, then you're using a IP address reserved by Microsoft for private network addressing. If you're using a dynamic DHCP to assign IP addresses to your devices automatically, which is typical for most connections, then this usually means that your device is not able to pull any kind of IP address and has defaulted to this value.
If your IP Address starts with 10.x.x.x, you may have a static IP address set, or alternatively, your modem may not be properly activated or provisioned with your ISP.
If your IP Address starts with 0.0.0.0, then your device currently has no IP address or might have recently released it.

Note: If the Local Area Connection shows as Media disconnected while running the ipconfig in your command prompt, the computer cannot detect an Ethernet connection present. You will want to check both ends of your Ethernet cable to ensure they are connected properly. If that doesn't resolve the issue, the next step would be to swap out the Ethernet cable. If the Local Area Connection still shows Media disconnected, there is an issue with the Ethernet port either on your device or the modem.

Ensure that your device is set to obtain a IP address automatically.

If your IP address still is not a proper private or public IP Address, then we'll want to check and make sure that our device is set to obtain a IP address automatically. If you're a System Administrator or a similarly technically-savvy user that has set up static IP addresses (in which case, I don't know why you're reading this at all), then you can safely skip this step.

For Windows Operating Systems: To ensure that a Windows operating system is set to obtain a IP address automatically, you'll want to access your Network and Sharing Center - this can be done multiple ways, depending on your version of Windows, however the most common method is through the Control Panel. Once in the Network and Sharing Center, select Change Adapter Options, right-click on the applicable connection and select Properties. From the Connection Properties, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) from the list so that it is selected and click on Properties at the bottom of the list. In the next window, ensure that "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" are both selected.
For MacOS Operating Systems: To ensure that a Macintosh operating system is set to obtain a IP address automatically, navigate to your Network preferences as normal and go to the TCP/IP tab. Above your IP address, select the drop down menu to the right of Configure IPV4 and ensure that "Using DHCP" is selected. In your Network preferences, you should also navigate to the DNS tab and ensure that you are obtaining a DNS server automatically.

Attempt to Release and then Renew your IP address manually.

If your IP address is not a proper private or public IP Address, then we can try to correct it by releasing and then renewing the IP Address that we have. This process is very similar to ensuring that we have a proper IP address, with a few small difference.

For Windows Operating Systems: To release your IP address on a Windows operating system, access your Command Prompt as normal and type in the command "ipconfig/release" before pressing Enter to run the command. Within the data that appears, you should see that your IPv4 Address is now set to 0.0.0.0, indicating that the IP address has been released. Then, to renew the IP address, type in the command "ipconfig/renew" into the command prompt before pressing Enter to run the command. Within the data that appears, you should see that your IPv4 Address is now set to either the IP address that was initially set, or a entirely brand new IP address.
For MacOS Operating Systems: To release your IP address on a Macintosh operating system, navigate to your Network preferences and then go to the TCP/IP tab. To the right of your IP address, click on the button that says "Renew DHCP Lease". This will immediately release and then renew the IP address to either the IP address that was initially set, or a entirely brand new IP address.

Ensure that your device's Network Interface Card is functional.

If the issue persists with your connection, it would be a good idea to check that your device's Network Interface Card (NIC) is not damaged. This can be done by pinging your device's local IP address through your Command Prompt. Once you've accessed the Command Prompt using the above instructions, you can type in the command "ping" and then a space, before entering the common localhost IP address of 127.0.0.1 before pressing Enter to run the command. Within the data that appears, among other data, you should see the amount of packets that were sent, received and lost.

If all of the packets were sent and received, the NIC seems to be functioning correctly and cannot be ruled as damaged.
If all of the packets were sent and lost, the NIC seems to be having difficulties and may very well be the cause of the problem.
If some of the packets were sent and lost, the NIC seems to be having difficulties, although not so severe that all packets sent were lost.

In the case that the NIC appears to be having difficulties, ensure that the drivers for your NIC are up-to-date and seek assistance from the manufacturer of your device if necessary.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse