When troubleshooting a network, there are three categories your problem usually falls under. You will either have a physical network problem, a configuration problem, or a software problem. A rule of thumb when troubleshooting a network is that you want to only change one thing at a time and check if that change solves the problem. You also want to take notes of the changes you do just in case you break something else while troubleshooting your network.
The first thing you want to check is the physical part of your network. This means checking to make sure the network card, modem/router, and cables are in good shape and working correctly. You want to make sure the modem and router (if you are using one) are turn on and receiving a signal from your ISP Company. Most modems and routers usually have a light that tell you if it’s on and others lights that tell it whether its receiving or sending data from your ISP and computer. If you don’t see any lights on in your modem, then check your power cable to make sure its plug in and that the socket has power. If everything is good with the power, then you want to check the data cable going from the wall to your modem. You can also called your ISP company and ask them to check if you are receiving a data signal. If you are getting a signal from your ISP Company and your model is good. Then the next thing to check is the cable running from the modem or router to your computer. Check the cable to make sure its good and no breaks are found in them. Sometimes a pitch in the cable can break one of the wires inside and damage the whole cable. If you have an extra cable, go ahead and change the cables and test the connection to see if it works. If the cable is good, then the next thing to check is your computer. Make sure the cable is plug into your computer and it’s secure. You also want to make sure your network card is working property. When the computer finishes booting up doing this simple test.
Click on Start -> Run
Type “cmd” without the quotes
A black window will open and show the default path of your computer. It’s usually c:\ which is your hard drive address.
Type PING “127.0.0.1″without the quotes. This will send a test signal to your network card asking for a response. You should see something similar to the following text
Reply from 127.0.0.1 bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1 bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1 bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1 bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
If you get anything else or your ip number starts with *196.254, then there is a pretty good change the network card itself might be bad. The *196.254 ip number usually means that your computer could not get a dynamic ip number from your modem/router and assign itself an ip number.
*Note: If you setup your router/modem to start with ip number 196.254 then the problem might be something else.
To test the configuration you would do the following simple test in your computer. The first thing you want to do is test to see if the TCP/IP software is working properly. To figure it out, type IPCONFIG in the black (DOS) window. You should see the following text.
IP ADDRESS: **192.168.n.n
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: **192.168.n.n
The number you want to write down is the “IP ADDRESS” and Default “Gateway”. If you have a private network or you are using a router your ip number will usually start with 192.168.n.n. Once you have written down the numbers, you want to
In the black (DOS) window type PING **192.168.n.n. (Default Gateway number). This will send a signal to your router/modem. If it’s communicating with your router/modem you will see similar information as when you ping your computer earlier (127.0.0.1).
Reply from **192.168.n.n bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from **192.168.n.n bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from **192.168.n.n bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
Reply from **192.168.n.n bytes=32 times <=1s TTL=128
If you get another message then your computer might not be communicating with your router or modem. With the black (DOS) window still open, type IPCONFIG /RELEASE. This will release the ip number held by your computer. Then type IPCONFIG /RENEW. This will re-assign a new ip number to your computer.
Type IPCONFIG in the black window and you should see the new ip number assign to your computer.
IP ADDRESS: **192.168.n.n
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: **192.168.n.n
Then type TRACERT www.google.com (You can type any website address or ip number. I usually use Google since I know its always working.) You will see HOPS that your computer takes to reach Google’s servers. They are usually 13 to 30 hops per request, but it all depends on the location of the server and the path your computer takes to reach the server.
Here is an example
1 40ms 1ms 1ms **192.168.n.n
2 47ms 51ms 36ms 216.239.46.40
If everything looks good with your configuration and you are getting an ip number and response from the server and modem. Then the problem might be with software running in your computer. Sometimes anti-virus software comes with a firewall which can prevent you from connecting to the internet. Check to see if you anti-virus software comes with a firewall. If it does, disable the firewall and try connecting to the internet. If your computer connects to the internet, then you just need to reconfigure your firewall software to allow your computer connect to the internet.
If any of this solutions don’t work for you. Then you might want to take it for service and have a professional computer technician to look at it for you.
**NOTE: the ‘n’ in the ip address refers to any real number between 0-255.
Great info. Looking forward to your next post.