READING MATERIAL

CHS 4

TOPIC: TROUBLESHOOTING NETWORK CONNECTION PROBLEMS

To try troubleshooting a network connection problem, try these steps:

1. From the notification area, right click the network icon to open Troubleshoot
Problems. Click Diagnose and Repair.

2. Make sure that all cables are properly connected.

3. If trying to connect to another computer, make sure that the computer is turned
on and that file and printer sharing is enabled on the network.

4. If the problem occurred after installing the new software, check the connection
settings if it has been changed.

Basic Network Troubleshooting

Take note that there are various network configurations, operating systems, setup,
etc. The following information may not apply to all networks or all operating systems.

 Verify that the network adapter is properly installed and detected by the
computer with no conflicts.

 Open the Device Manager to verify if there are no errors. “Network

adapters” should be present for each network adapter installed in the
computer.

 If the network adapter is read as an “Other device”, it means that the

network card was not properly installed in the computer.
 Let the operating system re-detect and install the Network card by
removing the network adapter and any other conflict devices from Device
Manager and then reboot the computer.

 If the operating system re-detects the card, but not the drivers, download
the network adapter drivers from the computer manufacturer or the
network card manufacturer.

Verifying Connections

 Wired Network

Verify that the network cable is properly connected and make sure the LEDs next
to the network jack are properly illuminated.

For example, a network card with a solid green LED light indicates that the card
is connected and can receive the signal. If the green light is flashing, it means
that data is being sent or received.

 If there are no lights or the lights are orange or red the card may be bad, not
connected properly, or that the card is not receiving a signal from the
network. If you are on a small or local network and have the capability of
 checking a hub, switch, or router verify that the cables are properly
connected and that it has power.

 If after checking the connections the LED indicators appear bad, the network
adapter, port, or cable may be defective.

 Wireless Network

If you are using a device with a wireless network, like a laptop, make sure that
the device has a Wi-Fi button and it is turned on. If the button is turned on, make
sure that your device is connected to the network. The correct password must
be entered when connecting to protected WiFi networks.

 Adapter functionality

Verify that the network card can ping itself using the ping command. Users can
ping the computer from a Windows command line. Unix and Linux users can
pung from the shell.

Ping the card or the localhost, type either: ping 127.0.0.1 or ping localhost

Typing either will get replies from the network card. If an error occurs and the
transmission fails, it means that the network card was not properly installed to
the computer, has incorrect drivers, or the card itself is bad.

 Connect to the router

After checking the steps and that your network has a router, check if your
computer can connect to the router by following these steps:

1. Determine the routers address – Use the ipconfig command (or ifconfig
command for Linux), determine the router’s address by looking at the
Gateway address.

2. Open the Windows command line.

3. From the command prompt type ipconfig and press enter.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

computerhope.com. IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.103 Subnet
Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

The Default Gateway is the address of your router. The Default

Gateway is the address of your router.

Most home routers have a gateway address that starts with 192.168
like the address shown above.

Assuming your gateway address is 192.168.1.1 attempt to ping the

router to see if it can send and receive information by running the
below command.

ping 192.168.1.1
 3. If you get replies form the router, it means that the connection is
good and you can skip to the next step. If there are no replies, it means
that the router was not set up correctly. Reset the router to make sure that it
is not a problem with the router. Reset the router by following these steps:

a. Turn off the computer and leave it off for a few minutes.
b. Unplug the power to your router and cable modem or DSL modem.
c. Leave the power cables disconnected for 1- to 15 seconds then plug
in the modem and router again.
d. Finally, turn the computer again and repeat this step to see if the
router can be pinged.

4. If the router cannot still be pinged, turn the computer off again and
connect the computer to the router using cables instead of the
wireless option. If it still does not work, contact the router manufacturer for
additional support or replacement.

 Firewall

If possible, disable the firewall to make sure that the firewall is not causing
network problems. If the computer still utilizes the firewall, make sure that the
required ports are open especially the HTTP port.

 Internet is not working

If you’re still able to ping the router, but you still cannot connect to the Internet,
it’s either the router is improperly configured or the ISP is having issues.

If the Internet has been working properly, but suddenly stopped working, give it a
few minutes to make sure that it is not a temporary outage. If the problem is not
yet addressed after a few minutes, follow these steps:

a. Turn off the computer and leave it off for a few minutes.
b. Unplug the power to your router and cable modem or DSL modem.
c. Leave the power cables disconnected for 1- to 15 seconds then plug in
the modem and router again.
d. Finally, turn the computer again and repeat this step to see if the router
can be pinged.

If after following the above steps the Internet is still not working, open the
Windows command line and run the below command.

ping google.com

Running the command will get a reply from Google. If you get a reply, this
means that the computer is working, if not, there may be a problem with the
Internet browser because your router or modem is not reaching the Internet.

Try using other browsers such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. If you
have a router, make sure that DHCP is enabled and that the WAN or Gateway
address is the proper ISP address.

If problems still occur, contact the ISP to make sure that the problem is not on
their end and if they could assist you to other special configurations.
Additional troubleshooting

Another method of determining network issues is to use the tracert command. It

is the command prompt command that is used to show several details about the
path that a packet takes from the computer or device you’re on to whatever
destination you specify.

It gives an overview of each device a packet travels over a network and gives an
idea where a problem exists in or outside your network.

To use this command, you must be at the command line and type one of the
below commands depending on your operating system.

tracert google.com
or
traceroute google.com

If run successfully you should begin to see each hop between the computer and
network devices. When the connection fails, determine what device is causing
the issue by reviewing the trace route listing.

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