Internet Connection Problems
Sometimes Internet connection problem can be our frustration. Rather than pressing F5-key and trying to reload the website when we experience a problem, here are some ways we can troubleshoot the problem and identify the cause.
Ensure we check the physical connections before getting too involved with troubleshooting. Anyone could have accidentally kicked the router or modem’s power cable or pulled an Ethernet cable out of a socket, causing the problem.
Ping
Ping (wikipedia.org) is a computer network administration utility used to test the reach-ability of a host on an Internet Protocol (IP) network and to measure the round-trip time for messages sent from the originating host to a destination computer.
The name comes from active sonar terminology which sends a pulse of sound and listens for the echo to detect objects underwater.
One of the first things to try when our connection doesn’t seem to be working properly is the ping command. Open a Command Prompt window from your "Start button" using the "cmd" command and type a command like ping google.com .
Modem & Router Issues
Sometimes our modems or routers can cause the problem of Internet connection. A modem is a device that communicates with your Internet service provider (ISP), e.g. TOT, while the router shares the connection among all the computers and other networked devices in our home network. In my case (and also other students' cases ) , the modem and the router of mine is the same device, so it is called the "modem-router".
Let's take a look at the modem-router. If green lights are flashing on it, that’s normal and indicates network traffic. If we see a steady, blinking orange light, that generally indicates the problem.
If the lights indicate that either devices are experiencing a problem, try unplugging them and plugging them back in. This is just like restarting our computer. If we still experience problems, we may need to perform a factory reset on your router (to see its manual).
