March 2009 Last month we covered ways to improve the performance of your computer system. This month we will be discussing how to troubleshoot a home network utilizing a high-speed Internet connection, either DSL or cable. I started to write a simple document on IP addresses and realized that even this would be more than most of you would want to read. So we’ll forget the IP stuff and just focus on some simple real world troubleshooting steps you can take. If these steps don’t resolve the issue then at least you can feel confident that you’ve tried all of the basic repair steps and you really do have a legitimate problem when you call for help. The classic symptoms of a broken internet connection are the inability to send and receive emails and access web sites from your web browser. You may also see messages from background programs complaining that they can’t connect to their host servers and anti-virus programs that can’t download virus pattern updates, etc. All of these symptoms indicate that you’ve lost your access to the internet. So what steps should you take if you find yourself in this situation? 1. Check the lights on your cable or DSL router. Do they appear normal? Obviously you will need to take a close look at your DSL or Cable router when everything is working to know what “normal” looks like. If your router is hidden from site it might be worth jotting down some quick notes on how the lights behave when everything is functioning normally. 2. Reset the router by removing the power cord, waiting 15 seconds, and then reconnect the power cord. This will force a reset of the router that will often resolve issues related to the router just being confused. If your router provides telephone service as in the case of some cable modems simply removing the power cord will not reset the modem. These modems contain a battery that provides power during a power outage so that you don’t lose your telephone service. In this case there is typically a small reset button on the back of the unit. Use the tip of a pen or a paperclip to hold the reset button in until the lights on the front of the router go out. Release the reset button and allow the lights on the front of the router to stabilize. Then try connecting to the Internet. Sometimes after a router reset you must also restart your computer so that it will pick up the new settings from the router. 3. Check the cable connections between your computer and the router. Sometimes a cable will be pulled out or just loose in the port. 4. Steps 4 and up are for more advanced users so if the thought of playing around with DOS commands makes your skin crawl you may want to stop here. For those more intrepid souls, read on! Get to a DOS Command Prompt by clicking Start > Run and entering “cmd” in the window and clicking the OK button. Please note that you should type exactly what is contained within the quotation marks but not the quotation marks themselves. 5. At the DOS prompt, type” ipconfig” and press the Enter key. 6. You should see your computer’s IP address, something like 192.168.1.100, the subnet mask: 255.255.255.0, and the Default Gateway Address (Your routers private IP address) 192.168.1.1. If any of this information is missing the computer is not talking to the router. Check cable connections, reset the router and restart the computer. 7. Type “ping 192.168.1.1” or the actual IP address of YOUR router at the DOS prompt. If the computer can talk to the router you should see four requests from your computer and four replies from the router. 8. Type “ping www.yahoo.com” and see if you get four replies from the web site. If not, there is a problem with the DNS (Domain Name Service) that is preventing the web address from being resolved into its corresponding IP address. If this happens you should contact your Internet Service Provider to further troubleshoot the problem. 9. If things still aren’t working you’ve come to the point where it’s time to call a professional. 10. That number is (303) 499-5152.