The more reliance we have on the internet the more we all need to know how to fix it. So it’d be pretty handy to be armed with what to do when it all starts to go ‘pear shaped’. Or at least know some basics. But trying to work out whether it’s the browser, the computer, the modem, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) or even the webpage you want to see causing the problem, doesn’t appear to be the easiest to achieve. However there are a couple simple checks you can do before reaching for the phone and calling for help.
Below are a few tips anyone can use to help find out whether an internet problem is isolated or whether it is just part of a bigger problem.
1. Down for everyone or just me?
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
Ok, so if you have a problem with a webpage you are trying to browse to, firstly you’d close down your browser, open it up again and see if the page loads this time. If that doesn’t work I’d recommend you browse to a completely different website, such as, you’re internet banking site and see if that works. If it does you know your internet is working, what you don’t know is whether the page is “Down for everyone or just me”. So to check, just browse to downforeveryoneorjustme.com and plugin the site you are having problems with and within a matter of milliseconds you’ll know!
Is facebook down?
Here’s a simple example where I can’t get to facebook for some reason. So I ask the question:
And the answer is…
2. How fast is my internet?
Curious? Or ever been asked how fast or wondered why so grindingly slow the internet is? First stop is to measure how fast your Internet speed so you know what is ‘normal’. Once you’ve browsed to Speedtest just click on the “Begin Test” button (note if prompted for flash, feel free to install) and let the site do the rest. Once it’s done it’s thing you’ll get some stats on your upload and download speeds as well as your ping. Run it a few times and you should get an idea your average speed is. Next time you have a problem with slow internet speed you can check speedtest and make sure that your internet connection is still operating ok and if it is, maybe it’s the site you are looking at?
My speed is…
The results below are an example of what speed I’m getting from my home internet connection:
After clicking ‘Begin Test’ the results are in…
3. “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
As slack as Roy is (character off The IT Crowd tv series)and as much as we hate waiting for a reboot it’s generally the first question IT Support will ask, and that’s simply because it fixes the majority of IT problems in the shortest amount of time. But before turning off everything try restarting your modem first, wait a few minutes and turn it back on wait a couple more minutes to allow it to connect and then try to browse the internet to see if it was just a modem issue (or if you have another computer see if that is still working before restarting your modem). If that doesn’t work turn off both your computer and modem again, wait 10 minutes and turn them back on again. Why wait 10 minutes? Well sometimes your ISP can have a problem where it thinks your modem is connected, when in fact it is not and it won’t let your modem connect because of this. Waiting 10 minutes normally allows the problem to clear at the ISP and resolves this hiccup.
Got a tip?
How do you solve your internet problems? Do you reach for the phone straight away or are there some checks you do beforehand? Leave us a comment below, and tell us how you fixed your IT problem. (By the way, if you happened to like The IT Crowd clip here’s a longer clip of the episode and very funny!)
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