Sometimes though it is not the Internet connection itself that is causing the connectivity issues. Sometimes it is a configuration on the computer. This can be after installing new network adapter drivers, a Windows update or other software that may interfere with network traffic.

Connectivity Fixer is a free software for Windows that can fix Internet connection issues automatically. The program can monitor the Internet connection actively, to fix any problem or issue automatically when it is discovered.

The description on the developer website mentions IP and Winsock related issues that are repaired by the software.

Two options are displayed when the software is started. The Fix Now button runs the repair of the Internet connection manually when clicked on. The Monitoring button starts the Internet connection monitoring which will trigger the repair program whenever connectivity issues are discovered.

A click on Settings open the program options. Here it is possible to configure the program to start with Windows, to enable the connection monitoring on program startup and to let the program fix problems automatically without notification (the default is set to notify the user when connectivity issues are discovered).

The program can detect connectivity issues for both wired and wireless Internet connections. Windows users can download the program from the developer website. The software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on the system. (via)

One of my networking classes included the basics of troubleshooting a network connection. It included basic command line tools that really were very easy to use and understand. Most of the students thought they were fun to use.

Knowing these commands before having to deal with the frustration of a network connection problem is not a bad idea. A working connection shows you what is supposed to happen. If you see something different, you will know something is up. When problems strike, at the least you can get an idea of what is going on.

Step 0: Check the Cords & Power

The first thing you should always do is check to make sure everything is plugged in: your computer, router, device, etc. Many laptops have a button to turn off the wireless connection; the icon looks like a signal tower. When in doubt, read the manual (which you can often download from the manufacturer’s website). Bear in mind, we all forget this step at some point, so do not feel too silly when it happens to you.

Step 1: Ping Yourself

You want to test that your machine is working properly. To do this, you want to ping yourself. You use the loop-back address (127.0.0.1) to do this. Pinging the loop-back address tests to make sure software on your computer is working properly. Typically, if something is not working at this stage, you may just need to restart your computer.

ping
http://www.ghacks.net/2011/05/12/network-troubleshooting-basics-the-ping-command/

Step 2: Ping Your Router (AKA: the Default Gateway)

The next step would be to ping your router. You can find your router’s IP address with ipconfig as well (it should be on the bottom of the unit and listed in the manual too). Remember that ipconfig lists your router as the “Default Gateway.” It is very likely to be 192.168.1.1 or a similar number.

This is done to test if your router is responding. If it is not, and you have already checked to make sure it is on, then it may need to be turned off and turned on. Every once in a while it may need a refresh. If the problem continues, contact you ISP for assistance to see if they can help.

Note: Routers, like anything else in the IT world, will someday fail. There is a chance that this has happened. Your ISP help desk should be able to help you determine this. If the router is one of theirs, they will likely send you out a new one.

Step 3: Ping Yourself with Your IP Address

We want to test to make sure everything is working correctly between your router and your computer. To do this, ping your IP address. It is listed in the ipconfig command at the same time the router IP number is. If this works, you can be pretty confident that a problem is outside your home (or maybe small office) network.

Step 4: Ping and Tracert Outside Your Network

From here, you want to test something outside your network. In a medium or larger network setting, a server on another branch of the network will do. For a home network, the Internet is often your only option. Since chances are the problem is that one or more websites are (or seem) down, this is a logical thing to check.

You can use a few different tools. First try the ping command because it is the fastest. It will only tell you if the site is working or not. For more detailed information, use tracert and pathping. They can give a better idea of what is going on. For instance, if you can reach your router, but no further, the node that connects you to the Internet may be down: an ISP issue. If you can reach only a couple (one or two) steps past your router, then it still is probably an ISP issue. Your Internet is down. If you can reach a lot further, the site may be having issues (see is Facebook down, ways to check if a website is really down, for pointers) There even is a chance that other sites, either from the same proximity or even hosting service, are having the same problem. If it is an e-commerce site, there may be a number to call, but there probably is not much to do besides wait. At least you know where the problem is.

Parting Thought

On a parting note, one other benefit of trying these commands out on a nice day like today is that it creates a positive mental association with the tools. That might change with enough problems, but they are worthy of a good first impression. Having the skills to deal with a problem ahead of time is always a good idea.

Both of these commands are designed to give you more detailed information than the ping command. They will tell you about steps along the way. This can help you narrow down where a problem is.

The Tracert Command Basics

The tracert command is also called traceroute on other systems, such as on a Mac or in Cisco’s IOS (used in its routers and switches). It is used to find out what other devices are on the path to a destination. It works by sending out a number of signals. Each signal has an amount of locations it can jump to, called a time to live (TTL). When it reaches that number, the device it reaches sends back an error message. For example, the first packet of data sent out would just have one hop, so it would stop at your home router. Your router sends back a signal, and the tracert command records it. The next signal would have to go two hops and so on, until the destination is reached.

Using the command is simple. You type in tracert and an IP number or website’s name after it. You can see extra options by typing tracert /? in the command line.

To get the the command line, go to Start, Run, type cmd in, and press the Enter key.

After that, type tracert google.com in and hit Enter again. You should get something like this:

In Linux, the equivalent command is tracepath, but traceroute is available. Both commands perform similar actions, but you have to install traceroute on some systems (e.g. Ubuntu). Type in “sudo apt-get install traceroute” from the terminal to grab it. Enter the name of the command and a IP number or a website’s name to trace the path.

The Pathping Command Basics

The pathping command is more similar to tracert than a simple ping. Just like the tracert command, pathping will give you information about all the steps along the path to the website you want to test. It does this by sending out full ping commands along the way, gathering more information. This is done over a period of time, yielding a detailed report. The extra information is good to have, but the time required is a disadvantage. It can take a few minutes. Typically, tracert is the preferred command.

The command works the same way that tracert or ping do, where you type in the name of the command and the name of the site you want to test. There are some option, which you can see by typing “pathping /?” into the command line. For something similar in Linux, use the mtr command.

Assuming you did not close the command line window from befor, type “pathping google.com” in and hit Enter. You should get a report similar to tracert, but it will tell you to wait for the extra results. There is a lot of information, so you may have to scroll a little to see it all.

Controlling Pathping

Waiting roughly 6 minutes for a report is a bit much for one command. You can shorten the time to create the report with a command line option. Instead of sending 100 pings, “pathping google.com -q 10″ will send 10 per hop, or “pathping google.com -q 3″ will send 3 per hop.

Cleaning-Up Tracert or Pathping Output

Tracert command is notorious for lines that spill past the width of the screen; the pathping command never fits in a screen. By saving the output to a file, it will remove line breaks automatically. There is no manual editing involved, and the output is nicer.

To do this for tracert, type in “tracert google.com > file.txt” into the command line. If you are not familiar with Dos, or you are not sure where you put the file, you can use “notepad file.txt” (or even just “file.txt”) in the command line to easily retrieve the file.

There is one problem with this method: it looks nothing is happening. This is even more evident with the pathping command, which can take several minutes to run (hence why controlling the pathping is covered above). Be patient; this is normal.

Side note: This is call “redirecting,” and it is commonly done at the command line. Use one greater-than sign (>) to overwrite a file; use two greater-than signs (>>) to append data to a file.

This can also be done in Linux, but it is not necessary. If the tracepath command spills over the edge, you can re-size the terminal and run the command again. The Dos prompt has a fixed character width, so resizing the window will not help.

What You Can Infer

Tracert and pathping are useful in seeing where a problem is. If a command recognizes your router, but not much further, something is probably wrong with your ISP. If a command trails off, but cannot find the destination, the website probably is having a problem. Typically, it is better to start testing with the ping command because it faster than its counterparts.

Closing

There is going to be one last article in this series that puts all three commands together. Each one is a piece that you need to understand in order to use it. Combining them can make finding a problem easier.

The Ipconfig Command Basics

The ipconfig command gets its name from the acronym IP (Internet Protocol) and a shortened term for configure. Understanding this served as a mnemonic device for me when I was first learning networking. It is used to display and configure your connection to the Internet. This tutorial will focus on the display and what that means.

Deciphering the Information

To get to ipconfig, we have to get to the command line.

• Click Start, click Run, type in “cmd” & hit enter.
• Type in ipconfig & hit enter. (you can use ipconfig /all for detailed information)

You will get a screen that looks like this.

To find your router’s IP number, look next to “Default Gateway” (listed last). For a mnemonic, think of the router as your gateway to the Internet or another network. To find your computers’ IP number, look next to “IP Address”. Do not worry about the other information like the subnet mask.

In this case, the computer number is 192.168.1.4 while 192.168.1.1 is the router number. It is common for 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 to be the router’s IP address. There are a few reasons for this, which were covered in a previous article.

Ping Your Router (Default Gate)

We are using the ipconfig command so that we can get the IP number of the router. As discussed at the end of the last article on the ping command, we want to ping our router. If we can ping it, then it should be working properly.

To do this, type in ping and the router (default gateway) number as shown.

Some Possible Problems

Consider a case where the connection to the Internet seems down. If you cannot ping the router, or the ipconfig command says the default gateway is 0.0.0.0, then the problem may be in the router. The first thing to check is whether the router is on and everything is plugged in. The next thing to try would be to either restart the computer or to try and ping the router from another computer. From here, you may want to call your ISP’s help line and let them know what you have tried. An experienced user may restart the router; I have found that mine needs this from time to time. For a beginner, it is better to get some help. You will learn from the experience.

There is a possibility that your router may be failing. That has happened to me once before. Fortunately, a friend helped me troubleshoot the device, so stay in touch with networking pals. The culprit may likely have been heat from a lack of proper ventilation. Be sure your router has proper air flow. While they may run warm, if they are hot to the touch, it may be bad for the device (check your manual or consult your manufacturer).

ipconfig Command Line Options

Ipconfig has several command line options that you can utilize. You can display all of them with the command ipconfig /?. Here is a short selection of the most common uses.

• ipconfig /release – Releases all IPv4 addresses (requires DHCP)
• ipconfig /renew – Renews all IPv4 addresses (requires DHCP)
• ipconfig /flushdns – Flushes the DNS cache

Linux & Mac Use Ifconfig & Route -n

For those running Linux or are on a Mac, the commands to use are ifconfig and route -n. Is ifconfig identical to ipconfig? No. The ifconfig command will show you your computer’s IP number and other information. You just type in the command, ifconfig, into the terminal to find out information about how your computer connects to the Internet. To get your router’s IP number, you use the route command with a -n (netstat -r should work too). Both are shown in the screen shots. Make sure you use lowercase letter; the commands are case sensitive. (Side Note: Linux also has a iwconfig command for wireless specific tweaking (e.g. frequency).)

Just a note about the Mac ifconfig command. We are using it to view network settings, which is fine. In doing research for this article, I read that it is not advised to use this to change settings. From what I read, it works, but with possible complications.

Closing

We use ipconfig to find the router’s IP number. Once you have that, you can ping the router to test if it is responsive. The problem with the ping command is that, while it is fast, is doesn’t give you a lot of information. For that, we use the tracert command, which will be covered next.

Overview

Knowing the basics of network troubleshoot can help you find out where problems are. It could be your computer, your home router, your ISP (Internet Service Provided), the website itself, or something in between. First each tool will be looked at individually and then the process with be explained. The tools used will be the commands ping, ipconfig, and tracert. The process that will be covered is one of the most basic ones.

• Step 1: Ping yourself with the loopback address.
• Step 2: Ping the router (default gateway) and how to get that address (ipconfig).
• Step 3: Ping or tracert outside the network (e.g. the Internet).

The Ping Command Basics

The ping command got its name from the sound sonar makes when it “sees” something. In sonar, you send out a signal and measure the time it takes to get there. The ping command does the same thing. This tells if a computer or device is out there or not, which is the purpose of the command.

To use the ping command, you type “ping” followed by an IP number or a website name. It will show you if a destination is reachable and how long it takes to get there. It will work in Windows from the Dos Box, Linux from the terminal, and Mac from the terminal (or the Network Utility).

Click on the “Start” button > “run” > and type in “cmd” & enter to bring up the command line.

Type in ping ghacks.net and hit enter (there is a space between the two g’s).

The Loop-Back Address

Step 1 in the process is to ping yourself. To do that, we use the loop-back address. This is a special IP number, 127.0.0.1, and is useful in checking your own computer. When you ping this IP number, you ping your computer to test if the system is working. It is an internal process. If this does not work, you know the problem is in your computer. In this case, you may simply need to reboot the machine, but it could be a more serious issue.

Type in ping 127.0.0.1 and hit enter (there is a space between the “g” and the “1″).

Exceptions to the Rule

When it comes to websites and servers, not all of them will let you ping them. For example, Microsoft’s website will not show up if you ping it, but Google will. These sites, while working, will give you a “Request timed out.” error message.

How can a website show up on your browser and not on the ping command? The Internet works using a system of standard instructions called protocols, TCP in a website’s case. The ping command works with another protocol called ICMP. The main use for ICMP is to test connections and find out where a problem is. It is supposed to send back information to the sender letting them know if the message was received. If you turn off ICMP, then ping will not work. A firewall is usually used to do this.

In school, when we tried to ping classmates; this was a problem. With the firewall on, we could not ping each other until we turned it off. That is not something you should do at home, but it can explain why you cannot ping a computer on your home network. If you do decide to try out something that requires turning off your firewall (not recommended), unplug your router from the Internet and do not plug it back in until your firewall is running again.

Ping Command Options

The ping command will try to reach site four times by default. Personally, I think twice is enough. You can limit the number of times by using some switches. Switches are extra text you include with a command to tweak what it does.

• In MS Windows, use ping -n 2 destination
• In Linux, use ping -c 2 destination
• On a Mac, use ping -c 2 destination

Some people think once or thrice is enough, so feel fee to swap that 2 for a 1 or a 3. There are more options too, but this is what I find useful. You can always type “ping” by itself to see all the options (in dos, ping /? works too). Tip: If you are using Linux, and the ping command just keeps going, use ctrl+c to stop it.

Closing

The first step is to ping yourself. The next step is to ping your router. To do that you need to know how to use the ipconfig command, which will be covered in the next article.

Computer repair flowcharts can aid even inexperienced users to analyse the computer hardware problem with the possibility to repair it directly without having to spend money on professional computer repair. The computer repair flowcharts that are available on the website in pdf and image format are part of a computer repair book that contains additional diagnostic flowcharts that are not available on the website.

The following computer repair flowcharts are available for free on the website:

• Power Supply Failure
• Video Card Diagnostics
• CPU, RAM and Motherboard Troubleshooting
• Hard Drive Failure
• CD and DVD Troubleshooting
• Modem Failure
• Sound Card Diagnostics
• Network Troubleshooting

Each computer repair flowchart guides the user through a series of Yes or No questions. The hard drive repair flowchart for example beings by asking if the drive is detected during the boot process and goes from there to cover all eventualities that can lead to a hard drive problem. Computer repair experience or at least some knowledge of computer hardware helps while working with the computer repair flowchart as it sometimes refers to specific computer hardware or features provided by the hardware.

The computer repair charts refer to each other. The Motherboard, CPU and RAM troubleshooting section for instance links to the Power Supply Failure and Video Card Diagnostics flowcharts which means that the user has to open these computer repair charts to continue with the repair.

There are several reasons for these network issues including computer crashes, installation of networking software or malicious software attacks that tampered with network settings and Winsock. A corrupt Winsock can therefor lead to all kinds of networking troubles which are difficulty to analyze and understand for the inexperienced user.

Some software developers on the other hand have created software programs that can fix most Winsock errors with the push of a button. That’s obviously more comfortable than having to fix the errors manually.

Winsock Repair is a portable software program for the Windows operating system that has two primary functions. The first is to reset the TCP/IP stack which will rewrite important Windows Registry keys with their default values. The second will try to repair Winsock so that the network connectivity issues are a thing of the past. It does provide an option to list the installed LSPs (Layered Service Providers) which can be important as pre-installed LSPs might need to be reinstalled after fixing the Winsock errors.

LSP Fix is an alternative to Winsock Repair. It makes it easier to deal with LSP related problems as it will list all of them in its interface with the option to remove only selected ones from the computer system.

The ICSI Netalyzr is a new beta online network troubleshooting analyzer that can analyze various aspects of a computer’s network connection. It is made up of a Java applet that has to be executed on the user’s system. The benefits of a Java Applet are that it is system independent and that it can access and analyze the computer’s hardware and other aspects of the computer system.

The analysis will take a while and an in depth network troubleshooting report will be generated and presented to the user in the end.

The network troubleshooting report is divided into two sections. The first reports on noteworthy events and is further divided into major abnormalities and minor aberrations. The second section displays the detailed network troubleshooting report that is colored for easier access. Entries with red backgrounds describe network problems while green backgrounds display unproblematic network elements.

Each title in the report is clickable leading to a short explanation of how the tests are conducted. Related articles can be found about Network Bandwidth and Network Monitoring Software.