Boznogel247’s Internet Troubleshooting Guide
So I notice a decent number of threads in ST:T regarding issues with internet connectivity. Here is how I go about resolving all my connectivity issues. This guide is for “was working, now broken” issues. This is for high speed/broadband connections. If you have dial up, get your sister/mother to stand on the corner a night a week to get a decent connection.
1. Restart your computer…can you browse now? COOL! If not, keep reading…
2. POWERCYCLE YOUR MODEM AND/OR ROUTER – Do this by unplugging the power cable from the back of the devices directly. DO NOT just press the power button on the back, completely remove the power cable. Leave it out for a good 10-20 seconds. If you have a router, unplug your modem first and while that is unplugged unplug your router. Plug your modem in first – most modems have a light labeled cable/sync/online/DSL – wait until that light is SOLID green before plugging in power to your router. About 90% of all internet issues can be fixed if this is done correctly.
3. If your still not getting a connection, its time to check your IP address.
A) Go to start, run, type in “cmd” and press enter – a black box should appear.
B) In this box type in “ipconfig” and press enter – a list of things should appear.
*if you are hardwired, look for the section “Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection”, if wireless look for “wireless adapter”*
What is listed for your IP address? IP address can almost be anything. If you are behind a router your IP should ALWAYS start with 192.x.x.x. If your IP address starts with 169.x.x.x, that is a non valid / not public IP address, therefore your computer is not getting a proper IP from your modem/router – hence why your internet is not working.
4. So you have a good valid IP eh? Your “default gateway” should be listed here as well. In the same command prompt box, type in “ping x.x.x.x” (with the x’s being the IP of your default gateway). This should start a ping session which should usually ping out 4 times. After its complete it will tell you packets sent and received and how many were lost. If you cannot ping your default gateway successfully with 4 sent and 4 received, the problem lies within your LAN connection (your onboard LAN or NIC –network card). Try disabling your LAN connection in the control panel/network connections and re enabling it. Try to ping again – if you are still not able to get results, it seems that your onboard/NIC is the culprit here.
5. So you have a good IP address AND you can ping your Default Gateway. In the same command prompt box that you should still have open type in “ping
www.yahoo.com” or any website of your choice that you know for a fact is up and running. You should see another ping session take place. How many sent/received? If all of them are received back your PC is able to resolve domain names – your internet connection is fine. If you get no ping requests back, type in “ping 4.2.2.2” and press enter. This is a well known DNS server that you are pinging. How many packets sent/received?
A) If you are able to ping by domain name (
www.yahoo.com), you should be able to ping by IP address more than likely. This indicates your internet is in fact up and running – open up IE, Firefox, Opera, ect and check to see if you are able to browse.
B) If you are NOT able to ping by domain name but ARE able to ping by IP address; there appears to be an issue with your DNS settings. At this point contact your ISP to get your DNS server addresses, as they may need to be hard set.
1) Go to start, control panel, network connections.
2) Right click on your LAN connection, click properties.
3) Scroll down and highlight “internet protocol (tcp/ip), click properties
7. Put a dot in the radial labeled “Use the following DNS server addresses” and input the primary and secondary DNS servers, click ok on this window and on the LAN properties window. Now go check to see if you can browse.
If you STILL cannot browse I advise you to take a look at your modem once again…do you see any thing abnormal as in RED BLINKING LIGHTS or no lights at all? If so call your ISP because more than likely your modem lost sync with the server on their end and they need to fix the issue themselves. If your modem looks good I still advice you to call your ISP. You could have some certain static IP settings that I did not mention/cover because those are pretty rare, and if you have a static IP you should be able to fix your own internet
It could also possibly be a browser issue.
**Keep in mind that there are numerous forms of trojans, adaware, spyware, and viruses that can keep you from being able to browse as well.
If this guide is missing anything please let me know!!! Add to the sticky??
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