Whether you’re at work, home, or – even worse – working from home, there’s nothing like A Bad Internet Thingy to wreck your day. Often the problem is not knowing what the problem is. So, let’s fix that. This week, the problems. Next week – the solutions. No spoilers, please.
Is it just you? If the problem is a national or regional, you’re powerless. Fiddling with settings or shouting won’t help. If you’re on a local WhatsApp or Facebook group there may be other people having connectivity grief. Otherwise, there’s a quick and easy way to find out…
Is it just this device? We live in a universe of interconnected stuff, with the Wi-Fi router at the centre. If you want to avoid spending the rest of your life on the phone to your ISP’s customer helpdesk in Bangalore, run this simple test…
Have you tried something else? There’s a big difference between a router signal or your internet connection. You’ll only determine the difference by creating a workaround. And that may require digging around in your shed, the kitchen drawer, or nipping out to the shops…
DNS Problem Alert! The Domain Name System (DNS) is the Internet’s contacts book. While we look up sites based on their domain names, such as thesprintgroup.com, browsers use unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Misconfigured DNS settings or a browser SNAFU break that connection…
Slow Internet Speed Nightmare? Working from home is fine for most, but some of us need to access some big files. That may cause some latency, or lag. But what if it’s the same draggy speed for everything? There are a few ways to test this….
Exhausted IP address crisis? If you are connecting to the internet without a local router, your ISP will have generated your unique IP address. And that’s a finite resource. Once the well of IP addresses has run dry, so will your connection…
Duplicate IP situation: Two devices cannot share the same IP address, but that won’t stop them trying. If a newer device you’ve added has been given an already-in-use IP address, its DHCP server may conflict with your current server. And that isn’t good…
These are just some of the ‘computer says no’ problems that we all experience at home or work. And it’s only when something goes wrong that we realise that Internet supply is by no means a given. If any of the above crises ring a bell, then you’ll already understand the benefits of having an IT support team at the end of the line.
If that’s currently missing from your life, we should talk.
