Losing your connection to the Internet can be quite frustrating, especially if you use it for business purposes. If you find yourself digitally stranded, what can you do?
I worked as a technical service rep at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for almost two years. During that time I helped thousands of customer’s reconnect to the Internet. I’ve found that the following ten steps will revive an Internet connection 99% of the time.
1. Try another website: Yeah I know it seems obvious, but a lot of people don’t think to try this. It could just be that your homepage is down for maintenance or not available due to an isolated network outage.
No lights on the card means there isn't a connection so try a different network cable
2. Try another computer: Try accessing the Internet from another computer in the house. If you can access the Internet from another computer, you now know that the problem lies either on the computer you were working on or from it’s network card to the router. Ensure that the “link” light on the network card is on. If it’s not, try re-seating the cable at both ends or replace the cable entirely.
3. Reset your router: Router’s can “freeze” causing you to lose your Internet connection. To reboot it, unplug the power cable from the back and plug it back in. Don’t worry, you won’t lose any settings. Give the router a minute or two to start up before you try the Internet again. If you still cannot get online, you should connect your computer directly to the modem, bypassing the router, and try again.
Unplug and Reconnect the power cable to your router
4. Check the lights on the modem: Check the lights on your modem to make sure you’re online. If the lights indicate that you’re offline, reset the modem by unplugging the power cable. If you have a cable modem, unscrew the coaxial cable and ground the inner wire to something metal. Doing so will discharge any static electricity that has built up on the line. Plug everything back in and wait for it to come online. If it still won’t connect, remove any cable splitters between your modem and the wall outlet – they can degrade the signal. And finally, contact your ISP for assistance. They could be having a problem that affects your entire neighborhood. Or they may need to dispatch a technician to investigate the problem.
5. Set your network adapter to obtain an IP address automatically: Most ISPs assign IP addresses to their customers using DHCP. Sometimes a computer has been configured to use a static IP address, instead of obtaining one through DHCP. To learn how to change this setting in Windows XP click here. To learn how to change it in Windows Vista click here.
Disable your firewall from the system tray
5. Disable software firewalls: A software firewall like Norton Internet Security or ZoneAlarm could have been misprogrammed to block outbound traffic from your web browser. Many firewalls will ask you to permit or deny applications as they attempt to access the Internet. A lot of novice users will accidentally will deny everything – including Internet Explorer or Firefox. There should be an icon for your firewall in the system tray at the bottom right corner of the screen. Right-click on the firewall’s icon and disable it temporarily. If the Internet now works, you have to reconfigure the blocked applications settings in your firewall.
6. Check for proxies in your web browser: If you are using a computer from work or school, it could be configured to use a proxy server that won’t work from your home network. To learn how to disable a proxy server in Internet Explorer, click here. To learn how to in Mozilla Firefox, click here.
7. Reset the network adapter: Shut down the computer and unplug the power cable from the back for about five seconds to let your network card discharge. Then, plug it back in and reboot it. If it’s a laptop, shut it down and remove the battery for five seconds before replacing it.
8. Re-install the network adapter: Sometimes reinstalling the hardware driver for the network adapter will solve the problem. This article explains how to do it in Windows XP.
10. Reset the winsock stack: There’s a chance that “winsock” – a component of Windows necessary to get on the Internet – has been corrupted (most likely caused by spyware removal). Open the command line by clicking on Start, go to Programs, then Accessories, and select “Command Prompt”. In the black box type the following command:
- netsh winsock reset catalog
Reboot the computer and try the Internet again.
Repair winsock from the command line
11. One Bonus Step – Start in Safe Mode with Networking: Restart the computer, press F8, and select “Safe Mode with Networking”. If you can get online in safe mode, you probably have malware on your computer that’s preventing you from getting online.
There you have it, eleven steps to regain Internet connectivity. If you still cannot get online you should have an experienced computer technician investigate the problem.
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