Tip of the Week: 3 Pro Tips to Troubleshoot Your Internet Connection

Having an Internet connection is an important part of your business’s operations. Why are we stating something so obvious? Sometimes you might be experiencing network issues that could be caused by heavy or unexpected traffic, technical difficulties, or worse. Depending on the problem, it could be as simple as restarting your modem. We’re here to help you figure out why your Internet connection is less than optimal, and what you can do about it.

Here are three questions to ask when troubleshooting your Internet connection.

Does Everything Appear to Be in Order?
Before you start to worry that there’s a problem with your Internet, you should first check to make sure that everything is plugged in and accounted for. Has a breaker tripped and caused your modem and router to turn off? Are any ethernet cords unplugged? Check with your coworkers to see if they’re also experiencing a problem. If it’s just you, it might be due to a hardware or software issue on your machine. If everyone is experiencing a problem, chances are that there’s a problem with your network on a large scale.

Are You Using Wireless Internet?
Generally speaking, a wired connection is going to give you a more stable Internet connection than a wireless signal would. Either way, you need to ensure that your devices have the proper credentials to access the Internet, and that your devices have a clear path to the connection. This means keeping the devices relatively close to the router, and with a minimal amount of obstacles in their path (like walls, objects, etc). If you’re having specific troubles with wireless Internet, try restarting the router and modem to see if this fixes the problem.

Do You Have Other Devices Eating Your Bandwidth?
If you’re having trouble connecting to the Internet, consider how many devices you currently have trying to access the network. Are there several workstations and servers that are all communicating with the network? Do you have Voice over Internet Protocol phones making outbound calls? Are your team members doing any music streaming or receiving video calls? All of this combined can be contributing to your Internet connectivity problems. Therefore, you should adjust your Internet connection’s bandwidth to both meet and exceed the demands of your users. Always prepare for extra network traffic; this way, you’ll never be caught off-guard.

The biggest threat that a poor Internet connection can produce is in the form of downtime. This is classified as any time when your systems aren’t operational and your business can’t function as it needs to. In general, it’s a best practice to avoid downtime as often as possible. Doing so can minimize the amount of time and revenue wasted in the long run, and improve your bottom line.

If your organization continues to suffer from network connectivity problems resulting in expensive and wasteful downtime, Horne & Benik would be happy to help. Our trusted technicians have the skills and tools necessary to troubleshoot your wired and wireless connections, and to help you get the best signal possible for your office. To learn more, give us a call at (603) 499-4400.