Staying connected more important than ever
By BILL HUSTED
Cox Newspapers
October 13, 2009
ATLANTA -- High-speed Internet connections -- cable or DSL -- were once as
finicky and unpredictable as a house cat, and just as likely to suddenly
want to go out.
Nowadays, most of us go months or even years without a problem. But the rare
outage is more annoying than ever. We live in an e-mail, Facebook and
Twitter world. Our work and much of our shopping gets done online. It's the
same with school assignments and play.
So a plan for restoring the Internet connection should be part of your home
computing toolbox. Like most computer-fixing chores, you need to start with
the most likely suspects and easiest fixes.Here's a rundown on how to stay
connected or get reconnected.
We'll start with a magical fix that solves the problem at least half the time.
If your connection goes away simply turn off the computer, router and modem
and let them sit for a couple of minutes. Then turn them on again. That
forces all the players in the equation to join hands and establish good
connections.
It's a powerful and simple first step. If it solves your problem, stop
tinkering. As is true with many computer ills, tinkering can create more
problems than it fixes.
If you're still offline, it's time to get the router or hub out of the
picture. Plug the cable from your modem directly to a computer. This is also
a good time to make sure none of the cables that connect your devices have
worked loose. So remove them and snap them firmly into place. Trying to
establish a connection without the router or hub helps you narrow down the
source of the problem. It removes a variable.
As you probably know, a router helps distribute the data to your home network.
A hub does similar work but is a much simpler gadget. If you'd like to know
more about these devices and the difference between them, here's some good
reading: http://tinyurl.com/5f6l7.
If the problem persists with the router or hub out the loop, you can be pretty
sure the problem is either a faulty modem or lies with your provider.
That's valuable information for the next step. Call your Internet provider and
ask for help. I know it's annoying to listen to endless minutes of bad music
as you wait. But there are solid reasons for doing this before trying any
do-it-yourself cures.
For one thing, if the problem is in the Internet provider's system, all the
fancy tricks in your repertoire won't make things right and might make them
worse. Even if the problem is on your end, you'll be taken through fixes you
may have overlooked.
You can speed up the encounter by having some information on hand. Write down
the brand and model of the modem you're using, along with the operating
system, the amount of RAM and the type of router or hub.
Between your efforts at home and those of the tech from the Internet provider,
you're almost sure to find the problem and get your Internet connection up
and running.
But connection problems aren't always just a matter of your Internet service
working or not working. Often times a connection can be slow beyond belief.
You can test the speed of your connection by going to special Web pages that
automate the process. The one I use can be found here:
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/.
It's a good idea to try the test a couple of times. You'll find links on that
page that help you evaluate the results. If the test results confirm your
belief that your connection is too slow there are a few things you can try.
First make sure your computer is free of adware and spyware. These tiny
programs (usually called malware) are not as harmful as a virus but can slow
down a computer. Most of them monitor your Web use using your online
connection. So they not only cause an extra load that slows your computer,
they also can take up valuable bandwidth on your Internet connection.
Windows comes with a free program, Defender, that checks for malware. Type
that name in your help menu to make sure you have it enabled. Commercial
programs such as Norton 360 offer even better protection. There are also
free programs such as Lavasoft's Adaware Free:
http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad(underscore)aware(underscore)free .php.
You'll also find help for a slow connection at these sites:
http://tinyurl.com/putkof and http://tinyurl.com/pc3jz2.
Follow these tips and you are almost guaranteed to be among the world's
well-connected.
Bill Husted writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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