How to Troubleshoot Computer Routers

Computer routers provide the interface between your network and networks throughout the world. Most computers provide the tools necessary for troubleshooting the most common router troubles. These tools require a basic understanding of modern computer networks, as well as your operating system's more advanced functions. These tools may also help you or your network administrator to better determine the real trouble, in case the fault does not lie with your router. Depending on the size and complexity of your network, more advanced knowledge may be required.

Troubleshooting a Computer Router

• 1

  Check the router for power and connectivity. Router designs will vary, but they should all have a power light that indicates proper operation. If there are no lights on the router, check the power outlet to ensure that it is plugged in and receiving electricity.

• 2

  Check your Ethernet or wireless connection. An Ethernet cable looks like a larger phone plug, and should cause a small light to appear at, or near, the port on your computer where it is connected. Wireless connections will appear in the lower right (PC) or upper left (Macintosh) part of your computer screen as a series of radiating waves.

• 3

  Disconnect the router's power, wait 30 seconds, then reconnect. This often clears any temporary faults in the software running on the router. Check your Internet connection approximately two minutes after the router has been reconnected to see if this fixed the problem.

• 4

  Open your command prompt (Windows) or network utility folder (MacOS). On the Macintosh, you can find this by opening a Finder window, double clicking the hard-drive icon, double clicking on the "utilities" icon and opening "Network Utility." In Windows XP or 2000, you can click on the "Start" button (lower left corner), click "Run", type "cmd" into the box that appears and press "OK." In Windows Vista or 7, you can click on the Start button, type "cmd" in the search bar and select the program that appears first.

• 5

  Ping you default gateway using the Command Prompt you opened in Step 4. The "ping" command asks the device at a location to respond, then reports to you whether that device responded. To find the default gateway, type "ipconfig" into the command prompt and press Enter, or select the "netstat" tab in MacOS. Once you have the address, type "ping [default gateway]" without the quotes and replacing [default gateway] with the four-part number you found (e.g. "ping 192.168.1.1"). If you receive a response, then the router is communicating with your computer and you'll move on to Step 6. If the response says "Request Timed Out" or something similar, then there is a problem with your connection to the router.

• 6

  Ping a public IP address using the command prompt or network utility. Find one or more reliable IP addresses that are located outside of your own network (see Tips for a list of common IP addresses) and ping them similarly to how you did in Step 5. If you receive a response, then the problem is likely not with your router or its configuration. Receiving a "Request Timed Out" at this point, however, indicates that there may be a problem with the router's configuration or the connection the Wide Area Network (WAN). If this router is connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you will want to contact them for further information regarding possible outages.