5 Simple Steps to Troubleshoot Your Wireless Network

February 27, 2006 | By Bob Bowman In Tips & Tricks, Wireless 101 |

1. Is Wireless Card Installed Properly And Turned On?

Many notebook have the ability to disable the wireless card, either through software or a physical switch. Is your card inserted in properly, is it turned on, and does it have all of the proper drivers installed? This is the troubleshooting equivalent of is it plugged in, but is certainly worth checking first.

2. Are You In Range of An Access Point?

When in doubt, always check your signal meter. Do you have enough signal strength to talk to the Access Point? You could simply be out of range. If your client software shows noise levels, check them as well to be sure that you have a high signal-to-noise ratio. It is always possible that a neighbor has just started microwaving a burrito, or maybe they just answered their 2.4 GHz phone.

You may also want to get one of this gadget:
Kensington WiFi Finder Plus
Wi-Fi Trekker WFS-2
Wi-Fi HotSpots Finder DS2400
Digital Hotspotter HS10

3. Are You Connected To The Proper Network?

Nowadays, wireless networks are commonly found everywhere, including your neighborhood. Under Windows XP, it automatically logs onto the Access Point with the strongest signal, unless you specify it to use another network. Check Wireless Network Connection Status to ensure that you’re connecting to correct wireless network, not your neighbor’s wireless network.

4. Do You Have An IP Address?

If your wireless settings are correct and wireless network signal strength is quite strong, then for some reason you simply haven’t received a DHCP lease. In this case, you should repair wireless connection using command line.

In Windows 2000 or XP, click Start, Run, and type cmd and click OK. In the command prompt, type in
ipconfig /all
You should see an IP address associated with your wireless device.

5. Can You Ping The Default Gateway?

The first hop on the way to the Internet is your default gateway. Can you ping it?

Try to ping the IP address default gateway’s IP address. An unreachable gateway by itself doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem, as not all routers respond to ping requests. However, if you can’t reach the gateway, and you can’t get out to the rest of the Internet, then make sure that the gateway is up.

Sometimes, reset the power of the router or switch may help to resolve the problem.

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