How to troubleshoot your cable/internet

Boy have I had computer dramas this past month. First my computer died well over a month ago, then I watched my computer get infected by a spyware virus, then this past weekend I had cable company drama.

It started with my “on demand” channels not showing up. So I called them up and we did some troubleshooting. They told me that they were going to “send a hit” to my box. That didn’t fix it and they sent me to the Video group. They wanted me to do a bunch of troubleshooting and I didn’t have time, so I offered to call back. Next thing I know, about an hour later my internet was starting to flake. I troubleshoot problems like this with my clients over the phone, so I know what to do right? Yes I do! I did all the in house troubleshooting and still couldn’t get a signal. Is it possible that their “hit” they sent to my DVR box might have done something to my internet modem? Hmmm….

I called the cable company and found it did need to be reset. After it reset, I got it working fine and was really irritated that the company didn’t tell me that my internet might be problematic after that “hit” to the DVR box. I was actually really irritated! Well, it turns out that I have a splitter on my outgoing cable connection so the “hit” hit everything, phone, cable internet modem and my wireless router.

Ok, so that is all figured out. The cable company came out and gave me a new DVR box that is very confusing. I have to spend some time to figure out how to record my favorite shows. (more drama!).

Now on to troubleshooting your modem. If your computer is giving you signs that the internet is not stable, then try these easy steps before calling your cable/DSL company.

• Restart your computer. Many times, the connection is weak and just needs a reset. If  you are still having problems…
• Restart your wirless router (if you have one). Unplugging your wireless router for 10 seconds usually gives it a “good kick” and will connect you again. If this fails…
• Unplug your cable/DSL modem power for a minute. This sends a signal for a “refresh” to your cable/DSL company.

For the most part, you will not need to reconfigure your wireless router. Unplugging it is enough to fix that.

If it still doesn’t work, then calling your cable/DSL provider to have the modem reset is usually not painful. My company has it set in the phone in options to reset it without talking to a person. If you do these things prior to the call, the call goes faster. They will ask you if you did these things already.

If that fails, you may want to Call That Girl. We have the experience to talk you through getting your internet repaired from other issues that are not caused by cable/DSL. Viruses may be not allowing your internet to work or just internal network configurations may be upset.

To close, keep in mind that some new Antivirus programs install their own Firewalls. Sometimes these cause folks problems with getting on certain websites or attempting to download certain programs. Make sure you check out all the options with all new Antivirus installations.

Tags: Computer Repair St. Paul MN, Computer support St. Paul Minnesota, Saint Paul Computer repair

Category: General