Troubleshooting Network Hardware (Wireless) Part 2

Looking at Your Router

You should be able to connect over the wireless network to your router. If not, make sure of the following:

♦ Do you have DHCP enabled on the router?

♦ Is the computer able to associate with the wireless network?

♦ Can you connect to the wireless router’s Web interface using its address (such as 192.168.1.1) over the wireless network?

The "Looking at Your PC" section covers these three items in detail.

If you’ve got through the previous section and still can’t connect to the router, then skip ahead to the end and look at updating drivers.

Look back at the network diagram. Because you can connect to the router, you know that your computer is all right and the wireless network works. So, the problem is either the router or the router’s connection to the Internet.

Rebooting the router and ISP equipment

Reboots fix a lot of things, and your Internet connection is no exception. Pull the power from your cable or ADSL modem and your wireless router, count to five, and then plug them back in.

While you’re at it, make sure that all the cables are plugged in properly. Ethernet cables have a tab on the connector that prevents the cable from falling out, so a gentle tug on the connector verifies that everything is locked in.


Also verify that the devices have power. All devices differ, but they all have some sort of light to indicate that they’re on. If, after all this work, you realized that you forgot to plug something in, don’t worry; it happens to the best of us!

Give things a few minutes to settle and check again.

Bypassing the router

By now, you’ve checked all the common problems with the router and you’re getting close to the point where you’re going to have to call someone for help.

Take your router out of the loop by plugging your computer directly into your Internet connection. For cable modems, this is fairly straightforward, but for ADSL connections you sometimes need some special software.

If you’re able to connect to the Internet with your computer directly plugged in to your cable or ADSL modem, then your ISP is off the hook. The problem must be with your router. (I go over this in the next section.)

If you still can’t browse the Web with your computer plugged in to the Internet connection, then your provider’s probably at fault. You might want to skip down to the "Before Calling for Support" section.

If you’ve successfully connected to the Internet with the router before, and it just stopped working, then it’s probably a problem with your provider. Make sure that you’ve rebooted everything, and then jump down to the "Before Calling for Support" section.

Setting the connection type

If you remember way back to when you set up the router, you were asked if your Internet Service Provider requires a username and password to log in. This information is required to authenticate to the provider and get your service. If this information is wrong, then you won’t be able to log in.

Similarly, if the router is configured to log in, but your provider isn’t expecting it, then you have problems.

First, check to see if you’re getting an IP address from your provider. On the NETGEAR router, click on the Router Status link, which is in the Maintenance section and is shown in Figure 8-6.

The router status screen.

Figure 8-6:

The router status screen.

The section of the router status screen headed Internet Port contains the information pertaining to your Internet connection. You can see that an IP address of 24.79.141.14 has been assigned, and that DNS servers have also been given (it is all right that the IP address and the DNS servers look nothing like each other).

If you have an Internet address of 0.0.0.0, then it means that you’re not connected to your provider, or your provider is having a problem.

In this event, check the cable between your router and the modem, and between the modem and the provider, to make sure they’re attached and in the right port.

If everything seems fine on your end, see the next section to make sure the router’s firmware is up to date, and then call your provider.

If at this point all indications are that things should be working but they aren’t, you still can’t pin the blame on your router or the service provider. In this case, it’s best to work through your service provider first to verify that the Internet connection is working, and if that is successful, to call the support line for your router for further troubleshooting.

Upgrading Software

When software is written, the possibility of bugs being introduced exists. One of my favorite quotes about software development is, "If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in."

Sometimes software is shipped with bugs (either knowingly or unknowingly), and sometimes changes to other software introduces new bugs.

Thankfully, most devices ship with the ability to upgrade software in the field. For routers, this means that you can upgrade the firmware that runs the hardware. For wireless adapters, this means that you can upgrade the drivers.

The downside is that you need to get on the Internet to get the latest updates. If you are upgrading to regain your Internet connection, then you have to use a working computer to get the appropriate software onto a USB pen drive or a CD-ROM.

To find the latest software upgrades, go to the home page of the device’s manufacturer, and look for a link called either "Support" or "Drivers and Downloads." You’ll need to know the model number of the device you have.

Upgrading router firmware

Your router is a special purpose computer and needs some special software to make it run, much like your computer needs an operating system like Windows to run. For routers, the manufacturer provides the operating system. The router comes with a version of the software, but periodically updates are released.

Updates are a good thing for you, the consumer. A few years back, when the wireless encryption standards were in a state of flux, manufacturers were able to release updates containing the latest standards. This way, customers could be using the latest security protocols without having to buy a new router. When the 802.11n standard makes it out of draft form, you should be able to download an updated version of your router code that will bring you into compliance.

The software that a router runs is called firmware, which is some geek’s way of talking about something halfway between hardware and software.

Download the firmware from the vendor’s support site and store it on your computer. If you got the file as a .zip file, then unpack it first.

Most manufacturers recommend doing upgrades while connected to a wired port rather than wireless. This is because if the connection is interrupted during the upgrade, the router will only have part of the new image, and it might not run correctly anymore. The technical term for this is called bricking your router, because a failed upgrade usually renders the device with the same functionality as a brick.

1. Look for a menu item within the router’s Web GUI that talks about upgrading.

Figure 8-7 shows the upgrade menu from the NETGEAR router.

2. Click the Browse button to locate the image you downloaded and click OK.

3. Click the Upload button to send the software image to the router.

The next screen prompts you to confirm the version number on the router. In Figure 8-8, you can see that the current revision is 1.2.0.8, and I’m trying to upgrade it with the same version.

The NETGEAR router upgrade.

Figure 8-7:

The NETGEAR router upgrade.

Confirming the firmware versions.

Figure 8-8:

Confirming the firmware versions.

4. Click Yes if you want to continue.

The router displays a progress bar and thinks for a while before rebooting and bringing you back to the main menu.

Don’t touch your computer while this process is happening. Go grab a coffee or something. It’ll finish on its own!

That was easy, wasn’t it?

Upgrading your network drivers

The network drivers control how the physical adapter interfaces with the rest of the operating system. Changes to the operating system sometimes mean that you have to update your driver. Sometimes new wireless features are added to the adapter that allow you to be more compatible with other wireless networks.

While you’re upgrading your drivers, you may as well upgrade the wireless utilities. In fact, doing both at once is usually easier than going the long way and upgrading your drivers.

Most manufacturers release a self-installing package that automatically updates your wireless drivers and the wireless utilities. It’s remarkably simple to use.

For this example, I went to the Intel support site and searched for 3945ABG, which is the wireless card model I have. I know this because it’s printed on the bottom of my computer. I was then asked to choose my operating system. Finally, I saw the screen shown in Figure 8-9.

The following options are available:

♦ The first option is to download only the wireless drivers. Doing this updates the adapter to the latest code, but it won’t touch the management tools. The key words here are drivers-only.

♦ The second option is to download the drivers and management software. This includes both the wireless drivers and the connection utility. This option is the better choice in my humble opinion, even if you don’t use the vendor’s management utilities.

Choosing between drivers only, and drivers and utilities.

Figure 8-9:

Choosing between drivers only, and drivers and utilities.

Click the Download link, accept the agreement, and then save the file to a directory, such as your desktop. Run the program that you downloaded and follow the prompts. It’s fairly uneventful.

Before Calling for Support

If you got this far, then you’re calling either your ISP or your router manufacturer for support. That’s all right, because that’s what they’re there for. You can do this before you call to make the process go quicker, though.

Whatever you do, don’t get mad at the person on the other end of the phone. Doing so just makes the repair take longer. Remember that he didn’t cause the problem — they’re trying to help you. Introduce yourself and greet them by name.

No matter who you’re calling, make sure to have the following things handy:

♦ A concise description of the problem and what you think should be happening

♦ An estimate of when the problem started

♦ A list of what you’ve done so far

♦ A description of what your network looks like

If you are calling your service provider, make sure that you know the following:

♦ Your account number or billing address and what kind of service you have

♦ A description of which lights are on the modem and what color they are

♦ The last time you rebooted your computer and modem

If you are calling your router manufacturer, have the following handy:

♦ The model number of the router in question.

♦ A description of which lights are on and what color they are.

♦ A summary of what you’ve tried. Does the router work if you are wired in but not wireless?

The people on the phone will start by asking many of the same questions that have already been asked in this topic. Just go with the flow — they’re just trying to make sure the common problems have been covered.

Next post:

Previous post: