What To Do When Your Internet Is Busted

So your internet has stopped working, leaving you without those news updates, social media pings, and streaming video shows you've grown accustomed to. Take a deep breath. Fortunately you must still have some way to tap into the information superhighway, but lets see about getting the onramp fixed.

What to do right away

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First step is a crucial troubleshooting question: Has the internet stopped working on all of your devices, or just one or two? If the former, you're looking at a problem with your broadband or router; if the latter, the issue most likely lies with those specific devices. You're making progress already.

Reboot the devices that can't get internet, as well as your router and modem if the issue seems a widespread one. Turning something on and off again has become a running joke as far as IT repair goes, but that is because it actually works—it forces your devices to reconnect to your internet connection, and forces your router to reconnect to the main internet feed supplied by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Wait a few minutes and see if anything has improved. If you're still not getting internet on any device, open up your router settings page (the supplied documentation should tell you how to do this, or a quick web search over your phone's data connection) and check it's actually getting a signal from the wider web. This should be displayed somewhere prominently if you click around the various screens, otherwise check back with the manual for details. Once you dig up this info, it's wise to write it down somewhere for next time.

If your ISP is experiencing issues and the internet is down in your area, there's not a lot you can do except get on the phone (or Twitter) and ask the company for an update. While you're waiting it out, you might be able to tether some internet from your phone's cellular connection, if your phone and carrier support the feature, and you have a big enough data plan to cope.

What to do after that

Assuming that you've made sure that all is well with your ISP and the broadband flowing into your home, turn your attention to your devices. If you can, plug a laptop directly into your router with an Ethernet cable, that way you can tell if the problem is with your Wi-Fi network or with something else (like malware on your laptop).

For computers that are struggling to get online, run a thorough security scan using the antivirus program you have installed or a separate scanner (like this or this). Try turning Wi-Fi off and then back on again, and if you have any pending software updates waiting, get them installed. Telling your computer to 'forget' the Wi-Fi connection you normally use and connecting again (by entering the password) can sometimes fix issues.

Phones and tablets are more straightforward, but again you can try rebooting, turning Wi-Fi on and off, and applying any pending software updates. If you can, test them on a different Wi-Fi network—if they still can't get online on two or three wireless networks, you may have a more fundamental problem that probably needs a professional repair.

It's possible that your Wi-Fi network just isn't carrying far enough—which will be obvious if you suddenly lose signal as you walk from one room into another. Try repositioning your router in the house if you find your connection is often dropping randomly, and keep other wireless devices (like baby monitors and microwaves) as far away from the router as you can. Wi-Fi repeaters, Powerline adapters, and mesh routers can all help get your Wi-Fi network out to the furthest corners of your home.

What to do in the future

Software updates are key to keeping your devices happily connected to the internet—they squash bugs, improve compatibility with the latest hardware (like routers), and generally make sure everything's working as efficiently as possible. These days it's actually pretty tricky not to keep your laptops and phones up to date, but it's worth double-checking.

We've already mentioned scanning for viruses and malware, and this is a more common cause of spotty connectivity than you might think—don't skimp on antivirus software for your laptop and desktop computers, and make sure you're running regular scans. Whenever possible, make sure you've upgraded to the most recent version of the operating system your devices are running, because a lot of security threats target vulnerabilities in older software.

As far as problems with particular devices go, rather than complete internet blackouts, a whole host of issues can be to blame, particularly on Windows and macOS machines. Doing some research ahead of time into your particular operating system and associated hardware can help you troubleshoot problems more quickly in the future—a lot of the time someone else will have had similar problems, and probably posted about them on an online forum somewhere.

Ultimately there's not much you can do if a cable gets cut down the street, or your ISP suddenly goes down (except maybe switch ISP if you have the choice). If you want to always have a backup in place, and tethering on your phone isn't an option, you can buy an emergency Wi-Fi hotspot that connects over cell networks, like the AT&T Unite Explore, the Verizon Jetpack MiFi. You can also try a device like the Freedom Hub Burst, which offers a small amount of free data every month for no recurring fee, perfect for emergencies.

Source: What To Do When Your Internet Is Busted