What do you do when your internet connection stops working.

I have seen this happen often enough, that I thought I’d better make a guide of the first things to try, before calling out a technician.

1. Make sure your internet is really stopped (and not just your browser): with XP, start -> run -> cmd -> type: ping kk.com (or try ping google.com). you should receive at least 1 reply from the internet site that you ping.
2. Restart your modem, router, and any other internet related equipment (ie no power for at least 10 seconds)
3. Turn off your computer. A shutdown is not enough, make sure it has no power… ie unplug from the wall socket… for at least 20 seconds. If you use a laptop, then remove the battery after shutdown.
4. Contact your Internet provider (they might find that there is a technical problem on their lines/servers).
5. If you are using a local wireless connection, try connecting the PC directly to the modem via an ethernet cable (usually a yellow or blue cable with a “wide” phone plug on each end).
6. disable (or even uninstall) any firewall and antivirus / antispyware software. These programs often block internet access. Obviously don’t run without protection for more than 30 minutes. If this is the problem, you might need to install a different security package.
7. Scan for virus and spyware infections. An antivirus is not enough anymore. You need to install, either the following free applications, or a commercial equivalent: antivir or avast, windows defender and / or superantispyware, winpatrol, spyware blaster.
8. Uninstall browser toolbars (like mywebsearch, google search bar, live search bar, yahoo search bar). These browser bars often cause problems, and can easily be removed by start -> control panel -> add/remove programs
9. If all that fails, call an experienced technician. To have a better chance of getting a good tech, find out how many years experience they have… I’d say someone with at least 5 years experience is best)… and make sure they don’t use tricks like: “10 years of combined experience”… that can mean 10 techs with 1 year experience each…

Here is a short video that illustrates some of the points I’ve just made (although I wouldn’t suggest that non-technical people uninstall the network driver!):