How to fix an internet connection

The internet is something most people rely on every single day, yet internet connections can be very unreliable and frustrating to an uninformed user. Nearly anything from a power outage to a light storm can cause you to lose your connection and it can sometimes take hours to get it back if the right steps aren't taken to diagnose and remedy the problem. This guide will take you through some basic actions any user can take to test and repair most problems with their connection.

Step 1 Resetting your modem

Most home connections today use some sort of a broadband modem to connect to the internet. There are a number of issues that can be present with modems. To ensure that your problem is not related to your modem, go through the following steps:

1. Look to see which lights are lit up on your modem. There are many different varieties out there, but most will at least have at least four green lights labeled send, receive, online, and PC activity or something similar.
2. If two or more of these are off or repeatedly flashing on and off, reset your modem. Some will have a reset button present on the top or back while others will need to be unplugged and left off for a few seconds, then plugged back in.
3. Wait to see which lights come back on when the modem resets.

Based on what lights come back on, decide your next course of action:

A) If multiple lights are still missing, particularly the send, receive and internet lights, the problem may be an outage in your area or a problem with your Internet Service Provider. Go to step six to see your options for dealing with that issue.
B) If all lights but the ethernet/PC Activity light are on, the problem may be your ethernet cord. Step four covers how to see if that is your problem.
C) If all of the lights come on, check to see if your problem is fixed by attempting to view a web page on your computer. Proceed to the next step if you are still unable to connect.