IT Support Blog

 We often get customers asking us “My internet has stopped working – what’s wrong?” or “My internet has suddenly become really slow – what’s wrong?”.

 There can be a few simple things to try before you call your friendly, local IT guy!

Power cycle your modem/router

This is the ‘box that has lights on it that gives you the internet’. Your starting point should always be to turn it completely off, wait a few minutes, then turn it on again.

In many cases this will fix the problem. If power cycling your modem does not fix the problem, there is more you can try.

Have you recently had any changes to your phone lines at home?

We had a customer who had a new phone point put in her home. After she moved her modem to the new phone point – the internet suddenly went very slow. After moving the modem back to its original phone point – it was fine again. In her older style home, there were problems with the wiring and it turned out that the new phone point was the problem.

Have you plugged in a new phone? Have you had a power surge?

Any faulty device plugged in to a phone line in your home can cause your internet speed to drop suddenly or stop working completely.

Start by unplugging anything that goes into a phone line (all phones/faxes etc). If you have a splitter on your modem (which you should!) – remove this also. Then plug the phone line from your wall directly into your modem (no splitter for now).

Test your internet – has this fixed the problem?

Then re-add your devices one by one – testing the internet in between each one. If you are still experiencing issues with your internet, the problem may lie with your modem or splitter. A replacement can cost around $75 for a wireless modem-router or $15 for a splitter. If you replace you modem and still have trouble – it could be an issue with your line.

Contact your ISP and ask them to organize a line test for you. Or just call your friendly local IT guy and get them to assist!