If you have ever gotten the message "Server Not Found", or
"You Are Not Connected to the Internet"? Might be due to an
internet Connectivity and Reliability issue. This resource will
help you troubleshoot the cause and lead you to a reliable
solution.
FIRST QUESTION
Are all of your devices unable to connect to the internet,
or just one device? If just one, reboot it. BTW--Keep all
your devices' OSs and Apps up2date.
SECOND QUESTION
Is your smartphone connection to the internet via Cellular
or via Wi-Fi? iPhone's Control Center allows you to turn
on/off the Cellular and Wi-Fi radios to test. Similar on
Android phones. Can you connect to the internet by Cellular
only? Can you connect to the internet by Wi-Fi only?
SPEEDTEST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedtest.net
speedtest.net, also known as Speedtest by Ookla, is an
American web service that provides free analysis of Internet
access performance metrics, such as connection data rate and
latency. It was founded by Ookla in 2006, and is based in
Seattle, Washington.
The service measures the data throughput (speed) and latency
(connection delay) of an Internet connection against one of
around 8,000 geographically dispersed servers (as of
November 2019). Each test measures the data rate for the
download direction, i.e. from the server to the user
computer, and the upload data rate, i.e. from the user's
computer to the server. The tests are performed within the
user's web browser or within apps. As of September 2018,
over 21 billion speed tests have been completed.
Tests were previously performed using the HTTP protocol at
Layer 7 of the OSI model. To further improve accuracy,
Speedtest.net now performs tests via direct Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) sockets and uses a custom protocol
for communication between servers and clients.
Poor connectivity is indicated by low download speeds and/or
high jitter. High jitter is indicative of noisy phone lines
and cables that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) needs to
address. Are the results of Speedtest consistent day and
night? Check often.
Analyzing Internet Connectivity with Speedtest
Speedtest for All Online Devices
https://speedtest.net
https://speedtest.tds.net
https://fast.com (IPv6) (VPN)
Speedtest Apps for Mobile Devices
Speedtest App for Android
Speedtest App for iPhone/iPad/iPod-touch
FAST Speed Test App for Android
FAST Speed Test App for iPhone/iPad/iPod-touch
PING (networking utility)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_%28networking_utility%29
Ping is a computer network administration software utility
used to test the reachability of a host on an Internet
Protocol (IP) network. It is available for virtually all
operating systems that have networking capability, including
most embedded network administration software.
Ping measures the round-trip time for messages sent from the
originating host to a destination computer that are echoed
back to the source. The name comes from active sonar
terminology that sends a pulse of sound and listens for the
echo to detect objects under water.
Download Network Tools
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beenettools/id1160138136
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/he-net-network-tools/id858241710
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.he.networktools
Analyzing Internet Connectivity from PC or Mac Command Line
Getting to the Command Line (all versions of Windows)
Win-R opens the Run command box immediately. Then type: cmd
Getting to the Command Line (Terminal on a Mac)
Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal
From the Command Line:
Using PING (networking utility) to test your connectivity
and the reachability of a host on the Internet
Type: man ping
Type: ping 8.8.8.8
Type: ping dns.google
Type: ping6 dns.google
Terminate by typing: ctrl-c
Packet Loss, Intermittent, or wildly fluctuating round-trip
times indicates a poor internet connection provided by your
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and should be addressed.
Instability may also show up in speedtests. Check often.
DNS Failure
If your Domain Name Servers (DNS) provided by your Internet
Service Provider (ISP) are not working, pinging an IP
address may work fine, but your browser still doesn't work.
The solution to use alternative open DNS servers such as:
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-1.1.1.1/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_recursive_name_server
https://www.dnsperf.com/#!dns-resolvers
MODEM
A modem, usually provided by your Internet Service Provider
(ISP) translates signals from your ISP via fiber, cable,
phone line, or Antenna into digital signals using the
internet protocol (IP). A modem will have a unique IPv4
address on the Internet.
The current status of the modem lights helps the end user to
know whether a connection is established, if the connection
is active, or if the connection has dropped for some reason.
One should download the Manual (PDF) for your Modem.
Cable modems often use an internal IP Address 192.168.100.1
Using your browser type: http://192.168.100.1
ROUTER
A NAT router (sometimes referred to as a gateway) creates a
local area network (LAN) of private IP addresses and
interconnects that LAN to the wide area network (WAN) known
as the Internet. The "Network Address Translation" (NAT)
performed by the router allows multiple computers (machines)
connected to the LAN behind the router to communicate with
the external Internet. One should download the Manual (PDF)
for your Router.
Modem Router
MAINTENANCE OF ROUTERS (gateways)
Find Your Router IP Address (all versions of Windows)
Type from command line: ipconfig
Find Your Router IP Address (Mac)
Type from command line: route get default
Using your browser type: http://Your Router's IP Address
ROUTER SECURITY SETTINGS (Extremely Important)
Apple: Recommended Settings For Wi-Fi Routers And Access Points
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202068
FTC: Securing Your Wireless Network
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0013-securing-your-wireless-network
Secure Router Configuration
https://routersecurity.org/index.php#StartHere
https://routersecurity.org/index.php#FullList
Router Security Checklist
https://routersecurity.org/checklist.php
INTERNET
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer
networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to
communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of
networks that consists of private, public, academic,
business, and government networks of local to global scope,
linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical
networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range
of information resources and services, such as the
inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the
World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file
sharing.
INTERNET HEALTH INDICATORS
Downdetector
https://downdetector.com
Apple status
https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/
Google Status
http://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=status
Zoom Status
https://status.zoom.us
TRACEROUTE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traceroute
In computing, traceroute and tracert are computer network
diagnostic commands for displaying the route (path) and
measuring transit delays of packets across an Internet
Protocol (IP) network. The history of the route is recorded
as the round-trip times of the packets received from each
successive host (remote node) in the route (path); the sum
of the mean times in each hop is a measure of the total time
spent to establish the connection. Traceroute proceeds
unless all (three) sent packets are lost more than twice;
then the connection is lost and the route cannot be
evaluated. Ping, on the other hand, only computes the final
round-trip times from the destination point.
The command traceroute is available on many modern operating
systems. On Unix-like systems such as FreeBSD, macOS, and
Linux it is available as a command line tool.
Traceroute App for mobile Devices
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beenettools/id1160138136
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.he.networktools
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/he-net-network-tools/id858241710?ls=1
Analyzing Internet Routing from PC or Mac Command Line
Getting to the Command Line (all versions of Windows)
Win-R opens the Run command box immediately. Then type: cmd
Getting to the Command Line (Terminal on a Mac)
Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal
From the Command Line:
Using TRACERT to Troubleshoot TCP/IP Problems via Windows
Using TRACEROUTE to Troubleshoot TCP/IP Problems via Mac
Type: man traceroute
Type: traceroute -aI 8.8.8.8
Type: traceroute -aI dns.google
Type: traceroute6 -I dns.google
MTR (combines the functions of the traceroute and ping)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR_(software)
My traceroute, originally named Matt's traceroute (MTR) is a
computer program which combines the functions of the
traceroute and ping programs in one network diagnostic
tool.
MTR probes routers on the route path by limiting the number
of hops individual packets may traverse, and listening to
responses of their expiry. It will regularly repeat this
process, usually once per second, and keep track of the
response times of the hops along the path.
MTR App for iOS Devices
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beenettools/id1160138136
From the Command Line:
Using WinMTR or MTR (advanced) combines PING and TRACEROUTE
Type: man mtr
Type: mtr --aslookup --show-ips 8.8.8.8
Type: mtr --aslookup --show-ips dns.google
Type: mtr --aslookup --show-ips 2001:4860:4860::8888
Terminate by typing: q
HE.NET Network Tools for Android devices, iPhones, and iPads
https://networktools.he.net
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.he.networktools
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/he-net-network-tools/id858241710?ls=1
Other Network Tools
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beenettools/id1160138136
http://edu-observatory.org/olli/HCS/ip.html
sam.wormley@gmail.com