Resetting Your Internet Connection

Key Points:

  • An Internet connection is primarily achieved through a couple of ways: through Ethernet (wired) or Wi-Fi (wireless).
     
  • Computers can lose an Internet connection from time to time due to issues such as a bad IP address or a network connection being down.
     
  • Basic troubleshooting steps can be done to restore the Internet connection.

 

Instructions:

  1. Note what type of Internet connection you are using -- Ethernet or WiFi.
  • If the connection is Ethernet, look for the end of the cable that plugs in to the port on your laptop (or docking station if you were given one).  Disconnect the cable for a few seconds and then plug it back in.
     
  • If the connection is Wi-Fi, go down to your Taskbar at the bottom of the screen and look for this symbol WiFi Symbol - Windows.  Click on it to open up the Wi-Fi options area.  Look for JSRCCnet or Reynolds Guest Wireless and make sure that it says "Connected."  If not, click on the Connect button to regain access. 
  1. Restart your computer.
     
  2. Verify that you can ping (or connect) to Internet-connected devices and services.  To do this, you will need to open up a Command Prompt window by clicking the Start menu icon down at the bottom left corner of the screen, type CMD, and then select the Command Prompt application that appears in your search results.
  • Once the Command Prompt window shows up on the screen, type the following command: ipconfig /all, then press the Enter key.

    ipconfig /all command - Command Prompt Window
     
  • You will see a list of all network adapters that are installed on your machine.  Scroll through the list of adapters that appear and spot the one that you are connecting through -- it should be either Etherner adapter Ethernet or Wireless LAN adpater Wi-Fi. 

    There will be additional information under the adapter and the ones to specifically check are DHCP Enabled (should be set to "Yes"), IPv4 address (should be set to 10.x.x.x if you are on-campus or 172.16.x.x. if you are off-campus using VPN), Default Gateway (should be set to 10.x.x.x) and DNS Servers (should be set to 10.x.x.x if you are on-campus or some specific IP address provided by your Internet Service Provider if you are off-campus using VPN).

    Network Adapter Information - Command Prompt Window
     
    • If the IPv4 address shows 169.254.x.x, that is a private address that will not connect to the Internet.  The machine will automatically generate it as it cannot connect to any DHCP server.
       
  • Type the following command to ping your default gateway and DNS servers: ping [IP address of your default gateway or DNS server]. 

    If you get a result that says "Reply from [IP address]:," then that is a very good sign that you should be able to connect to the Internet.  Otherwise, if you get a result saying "Request timed out" or "Destination host unreachable," then you still have an Internet connectivity issue that needs to be fixed.

    Ping Reply #1 - Command Prompt Window
     
  • Type the following command to ping an Internet site: ping [URL address of an Internet site such as www.google.com].

    If you get a result that says "Reply from [IP address of Internet site]:," then you should be able to connect to the Internet.  Otherwise, if you get a result saying "Request timed out" or "Destination host unreachable," then either the Internet site may be down or you still have an Internet connectivity issue.  Ping another Internet site to see if you get a reply.

    Ping Reply #2 - Command Prompt Window
  1. If you are still unable to connect to the Internet, reach out to the Help Desk to have a technician run some advanced commands that require administrative credentials.

 

 

 

 

 

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