Causes of Network Trouble

1. Network card not properly connected.

2. Bad network card drivers or software settings.
3. Firewall preventing computers from seeing each
other.
4. Connection related issues.
5. Bad network hardware.
 Verify connections / LEDs
• Verify that the network cable is properly connected to the
back of the computer. In addition, when checking the
connection of the network cable, ensure that the LEDs on
the network are properly illuminated. For example, a
network card with a solid green LED or light usually
indicates that the card is either connected or receiving a
signal.
• If, however, the card does not have any lights or has
orange or red lights, it is possible that the card is bad, not
connected properly, or the card is not receiving a signal
from the network.
• If you are on a small or local network and have the
capability of checking a hub or switch, verify that the
cables are properly connected and that the hub or switch
has power
 Adapter resources
• Ensure that if this is a new network
• Product A card being installed into the computer
that the card's resources are properly
set and not conflicting with any
hardware in the computer.
Adapter functionality
• Verify that the network card is capable of
detecting or seeing itself by using the ping
command. Windows / MS-DOS users ping the
computer from a MS-DOS prompt. Unix / Linux
variant users ping the computer from the shell.
To ping the card or the local host, type either
ping 127.0.0.1 or ping local host This should
show a listing of replies from the network card. If
you receive an error or if the transmission failed,
it is likely that either the network card is not
physically installed into the computer correctly,
or that the card is bad.
 Protocol
Verify that the correct protocols are installed on the computer. Most networks today will utilize
TCP/IP, but may also utilize or require IPX/SPX and NetBEUI. When the TCP/IP protocol is
installed, unless a DNS server or other computer assigns the IPX address, the user must specify
an IP address as well as a Subnet Mask.
1. Click Start / Settings / Control Panel
2. Double-click the Network icon
3. Within the configuration tab double-click the TCP/IP protocol icon. Note: Do not click on
the PPP or Dial-Up adapter, click on the network card adapter.
4. In the TCP/IP properties click the IP address tab
5. Select the option to specify an IP address
6. Enter the IP address and Subnet Mask address, an example of such an address could be:
IP Address: 102.55.92.1 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.192
7. When specifying these values, the computers on the network must all have the same
Subnet Mask and have a different IP Address. For example, when using the above values
on one computer you would want to use an IP address of 102.55.92.2 on another
computer and then specify the same Subnet Mask.
Firewall
• If your computer network utilizes a firewall, ensure
that all ports required are open. If possible, close the
firewall software program or disconnect the
computer from the firewall to ensure it is not causing
the problem.
• Additional time
• In some cases it may take a computer some
additional time to detect or see the network. If after
booting the computer you are unable to see the
network, give the computer 2-3 minutes to detect the
network. Windows users may also want to try
pressing the F5 (refresh) key when in Network
Neighborhood to refresh the network connections
and possibly detect the network
 Additional troubleshooting
• If after following or verifying the above recommendations you
are still unable to connect or see the network, attempt one or
more of the below recommendations. If you have installed or
are using TCP/IP as your protocol you can ping another
computer's IP address to verify if the computer is able to send
and receive data. To do this, Windows or MS-DOS users must be
at a prompt and Linux / Unix variant users must open or be at a
shell. Once at the prompt assuming, that the address of the
computer you wish to ping is 102.55.92.2, you would type: ping
102.55.92.2 If you receive a response back from this address
(and it is a different computer), this demonstrates that the
computer is communicating over the network. If you are still
unable to connect or see the network, it is possible that other
issues may be present. Another method of determining network
issues is to use the tracert command if you are a MS-DOS or
Windows user or the trace route command
• if you are a Linux / Unix variant user. To
use this command you must be at the
command prompt or shell. Ortrace route
102.55.92.2 This should begin listing the
hops between the computer and
network devices. When the connection
fails, determine what device is causing
the issue by reviewingthe trace route
listing.