Diagnosing Issues
The six steps, in order
A user says their PC will not turn on. Before you reach for a screwdriver, notice what the exam is actually asking for: on 220-1201 the graded skill is symptom-to-cause diagnosis, reading a complaint back to the subsystem that produced it and the action that clears it. That is the largest block of scored content on the whole exam, 28 percent of it. The CompTIA A+ troubleshooting methodology[1] is the six-step scaffold that keeps that work orderly on the job: CompTIA publishes it alongside the objectives as a competency standard and states that the methodology itself will not be tested, so learn the six steps as professional habit and the symptoms as the graded material. Which instrument takes each measurement, the multimeter, power-supply tester, POST card, cable tester, loopback plug, and toner probe, is the sibling troubleshooting tools subtopic's material; what belongs here is reading the symptom well enough to know which measurement is worth taking.
The loop, step by step
- Identify the problem. Gather information from the user, ask what changed, reproduce the symptom, and inquire about recent environmental or infrastructure changes. If a planned fix could risk data, back it up first.
- Establish a theory of probable cause. Question the obvious before the exotic: a loose cable or a flipped switch is a cheaper theory than a failed board. Conduct external or internal research (vendor documentation, a knowledge base) when the symptom is unfamiliar.
- Test the theory to determine the cause. Prove or disprove it. If the theory is confirmed, move on to a plan; if it is not confirmed, establish a new theory or escalate to someone with more access or expertise.
- Establish a plan of action and implement the solution. Refer to the vendor's instructions, and change one thing at a time so you know what actually fixed it.
- Verify full system functionality and, if applicable, implement preventive measures. Confirm the original complaint is gone and nothing new broke, then prevent a repeat: clear dust, secure a cable, schedule a firmware update.
- Document the findings, actions, and outcomes. Record what was wrong, what you did, and how it turned out, so the next technician, or you in six months, starts ahead.
Why the order matters on the job
The diagram below traces the loop end to end, including the branch an unconfirmed theory takes. Two places in the loop are the ones technicians skip, and both cost real time. Step three's branch is explicit: a theory you cannot confirm sends you back to step two or up to escalation, never straight to a parts order. And steps five and six are not optional courtesy. A fix you never verified may have only masked the fault, and an undocumented repair teaches no one. That habit shows up directly in the graded material: a scenario that ends 'the technician replaced the RAM and the system booted' is not finished until full functionality is confirmed and the work is written down.
Identify the problem before you touch it
Step one decides how the rest of the job goes, so it earns its own discussion. The goal is a clear, reproduced problem statement and a safe starting point, not a fix.
Gather, reproduce, and ask what changed
Start with the user, because they hold the timeline. What is the exact symptom, when did it start, and what changed just before? A machine that worked Friday and failed Monday after an office move points at a knocked-loose cable or a power event, not a spontaneous component death. Reproduce the symptom yourself so you are chasing a fact rather than a paraphrase, and note whether it is constant or intermittent, because intermittent faults are diagnosed differently: reproduce, then read logs, rather than swap parts by guess.
Back up first when a fix risks data
The single most testable habit here is the backup. If your plan might wipe or overwrite a disk, reimaging firmware, repartitioning, or replacing a drive in an array, capture the data first. A drive you could have imaged but did not is a self-inflicted second problem, and 'back up before you change it' is the correct answer to a whole family of items.
Question the obvious, then research
Once the problem is stated, the first theories are the cheap ones. Confirm the device is plugged in and switched on, the surge strip is live, the monitor input is correct, and the network cable is seated, before you theorize a dead PSU (power supply unit) or a failed NIC (network interface card). When the symptom is genuinely unfamiliar, step two authorizes research: the motherboard or BIOS vendor's beep-code table, a knowledge-base article, or the service manual. Research is part of forming the theory, not an admission of defeat.
Safety can interrupt step one
A few observations end the loop before it starts. If you open the case and see swollen or leaking capacitors, smell burning, or find a swollen battery, you stop and cut power rather than continue to diagnose a live hazard. Those signs get their own section below and, for the board itself, are covered under motherboards and power.
Hardware symptoms: match the sign to the subsystem
A PC that stays dark and silent, one that lights up but never paints a screen, and one that shuts itself off under load are three different complaints, not one vague 'it is broken' ticket. Hardware complaints are noisy, but each one belongs to a subsystem, and the subsystem tells you where to look and in what order. Read the sign, name the subsystem, then test the cheapest cause first.
No power versus no POST versus no display
These three get confused because all three look like a dead computer, yet they fail at different points in the boot chain. No power means nothing happens, no fans and no lights: work the power path from the outside in, wall outlet, surge strip, PSU voltage switch and power switch, the 24-pin and CPU power connectors, and the front-panel power button header. No POST (power-on self-test, the firmware's start-up hardware check) means the system powers up but never begins to boot: re-seat RAM and the GPU, clear CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, the battery-backed memory that holds the firmware settings; clearing it with the board's jumper or by pulling the coin cell returns those settings to their defaults), boot with minimal hardware, and read the beep or POST codes. No display means it POSTs but the screen stays dark: check the monitor's power and input, the video cable, onboard versus add-in-card output, and test a known-good monitor.
The symptom-to-subsystem table
Use this as a first-look lookup, then apply the cheap-to-expensive order within the subsystem it names.
| Symptom | Subsystem | First check |
|---|---|---|
| No power, no fans or lights | Power | Outlet, PSU switch and voltage, power connectors, button header |
| Powers on, no POST, beep codes | POST / RAM / GPU | Re-seat RAM and GPU, clear CMOS, decode the beep pattern |
| POSTs, no image or on-screen artifacts | Display / GPU | Cable and input, re-seat or test the GPU, known-good monitor |
| Random shutdowns, runs hot | Thermal / PSU | Clean fans and vents, reapply thermal paste, check PSU load |
| Grinding or clicking, slow disk | Storage | Back up now, check S.M.A.R.T., plan a drive replacement |
Storage and RAID: the drive warns you first
Storage gives the clearest warning of all. A grinding or clicking mechanical drive is failing now, so back up before anything else and check its S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) status, the drive's own health counters, which can flag a pending failure before it becomes fatal. In a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) set, a single failed member usually degrades the array rather than losing it, so replace the drive and let it rebuild, but a second member throwing S.M.A.R.T. warnings during that rebuild is the real danger window.
Stop-work signs that override the cheapest-first order
Three observations cancel the cheapest-first order outright. When you meet one, the job stops where it stands rather than continuing to test theories on a live hazard.
Swollen or leaking capacitors (bulging cylinders on the board), a burning smell or scorch marks, and a swollen battery all mean the unit is unsafe to run. Cut power, remove the unit from service, and replace the damaged part under ESD (electrostatic discharge) precautions rather than powering it back up to reproduce the fault. Diagnosis resumes only once the hazard is gone.
Network symptoms: decode the address and scope
The internet is down is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Start with scope: one machine offline is a client fault, while every wired and wireless client on a SOHO (small office/home office) network dropping at once points instead at the router, the modem, or the ISP. On a single wired or wireless client, two clues do most of the work: the link status and the IP address the host is holding. Read those and the cause usually names itself. The figure below walks that decision in order, from link light to address to conflict.
Start at the link, then read the address
If the link LED is dark and a ping to the default gateway fails, the fault is physical: a bad or unseated cable, a dead switch port, or a failed NIC (network interface card). Swap a known-good patch cable and try another port before you touch software. If the link is up, look at the address. A normal host on a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) network holds a routable address and a gateway. A host showing 169.254.x.x has an APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) address: it asked for DHCP, got no reply, and self-assigned a link-local address that a router will not forward and that leaves it with no usable gateway. So 169.254 is a DHCP-reachability diagnosis, not a broken NIC. That range is reserved for IPv4 link-local use in RFC 3927[2], and it is what a client falls back to when a DHCP[3] lease cannot be obtained. Renew the lease, then check the cable, the switch port, and whether the DHCP server or its uplink is reachable.
Conflicts, slow links, and flapping ports
Once a host has an address, the remaining faults split cleanly. A duplicate-IP warning is two devices sharing one static address, so move one to DHCP or a unique static address. Slow speeds, throughput far below the link's rated rate, most often trace to a duplex mismatch (one side running half-duplex, the other full) or marginal cabling, so check the negotiated speed and duplex and re-terminate a suspect run. Intermittent drops and high latency point at radio-frequency (RF) interference (on Wi-Fi, an overlapping channel), a failing cable, or congestion under load. A flapping port, a link light that cycles up and down, is almost always a marginal cable or connector or a duplex problem, so re-seat or replace the cable and check the switch port. The comparison table in the overview lays these six symptoms out side by side.
How the exam frames troubleshooting
Troubleshooting items on Core 1 follow a few recognizable shapes, and knowing the shape is half the answer.
What should the technician do NEXT?
A common stem hands you a partial scenario and asks what the technician should do next. Because the methodology itself is not examined, the answer is never a step number; it is the action the situation now calls for, and working the loop is what makes that action obvious. 'She confirmed the theory that the RAM was bad' means the testing is done, so the next move is to plan and carry out the replacement, not to keep testing. 'He replaced the drive and the system booted' means the fix is in, so the next move is to confirm full functionality, and only after that to record what happened. Reaching for 'document the outcome' before anything has been confirmed working is the classic distractor.
Safety-first and single-variable stems
When a stem mentions a burning smell, a swollen capacitor, or a swollen battery, the correct answer is almost always to stop and remove power, never to keep testing a live hazard. When a stem describes changing several things at once, the intended lesson is to change one variable at a time so the cause stays provable. And when data is on the line, 'back up before you proceed' beats every faster-sounding option.
Symptom-to-cause recall
The rest are direct recall: 169.254.x.x means a DHCP failure, not a dead NIC; a single beep is usually a normal POST while a repeating pattern is a coded error; clicking or grinding means back up and replace the drive; and random shutdowns under load point at heat before they point at the CPU. The instruments that take these measurements, the multimeter, power-supply tester, POST card, cable tester, loopback plug, and toner probe, live in the sibling troubleshooting tools subtopic; this page is about choosing which measurement the situation calls for.
Network connectivity symptoms and their first move
| Symptom | What you observe | Most likely cause | First action |
|---|---|---|---|
| No connectivity | No link LED, ping to the gateway fails | Cable, port, or NIC down | Swap the patch cable, check the link light and switch port |
| Limited / APIPA | 169.254.x.x, no default gateway | DHCP server unreachable | Renew DHCP, then verify the DHCP server and its uplink |
| IP conflict | Duplicate-address warning, intermittent drops | Two hosts on one static IP | Move a host to DHCP or a unique static address |
| Intermittent / high latency | Ping spikes and sporadic drops | Interference, marginal cable, or congestion | Test the cable, check the Wi-Fi channel and load |
| Slow speeds | Throughput far below the link rate | Duplex mismatch or bad cabling | Check the speed and duplex settings, re-terminate the cable |
| Port flapping | Link LED cycles up and down | Marginal cable or connector, or duplex | Re-seat or replace the cable, check the switch port |
Decision tree
Sharp facts the exam loves — give these one last read before exam day.
Cheat sheet
Sharp facts the exam loves — scan these before test day.
- Run the six troubleshooting steps in their fixed order
CompTIA's methodology is a fixed sequence: identify the problem, establish a theory of probable cause, test the theory to determine the cause, establish a plan of action and implement the solution, verify full system functionality and add preventive measures, then document the findings, actions, and outcomes. CompTIA publishes this methodology with the 220-1201 objectives as a competency standard and states that the methodology itself will not be tested, so learn the order as working practice; what is graded is reading a symptom back to its cause and naming the right next action.
Trap Jumping to a plan of action or a parts swap before the theory has actually been tested; testing the theory is its own step and comes first.
- In step one, gather information and back up before you change anything
Identifying the problem means interviewing the user, asking what changed, reproducing the symptom, and inquiring about recent environmental or infrastructure changes such as an office move or a power event. If a planned fix could put data at risk, back it up first, because a lost drive you could have imaged is a self-inflicted second problem.
Trap Reaching for a reimage, repartition, or drive swap before backing up data the repair could destroy.
- Question the obvious before you theorize an expensive failure
Step two starts with the cheap, likely causes and works up: a loose or unplugged cable, a wall switch, a disabled adapter, or the wrong monitor input before a dead motherboard or PSU. When the symptom is unfamiliar, external or internal research (vendor documentation, a beep-code table, a knowledge base) is a legitimate part of forming the theory, not an admission of defeat.
- An unconfirmed theory means form a new one or escalate, never repair
Testing the theory has two outcomes: confirmed sends you to a plan of action, and not confirmed sends you back to establish a new theory or to escalate to someone with more access or expertise. You never move from an unconfirmed theory straight to ordering or swapping a part.
Trap Continuing to swap parts by trial and error when a theory keeps failing, instead of escalating to someone with more access or expertise.
- A repair is not done until you verify full functionality and document
Step five verifies the original complaint is gone and nothing new broke, and where applicable adds preventive measures such as clearing dust, securing a loose cable, or scheduling a firmware update. Step six documents the findings, actions, and outcomes so the next technician starts ahead. Stopping after the part swap leaves the job formally incomplete.
- For a PC with no power at all, work the power path from the outside in
No fans and no lights is a power problem, not a POST problem, so trace the power path in order: wall outlet, surge strip, the PSU voltage switch and power switch, the 24-pin and CPU power connectors, and the front-panel power button header. Test those cheap causes before you condemn the power supply or the board.
Trap Assuming a dead motherboard when a flipped PSU switch, a dead outlet, or a loose power connector is the cheaper and likelier cause.
- No POST means re-seat RAM and GPU, clear CMOS, and read the codes
When a system powers on but never begins to boot, it is failing POST (power-on self-test, the firmware's start-up hardware check). Re-seat RAM and the GPU, clear CMOS, boot with minimal hardware, and match the beep or POST code to the motherboard or BIOS vendor's table to localize the failing component.
Trap Treating a no-POST machine as a no-power fault and replacing the PSU, when the system already powers on and the fault is downstream.
18 questions test this
- After installing a new graphics card, a technician powers on a desktop and hears one long beep followed by two short beeps. No image…
- A desktop PC that was previously working begins emitting repeating short beeps and fails to boot after a technician installed additional…
- After assembling a new desktop PC, a technician powers it on and observes that the DRAM diagnostic LED on the motherboard remains…
- A technician powers on a desktop computer and hears three short beeps repeating from the internal speaker during startup. The monitor…
- A technician is troubleshooting a newly built desktop PC that powers on but shows no display. The motherboard has four onboard diagnostic…
- A technician assembles a new desktop PC and powers it on for the first time. The system produces no display and no beep codes. The…
- After installing additional memory modules, a technician powers on a desktop and the fans spin and the LEDs light up, but the screen stays…
- A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that powers on but has no video output. The motherboard has diagnostic LEDs labeled CPU, DRAM,…
- A technician is troubleshooting a newly built PC that will not boot. The motherboard has four labeled debug LEDs for CPU, DRAM, VGA, and…
- After installing new RAM modules in a desktop, a technician powers on the system and hears continuous short beeps repeating in a loop. No…
- A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that powers on with spinning fans but produces no display output. The motherboard diagnostic LED…
- A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that fails to boot. The motherboard has four diagnostic LEDs labeled CPU, DRAM, VGA, and BOOT.…
- After installing a new graphics card, a technician powers on a desktop and the system produces repeating beep codes with no video on the…
- A technician is training a new employee on hardware troubleshooting. The new employee asks what happens when a computer is first powered…
- A technician installs new memory modules in a desktop PC and powers it on. The system produces repeating beep codes from the internal…
- A technician powers on a workstation and the system produces a beep code that the motherboard manual identifies as a memory initialization…
- A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that powers on but produces no display. The motherboard has four diagnostic LEDs labeled CPU,…
- A technician powers on a desktop PC and hears a continuous repeating pattern of short beeps from the internal speaker that does not stop.…
- A single boot beep is normal; a repeating pattern is a coded error
One short beep at boot is usually the normal, successful POST all-clear on most systems, while a repeating or patterned beep is a coded hardware error. The pattern's meaning is specific to the motherboard or BIOS/UEFI vendor, so look it up rather than guessing which component it names.
Trap Reading a single short boot beep as a fault; on most systems it is the normal signal that POST passed.
6 questions test this
- After replacing the motherboard in a desktop computer, a technician powers on the system and hears a single short beep from the internal…
- A desktop computer fails to boot and emits a pattern of beep codes from the internal speaker during startup. Which of the following should…
- A desktop computer emits a continuous repeating series of short beeps during startup and fails to complete POST. Which of the following is…
- A technician assembles a new desktop PC and powers it on for the first time. The system produces a single short beep and the BIOS splash…
- A technician builds a new desktop computer and powers it on for the first time. The system emits a single short beep and begins loading the…
- A user reports that a desktop powers on, emits a single short beep, and then displays a 'No boot device found' error. Which of the…
- A running PC with a dark screen is a video fault, not no power
If the machine POSTs, meaning fans spin, drive lights blink, and it beeps, but the screen stays dark, the fault is in the display path, not power. Check the monitor's power and input source, the video cable, onboard versus add-in-card output, and swap in a known-good monitor to isolate the layer.
Trap Confusing no display with no power; a lit, humming PC that shows nothing has a video or monitor problem, not a power-delivery one.
- Random shutdowns under load point at heat before the CPU
A system that runs hot and shuts down or throttles unexpectedly is usually thermal: dust-clogged fans and vents, a stopped fan, or dried-out thermal paste. Clean and cool it and check PSU load before you suspect the CPU or motherboard, because heat is the cheap and far more common cause.
Trap Replacing the CPU or board for heat-related shutdowns before cleaning the fans and vents and confirming the cooling works.
- Grinding or clicking means back up now, then check S.M.A.R.T.
A mechanical drive that grinds or clicks is failing right now, so capturing a backup comes before anything else. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) exposes the drive's own health counters and can flag a pending failure before it becomes fatal, but reads happen after the data is safe.
Trap Running a full scan or repair on a clicking drive before backing it up; the drive can fail completely mid-diagnostic.
- A single failed RAID member degrades the array, it does not lose it
In a redundant RAID (redundant array of independent disks) set, one failed drive usually drops the array to a degraded state that still serves data, so you replace the member and let the array rebuild. The real danger window is a second drive throwing S.M.A.R.T. warnings during that rebuild.
Trap Assuming any single-drive failure in a redundant RAID set means total data loss; a redundant array stays online in a degraded state.
- Swollen capacitors, a burning smell, or a bulging battery are stop-work signs
A few observations override the normal cheap-to-expensive order: bulging or leaking capacitors on the board, a burning smell or scorch marks, and a swollen lithium battery. Cut power, remove the unit from service, and replace the damaged part under ESD (electrostatic discharge) precautions rather than powering it back up to confirm the fault.
Trap Powering a board with swollen capacitors or a burning smell back on to reproduce the symptom; that risks fire and further damage.
3 questions test this
- A technician is diagnosing a desktop computer that intermittently fails to complete POST. Upon opening the case and visually inspecting the…
- A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that fails to boot. During physical inspection, the technician observes bulging capacitors near…
- A technician examines a laptop whose touchpad has become difficult to press and no longer clicks evenly, and the underside of the chassis…
- A 169.254.x.x address means DHCP failed, not that the NIC is dead
An APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) address in 169.254.0.0/16 is self-assigned when a host requests DHCP and gets no reply. It is link-local, is never forwarded by a router, and hands the host no usable default gateway, so it is a DHCP-reachability diagnosis. Renew the lease, then check the cable, switch port, and DHCP server.
Trap Replacing the network card because of a 169.254 address; the adapter is working, it simply never reached a DHCP server.
- No link light means check the cable, port, and NIC first
No connectivity with a dark link LED and a failed ping to the default gateway is a physical-layer fault. Swap a known-good patch cable and try another switch port before you touch IP settings or drivers, because the problem is below the network layer.
- A duplicate-IP warning is two hosts sharing one static address
An IP conflict message means two devices are configured with the same static IP, which causes intermittent drops for both. Resolve it by moving one host to DHCP or assigning a unique static address outside the DHCP pool, since DHCP itself leases unique addresses.
Trap Blaming the DHCP server for an IP conflict; DHCP hands out unique leases, so a conflict comes from duplicate static addressing.
- Throughput far below the link rate points at duplex or cabling
Slow speeds, where measured throughput sits far under the negotiated link rate, most often come from a duplex mismatch (one side half-duplex, the other full) or marginal cabling. Check the negotiated speed and duplex settings and re-terminate a suspect cable run before assuming an upstream limit.
- Intermittent drops and high latency point at interference, cabling, or load
A link that works then stalls, with ping spikes and sporadic drops, points at interference (on Wi-Fi, an overlapping or crowded channel), a marginal cable, or congestion under load, rather than a hard failure. Reproduce it and isolate one variable at a time instead of swapping parts by guess.
- A link light that cycles up and down is a flapping port from a bad cable
Port flapping, where the link LED repeatedly comes up and drops, is almost always a marginal cable or connector or a duplex problem. Re-seat or replace the cable and check the switch port before you suspect the NIC or the switch hardware itself.
Trap Swapping the switch or the NIC for a flapping port before trying a new cable; a marginal cable or connector is the usual cause.
- For a 'what should they do NEXT' item, locate where the scenario stopped
A common troubleshooting stem gives a partial scenario and asks what to do next. The methodology itself is not tested, so the answer is not a step number; it is the action the situation calls for, and the loop makes it obvious: a confirmed theory leads to planning and implementing the fix, an implemented fix leads to verifying full functionality, and a verified fix leads to documenting the outcome.
Trap Choosing document the findings as the next step when the fix has been made but not yet verified; verification comes before documentation.
- Change one variable at a time so the cause stays provable
When implementing a fix, alter a single thing and retest before changing the next, so you know which change resolved the problem. Changing several things at once may clear the symptom but hides the cause and can introduce a new fault you cannot attribute.
Trap Applying several fixes together to save time; the problem may clear, but you cannot tell what fixed it or what you may have broken.
- A failing power supply shows as shutdowns under load and repeated power cycling
Unstable or insufficient power from a failing supply looks like sudden shutdowns only under heavy load, a brief power-on that immediately cycles off and retries, or fans and drives that pulse up and down as the rails waver. A power supply's own exhaust fan seizing, often heard as a grinding noise at the rear, overheats the unit into a protective shutdown, and because that fan is not separately serviceable the whole supply is replaced.
Trap Assuming overheating for load-related shutdowns when temperatures read normal and only the power delivery is unstable.
5 questions test this
- A user reports that their desktop runs fine while browsing the web but suddenly powers off without warning during graphics-intensive games.…
- When a user presses the power button, the case fans twitch for a moment and the LEDs flicker, then everything shuts off. The system repeats…
- A desktop has recently developed a loud grinding and rattling noise that the technician traces to the rear of the case, right where the AC…
- A desktop sometimes does not power on at all, and when it does run the case fans pulse up and down in speed while the hard drives audibly…
- A desktop runs normally right after a cold start but shuts itself down after several minutes of use. The technician observes that the power…
- Random crashes that name a different file or address each time point at failing RAM
Blue screens or stop errors that cite a different memory address or system file on each crash, corruption that is not tied to any one application, or freezes that appear only under heavy memory load are classic signs of failing RAM rather than a drive or CPU fault. Confirm it with an extended memory diagnostic such as Windows Memory Diagnostic or MemTest, and treat a module that is not fully recognized, or one whose removal ends the instability, as the bad stick to reseat or replace.
Trap Blaming the storage drive for varied stop errors when its self-test passes and a memory test fails.
6 questions test this
- A user asks a technician to add a second memory module to increase capacity. After the upgrade, the desktop boots but now freezes and…
- A workstation that has had no recent changes begins displaying varied stop errors and occasional application crashes. The technician runs a…
- A user reports that a desktop is stable during light use such as email and web browsing, but it freezes and crashes only when many…
- A user reports that a desktop frequently crashes with stop errors that reference a different system file each time. No hardware or software…
- A technician installs two identical 8 GB memory modules in a desktop, but the operating system reports only 8 GB of usable memory. The…
- A user experiences frequent, random blue screen crashes that reference a different memory address each time, along with occasional file…
- For a SOHO-wide internet outage, reboot the router and modem, then bypass to the modem to isolate router from ISP
When every wired and wireless client drops internet while the cabling and clients themselves test fine, power-cycle the all-in-one router and the broadband modem first, because a device left running for weeks can develop memory, session, or DHCP-table faults a restart clears. If the outage continues, connect one known-good computer straight into the modem: reaching the internet there puts the fault in the router, while a still-dead link points upstream to the ISP. Testing a wired client against the same router likewise separates a wireless-only fault from a whole-router one.
Trap Calling the ISP or swapping the router before a reboot and a direct-to-modem test have isolated the side at fault.
7 questions test this
- A technician at a SOHO is told that internet access drops out several times a day for every wired and wireless client, but cabling and the…
- A user connected to the SOHO wireless network reports no internet access. The technician wants to quickly determine whether the problem is…
- A SOHO reports that internet access for all wired and wireless clients has become intermittent throughout the morning, dropping and…
- Wireless users in a SOHO suddenly cannot reach the internet, and the office SSID no longer appears in their available networks list. Wired…
- A SOHO router has been powered on continuously for several weeks, and users now report that internet access for every client has become…
- Every device in a SOHO, both wired and wireless, suddenly loses internet access at the same time, and the clients are now displaying…
- Every wired and wireless client in a SOHO loses internet access several times an hour, but local file sharing between the computers keeps…