Troubleshooting General Wireless Issues

Wireless is not one of the easiest things tocomputer serviced or replace the component that
troubleshoot because most of the time if itis broken. One thing you can do is see if your
doesn't work it just doesn't work andwireless card is disabled. In most new laptops and
components need to be replaced. Below though Ieven some new small form computers there is a
will show you some simple things you can do tosmall switch that turns on and off the wireless
see if you need to replace something or if itcard in case of emergency if for some reason
might just be a minor issue.you need to turn it off because you can't with
First up is the wireless router/gateway. These arethe computer. You may need to refer to your
the things that i will later refer to as the wirelessmanual for info on this switch but usually it has a
source or source. Many fixable wireless issueswifi symbol beside it and I have even had some
start here. In most cases the common problemsthat just look like an ))) beside it.
can be solved by just checking your wirelessIf you are having an issue even finding a wireless
modems connections and if need be powering itnetwork try hitting this switch and see if the
down and turning it back. In some cases thescreen tells you it has be enabled. Some times
modem may have just got overloaded and justthey get hit accidentally and turn the card off and
need a restart to get it back running. In someit can be quite confusing if you didn't see it say
cases you may have to reset your modem butdisabled. After this you might want to try to see
ONLY DO THIS if you are having knownif you can refresh your wireless networks to see
problems with the router and you know how toif it will find any new connections. Even if you
set it back up with either a disk or you know thedidn't have it turned off refreshing your networks
settings you used.in rare cases helps.
Resetting is not restarting and in most cases youTo do this in vista right click the network icon in
lose all the custom settings on that router if youthe lower right screen in the task bar that
do that. To reset a router most times there is aappears to be two computer screens. Left click
small red button around in the back or on theconnect to a network. In the upper right part of
bottom of the modem and it has to be hit with athat screen will be a refresh button that kind of
pen or needle to begin the reset process.looks like a Internet refresh button from IE or
Remember only do this as a last resort if youFirefox. Click it and if all is okay your network will
know the problem is with the source.now show up if not you may have a bad
Lastly if you know the source is good and youcomponent and need to get your computer
are still having problems you can try a few thingsserviced.
on your computer to see if you can get it goingSame thing with XP only in XP, you will right click
again. Be warned that in most cases unless it isa icon that has only one screen and the ))) beside
just a common problem you might have to get ait.