If you are connecting to a wireless network, and begin to have problems, there are some steps that can be taken to determine what is wrong. And while checking the router may require the administrator to intervene, you can do some simple checks right from your desktop.

In the notification area of Windows, which most people refer to as the System Tray, you should see a small icon of a computer monitor. By hovering your mouse over the icon, you will see a realtime report of your connection status.

If you right click while hovering over the icon, one of your options should be to “repair” the connection. If you select this option, a window will pop-up, and your wireless connection will cycle through the network connection process again, first terminating the existing connection, and then attempting to start it up again.

If you are troubleshooting a network for which you have administrator rights, the next thing to try is to reboot the router. In most cases, this can be accomplished from within your web browser, if the connection is working at all. In other cases, the router may be locked up, in which case you will have to turn it off or unplug it for around 30 seconds, and then turn it back on again. Amazingly, this will repair a large number of simple connection problems.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com