Contacting an ISP
Contacting an ISP used to be a real pain to
me in terms of waiting time and having to run simple tests, but
there are a couple of things to check before calling that can
save you time and frustration.
a) Check on your ISP’s website using a
mobile phone or a friend’s computer, check on their service
status page to ensure there are no service problems.
b) Power off your Router/Modem and computer
for around a minute, check again.
c) Has anything changed on your computer
setup? If so the change is most likely the problem not the ISP
(a system restore can usually help here)
d) Is your computer getting an IP address? From the start
menu type CMD hit Enter, now you will see a black screen now
type IPCONFIG you should see something like 192.168.1.2, if you
get something similar to 169.254.164.233 then it looks as though
your computer is not able to receive an IP address, more on this
here..
e) Even if your computer seems to be
connected to your router don’t confuse this with having an
internet connection. You router needs to be connected to the ISP
you can check this either by looking to see if your routers
connection light is on, or by looking in your
routers admin console.
f) If phone line based check to make sure
all phone line extensions have line filters otherwise
interference can cause slow connections or even no connection.
g) If your internet connection is phone
line based does your phone still work? If you cannot make
outgoing calls try to call your number from a mobile phone, does
the phone ring, but you can’t hear anything or is the line dead?
If so this is a problem for the phone company.
h) Connections, connections do get
tarnished and lose their efficiency so it’s worth unplugging
everything and plugging back in to re-affirm them.
i) Check your router on another internet
connection, this might seem extreme but after an ongoing problem
and repeatedly contacting an ISP they eventually advised that
the problem must be a faulty router; as the router was not
supplied by them they was literally washing their hands of the
problem, so I backed up the routers configuration and then set
it up and tested using another broadband connection, this way I
was able to prove that the issue was not with the router.
Notes
There are good and bad ISP’s, and as such sometimes it can take
much longer than it should to fix even some simple problems,
especially if you are not very technical and have to rely on
your ISP being very good.
If you’re not overly technical and you find
that you ISP is getting you to test the same things over and
over again and you’re not getting anywhere its worth getting
someone else who is more technical, and then getting them to
speak with them, this way you will stand more chance of
pinpointing and hopefully fixing the problem.
If your internet connection is down for a
period of time and the issue turns out to be your ISP argue your
case that you should not have to pay for the service during this
period, this may help to get the problem fixed faster.
Remember that there are many more fish in
the sea when it comes to choosing an ISP, if your current ISP
has frequent problems or poor service maybe it’s time to move to
another service, even if you choose to stay with your current
ISP normally telling them you want to quit can help to improve
your service and get some special offers such as a discounted
connection.
Read more on how to repair many common
internet problems
For more on contacting an ISP
computer adviser
contacting an isp article |
