Troubleshoot Network Connectivity problems with the best tools of 2023

A single network fault may ruin your whole day; if this problem occurs in large-scale industries, you couldn’t expect what it causes. A network problem is a common everyday issue, and I can’t sit silently without solving it. In this troubleshoot network connectivity post, we will guide you through some valuable concepts that include troubleshooting network connection, best practices, and the tools used. I know you all are excited about this post, then what are you waiting for? Let’s get started;

Here is our list of the best tools to troubleshoot network connectivity:

1. SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset – FREE TRIAL SolarWinds offers a network software and engineer toolset that holds more than 600 tools that have been widely used in troubleshooting network connections.
2. Obkio A simple network solution software tool that offers an end-to-end and performance monitoring solution that helps you keep track of the network’s health and core business applications.
3. Auvik A cloud-based platform for a network management solution and provides all the issue-related details across all the sites through a single dashboard. In addition, this tool has capabilities to manage and monitor multi-vendor network gear.
4. Ping The ping troubleshoot tool verifies the reachability to the destination host at the remote end by using IP ICMP echo requests.
5. Traceroute The traceroute tool sends the ICMP echo requests to step by step in the IP address TTL (time to live) values.
6. Protocol Analyser A protocol analyzer is an advanced tool used to identify network issues. This software intercepts and records the data packet flow between the source and destinations.

What do you mean by network connection problem?

Suppose you are experiencing any kind of network connection problem, then you must not reach any resources to perform various operations. The network connectivity enables users to access, gather information, share, and use your organization’s resources (or data). In technical terms, you can also define a network connection as establishing communication within the enterprise. So we should consider it a serious issue and try to resolve it using various techniques (we will discuss them in the next section of the post).

What Causes the Network Connectivity Problems

Many significant reasons may cause network connectivity errors in your organization. We would like to list a few of them:

• Large downloads Downloading includes extensive files, software applications, and essential documents (over 100 pages). All these downloaded stuff are stored in your computer’s hard drive using the internet. File transfer or backups consume higher bandwidth; the larger the file size, the higher the bandwidth.
• Latency Is nothing but the time taken by a data packet to reach the specified destination in a network. This performance also gets delayed because of consistency delay or any odd spikes that hinder and affect bandwidth time.
• Packet loss Occurs when a data packet drops during the performance that cannot reach its destination. This is considered a great deal because this problem occurs utterly dependent on how much of the data does not match the final destination.
• Video streaming From the internet uses a high bandwidth, and also video streaming in 7K can consume up to 200 times more bandwidth than audio streaming.
• Large application usage Different applications need different requirements to enable them to work. To use applications, all we need is an internet connection, web development browsers to download the applications, emails, and many more. To function all these applications, we need high bandwidth internet usage.
• Larger file sharing Some application programs require users to share them from the computer-to-computer connection over the network connection (internet). Therefore, they need higher bandwidth because of extensive file downloading and the transfer of extensive files over the internet.
• High CPU usage The central processing unit or CPU is the significant component of any computer that performs primary operations, like receiving and processing instructions for system applications and operating systems, so that you can expect high bandwidth usage over the internet.     
• Physical connectivity issues This seems obvious, but some network issues occur because of the hardware devices (RAM, ROM, CD, memory storage) if the storage capacity exceeds the actual storage capacity.

How to Troubleshoot Network Connection?

This section will explain 8 basic steps to resolve any connection issue. Let’s get started:

1. The first and foremost step is to check with your internet connection settings

If you face a network issue, check with your WIFI settings. To do it, follow this navigation:

Go to Settings -> Network & Internet -> select the “Wi-Fi” settings ->then enable the wifi option button as shown in the below diagram:

Phones and tablets have the same setting type; just turn on the “Wifi” button and ensure that you have enabled the “ON” button to connect to the network as shown below:

You also check once if you have turned on “Airplane” mode.

2. Check your Access point

Check your WAN (wide area network) and LAN (local area network) connections. If possible, check one of Layman’s ethernet cables because that is always connected to routers.

If you suspect the cables are damaged/ culprit, try to replace them with the new one.

3. Go around obstacles

Sometimes walls, furniture, and other things may cause you to not connect to the internet. By then, have a closer look into the router connection; if you found any type of disconnection, try to re-establish the connection.

Note: We have a myth that moving closer to the router doesn’t solve the issue instead of removing the suspected parts.

4. Restart the router

Sometimes restarting the router may help you solve the network issue. For example, we can say that this might be the real reason you forgot to turn off the router. So restarting the router helps you jolt the router connection into working mode. If that does not work correctly, try to reset the router connection that can be done in the factory setting (if you are okay, then only go for the factory setting option because you might lose data). To configure the router setting by providing an SSID and password.

5. Check with WIFI name password

First, check with your network name (commonly known as SSID) and the network connection password. Suppose, sometimes, if you are trying to establish a connection automatically using a router range, remember that this type of router does not exist for a long time. The below image explains this scenario properly:

This type of setting could be simple as administrator settings just by updating the password or the SSID.

6. Check the DHCP settings

They usually set routers up as DHCP services and enable users to connect automatically if you turn on the “DHCP services,” so there is no need to mess up with the IP address and manual DNS settings.

If you want to edit your DHCP settings, follow the below navigation:

Go to Windows settings -> select the option Network, and internet -> turn on “WiFi”. Under the WiFi, settings click on the Manage known networks -> then select a network type and click on “properties” as shown below:

Under the IP setting option -> click the “Edit” option from the drop-down menu -> select the automatic( DHCP) connection.

Note: selecting a manual connection will enable users to set their DNS server address and IP address settings manually.

7. Update windows

Your system causes some network problems; if that is the case, you need to fix the network problem. So try updating the windows operations as per the current release version.

To update the windows, follow this navigation: Go to windows settings -> go to edit and security -> windows update-> click on check for the Updates. If updates are already available, Windows will automatically download and install them.

8. Open windows network diagnosis

Windows consists of a “windows network diagnostic” tool, which helps users troubleshoot the connection issue.

To do this, follow the navigation: Go to the windows settings option-> select the network and internet option -> click the status. Now under the change your network settings -> click the troubleshooter option as shown below:

Windows network diagnostics run a couple of tests to check what is causing the network issue.

Once done with this step, Windows will let you know the error causing an issue or list a few possible errors that we should resolve.

Network Troubleshooting Flowchart

Network troubleshooting is a big headache for us, so we all need an efficient and painless solution and best practices. This section will explain a streamlined process flowchart to explain it better.

The below flowchart is just a roadmap that guides you on how to solve the network issues.

The Best Network Troubleshooting Tools

Various tools are available on the market to resolve the network connection issue. Here we would like to list out a few tools that will help with this; let’s get started:

SolarWinds offers a network software and Engineer’s Toolset that holds more than 600 tools that have been widely used in troubleshooting network connections. It also provides automated network discovery services such as port scanners, switching off a port mapper, IP network browsers, and many more.

This software also contains powerful diagnostic capabilities, real-time monitoring, alerting, IP address features, DHCP monitoring, log management, and configuration operations.

Pros:

• Provides passive and manual tools for CPU testing/monitoring
• Includes a suite of 60+ helpful tools, specifically designed for network administrators and on-site technicians
• Aids in device discovery and testing
• Can help verify network functionality for different devices
• Can easily export or import results from previous scans

Cons:

• Designed specifically for sysadmin, not ideal for home users

Website Link: https://www.solarwinds.com/engineers-toolset

Download: Click here for a fully functional 14-day free trial

2. Obkio

Obkio is a simple network solution software tool that offers an end-to-end and performance monitoring solution that helps you keep track of the network’s health and core business applications.

Pros:

• Beautiful UI and admin console
• Supports a variety of alerting methods
• Can run on desktop or mobile devices
• Helps reduce troubleshooting time by verifying the source of the issue

Cons:

• Better suited for larger networks and MSPs

Obkio is a software application designed for monitoring issues like VoIP, video, and any application download. Obkio alerts you as soon as a problem occurs and pinpoints the source of the issue.

3. Auvik

Auvik is a cloud-based platform for a network management solution and provides all the issue-related details across all the sites through a single dashboard. In addition, this tool has capabilities to manage and monitor multi-vendor network gear.

Pros:

• Simple interface, easy to learn over time
• Leverages autodiscovery to accurately reflect live device inventories
• Can easily monitor CPU and set threshold-based alerts

Cons:

• Open-source version lacks quality support found in paid products
• Installation can be technical and complex

It has an automatic backup configuration facility and is also considered a traffic analysis tool that helps identify anomaly detections faster. The primary functions of Auvik include the discovery of distributed IT assets, insight into network configurations, and network data encryption with AES-256.

4. Ping

The ping troubleshoot tool verifies the reachability to the destination host at the remote end by using IP ICMP echo requests. Ping comprises two messages. One is data packet competent that receives and sends the notifications from the destination IP address. The second type is the RTT process time (RTT =Round trip type and measured in milliseconds).

Here is an example of RTT:

The above exclamation is an example that shows that ping is successful. If you get a notification saying that the destination is unreachable, it is an issue/error.

Pros:

• Simple troubleshooting
• Extremly lightweight
• Native to Windows environments
• Extensively documented

Cons:

• Not ideal for continuous testing
• Does not support data visualization

5. Traceroute

The traceroute tool sends the ICMP echo requests to step by step in the IP address TTL (time to live) values. For example, suppose the starting value indicates the data packet it sends forward, and then each TTL value decreases by 1. The route rejects the data packet if the TTL value is zero.

Again, the source host sets the TTL value to 2 and, this way, the process will continue until the data packet reaches its destination and the destination host receives the ICMP echo reply message.

Pros:

• Built directly into Windows command prompt
• Easy to use, simple syntax
• Displays gateways that your traffic passes through
• Can see if where a bottleneck occurs during the route

Cons:

• Not a proactive form of monitoring
• Limited output options for reporting

The main functions of the trace root include: each router will record every data packet, destination notifications, and calculate the latency.

6. Protocol Analyser

A protocol analyzer is an advanced tool used to identify network issues. This software intercepts and records the data packet flow between the source and destinations. For example, suppose your system is running slow; this tool helps us track the latency issues and other network diagnosing problems.

Pros:

• Collects all traffic across your network
• Can work continuously or for individual audits
• Provides a holistic view of your network activity

Cons:

• Requires technical expertise
• Can involve a lot of data to sort through

Final Thoughts

This post helps IT people, networking people, and NON-IT, common people. The Network problem is an everyday issue, and most of us have been experiencing issues such by trying all the strategies. This troubleshooting network connection problem is mainly designed for all readers struggling with the steps or configurations. In this post, we have explained the basic to advanced concepts like overview, what causes the networking connection issues, flow chart, techniques to solve them, and the popular tools used to resolve the networking issues. We hope this kind of post helps all the communities worldwide and tech experts.