Troubleshooting problems with a network can be a tedious and frustrating task. It’s often not clear what the root cause of network problems is. Some problems are intermittent, which makes them harder to test. Different operating systems, applications and networking hardware may respond to network problems in different ways, leading to inconsistency in symptoms. Show In order to navigate challenges like these and troubleshoot networking issues effectively, you need to take a systematic approach. This article explains the essential network troubleshooting steps to walk through, as well as resolution strategies for common networking problems. Assess the ProblemWhen a networking issue arises, your first step should be to assess the problem, in order to determine what the issue actually is. A user complaint that “the Internet is slow” could mean many different things - an application is not responding quickly enough due to limited bandwidth, a wireless connection is flaky, network latency rates are too high, and so on. You must ascertain the specific nature of the issue before you can fix it. To help assess the extent and source of the problem, consider these steps:
Further reading Network Audit Guide Classify the IncidentOnce you’ve determined the nature and scope of the problem, you can assign it a priority level. The priority level should reflect how many users the problem impacts and how critically it disrupts their work. If it’s a major incident, begin responding as soon as you can. Otherwise, establish a timeline for when you will resolve the problem. During this process, think as well about the origins of the incident and what it will take to fix it. Will you need to travel to a remote site? Do you need to order new equipment? Will you need multiple staff members to resolve the problem? Factors like these will influence how quickly you can plan to resolve the incident, regardless of its priority level. In cases where you are dealing with a critical problem but can’t solve it right away, you may consider introducing a stopgap measure in the meantime. For example, if you need to rebuild a local server but don’t have new server hardware on hand, you could spin up a replacement server in the cloud using a virtual machine temporarily, then take an image of that server and transfer it to the new local server hardware when it arrives. Develop a Response PlanBefore you begin working to resolve a networking incident, you should have a plan in place for how you will handle it. The plan should reflect what you believe to be the root cause (or causes) of the problem, and it should specify the resources and procedures that you will need in order to resolve it. For serious or complex incidents, it’s wise to test your response plan before implementing it. For example, imagine a situation where your response plan is to replace a network router that is actively handling connections, but is starting to fail. In order to ensure that you can decommission the router and replace it with a new one with as little disruption to users as possible, you could perform a test run by setting up a spare router first. That way, you’ll familiarize yourself with the steps you’ll need to go through when performing the actual incident response. This will minimize the risk that something unexpected will happen and bring the live network down for an extended period.
Document the Troubleshooting ProcessWhen you’re in the midst of responding to a networking issue, writing documentation may not be at the forefront of your mind. But it should be, because it’s critical to document every stage of the network troubleshooting process. Write down the steps you perform in order to assess and diagnose problems, as well as the response plan you intend to follow. Then, note the outcome of the plan after you execute it. Having this documentation on hand will help you respond more quickly in the event that the problem occurs again. It is also useful when you are troubleshooting other network issues and want to determine what has and hasn’t worked in the past. Further reading Documentation Best Practices for Network Administrators Common Networking Issues and How to Troubleshoot ThemNow that we’ve discussed the basic steps for network troubleshooting, let’s look at two common types of network issues - wireless connectivity problems and bandwidth limitations - and the approaches you can take to resolving them. Wireless ConnectivityCompared to wired networks, wireless networks are inherently less reliable. Signal loss can occur in the places where it's least expected and for reasons that are sometimes unanticipated. Still, providing reliable wireless connectivity is critical for virtually every modern business, which probably could not operate without mobile devices. Having the appropriate tools for troubleshooting wireless problems, and a strong knowledge of how wireless range and transmission rates work, are the best ways to get there. Here is an overview of each of these points. Assessing Wireless Networks Here are a few types of resources that will help with assessing wireless networks:
Understand Wireless Range To get a full picture of the wireless range, you need to assess several distinct aspects of the connection.
Bandwidth issuesBandwidth testing needs to be performed at all levels of a network. By doing this, it is easy to determine where points of failure lie. Here are the different levels to consider.
Further reading Network Performance Monitoring Network Troubleshooting ToolsA variety of network troubleshooting tools are available for helping to assess performance and isolate problems. On Linux or macOS, you can take advantage of various command-line tools, such as:
Most of these tools or their equivalents are available for Windows as well, although they may not be installed by default. For more sophisticated testing, tools like IP calculators, speed test websites, port scanners and protocol analyzers can provide an overview of your network and its performance. Finally, specialized hardware devices, including cable testers, time-domain reflectometers (TDRs) and loopback adapters can be useful for testing issues related to networking hardware. ConclusionNetwork troubleshooting is a complex task. Every networking incident is unique and requires a tailored response. However, following a systematic process for determining the nature of a problem and developing a response plan will ensure that you can resolve networking incidents before they become critical disruptions for your users.
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