Features

You should also try pinging the Gateway address as listed by 'ipconfig /all'; if you don't get a response from that, there's a problem with your router and you should restart it.

If you still can't communicate with a device, how you proceed depends on whether you've got a wired or wireless network. If you've got a wired network, you should check the cabling to both your PC and the device you're connecting to, as described in the previous step.

If you're running a wireless network, are you trying to communicate with another wireless device? If you are, you need to check your router to see if wireless isolation is turned on. This feature prevents wireless clients talking to each other. Your router's manual will tell you where this option is. Otherwise, the problem could be that your wireless signal strength isn't strong enough.

My Connection is slow

A slow network is one of the most common complaints. This is usually caused by something that is relatively simple to fix, although checking the problem will depend on whether you're using a wired or wireless network.

If you're using wireless, it may simply be that you're almost out of range of the router, as performance drops off the further away you move. In Windows XP, you can check the signal strength by opening Network Connections from the Control Panel. Double-click the wireless connection and you'll see the status information page with Signal Strength displayed. In Vista, open the

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Network and Sharing Center from the Control Panel. The Signal Strength is displayed under the Connection information. If you have one or two bars on the graph highlighted in green, or the connection says Poor, then move the computer until this improves.

If your network still isn't any faster, then it could be that someone else in your house is using all your bandwidth. Look at the status lights on the router; if you see the wireless light flashing madly, the wireless network is really busy. Get other people who are using wireless to stop what they're doing. If this doesn't fix the problem, read our 'Wireless woes' box below.

For a wired network, check the status lights on the router. If the light for one port is flashing madly, it means the computer connected to it is using a lot of network traffic. Try disconnecting all other devices apart from your computer and the device you want to access. If speeds still don't improve, try swapping cables.

Finally, a lot of problems aren't caused by the network, but by an overloaded computer. Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc and click on the Performance tab. If your CPU usage is high - 90 per cent or above - this could be the problem. If you're trying to connect to a PC, do the same thing on that computer, as high processor utilisation here could be the problem. Try quitting all running applications and see if the CPU usage goes down.

I can't access the internet

Sharing an internet connection is one of the best uses of a network, but it's also the cause of a lot of errors. If you can access other devices on your network but can't connect to the internet, the problem is either with your router or ISP.

There should be a status light on your router to show that it's connected to the internet. If this isn't lit, connect to the router's management page and follow the instructions to reconnect to the internet. Taking the power lead out of the back and leaving it for a few seconds before plugging it back in might fix the problem. If not, contact your ISP to find out if there's a problem.