Tech Table
Monday, June 9, 2014
June 9, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA’s Tech Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I’m Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise: it’ll be easy to digest. Hey there, Justin.
Justin: Hey, Diana. It’s Monday.
Diana: And we get mail on Monday.
Justin: We do.
Diana: Well, we get mail every day. We talk about it on Monday.
Justin: It’s so nice, too. People do send notes to our inbox. Usually pleasant notes.
Diana: Usually, yes.
Justin: And a lot of questions. And Donnie in our office does answer a lot of those questions.
Diana: He’s kind of our front line guy.
Justin: So what’s that email address people can write in to?
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: So Theresa wrote in with a question. “I have been having some issues with my internet working. Not all the time just sometimes. What could be happening?”
Diana: Great question. We all have that frustration sometimes.
Justin: Internet issues on a computer can be caused by so many things ranging from something very minute to something, you know, outlandishly bothersome and costly.’ That’s actually a quote from Donnie. It’s true. One of the first things to look at it is consider that it might be caused by the computer or your ISP which is your local telecommunications company which might be the local telephone company or a larger cable internet provider.
Diana: Something maybe where you’ve bundled some services.
Justin: Exactly. Sometimes they can have a problem on their end and sometimes it can be on your end. Check the connection on more than one device. If you can’t get it on any device, laptops, iPads, phones, etc. it is most likely the ISP. Now, if it’s only one computer something might be wrong with that device. That’s the way to tell if it’s your ISP.
Diana: Now if you do think it is your actual computer or device there are a few things you can check. One, is the wireless on and is it connected to the Ethernet cable? Two, is Airplane Mode enabled on your device? If it is, disable it. And three: do you have your wireless or your wired card enabled. Make sure that’s enabled.
Justin: If you can answer all of those questions with a yes yet you are still not getting internet it may be the ISP but how do you know.
Diana: So look at the router. Is everything on it blinking that should be?
Justin: A lot of little lights on those things. They’re like spaceships.
Diana: Are all the cords plugged in?
Justin: Right. That’s a valid question. We’ve had that issue before.
Diana: And the on switch on, that sort of thing. And are both your modem and your router working? Check all of those things. Now, some of these questions you may have to contact your ISP to get resolved but that’s okay. That’s what they’re there for.
Justin: That’s right. They have great customer service most of the time and they’ll give you those answers.
Diana: Now, on the other hand if you think it’s the equipment that’s the problem like your router, your modem or your cords you should still contact your service provider and see if they can replace or diagnose them. It might be something they can just send out or bring out to you.
Justin: A lot of times wireless routers don’t have a forever life. I’ve been waiting actually for one of ours at home to go kaput because I think we’ve had the thing… I think it’s been running consistently for five years or so. They don’t run forever. They do have a limited life.
Diana: Yes. If it’s your computer you are going to want to use any software cleanup tools that you have and malware bites.
Justin: Because sometimes a malware issue can cause that. Ultimately, if your ISP provider, or internet service provider, is unable to help you call a local technology company and set up a service call or a remote log in and a technician will go through your computer and hardware to ensure they’re working correctly. Obviously, they won’t be able to do it remotely if your internet’s not working so you might have to do a service call. So send your questions to:
Diana: questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: You can always find our answers. We’re actually getting them put up on the website so you’ll be able all to listen and read through them.
Diana: Transcriptions.
Justin: Yes. A transcript of our show so that’s kind of exciting. We’ll talk more about that another time.
Diana: Cool.
Justin: Until next time.
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askMPA dot com. If you have questions or comments please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com. Thanks for listening.
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