12 Tips for Troubleshooting Your Internet Connection

"My Internet is so slow." "I can't stream video from my laptop to my phone." "My tablet won't connect to my router." These are just a few of the many common problems users experience with their home networks and wireless connections. Why? Because even though your router is one of the most useful tech devices you own, it can also be one of the most troublesome. Setting up a home router—and keeping it running—is still more complicated and requires more tech knowledge than the average user could wish. Fortunately, we can help.
The first step is understanding what your router is and how it works. A router performs two primary functions. First, it routes data packets between networks. Second, it serves as a wireless access point, sharing the inbound Internet connection with all
devices on a home network. A router is the central figure in a home network, connecting the vast Internet with our comparatively tiny (yet increasingly sophisticated) private networks. That's a complex set of responsibilities for a small, inexpensive device to perform. Most routers manage to do all these job reasonably well for the vast majority of the time. But, because all of these functions are critical to a router's network, when your router begins to act up, you're likely to forget the fact that it functioned flawless for weeks, or even months, at a time.
And your router will act up, from time to time. Unfortunately, the bridges between the Internet and a home user's local area network, or LAN, are the perfect breeding ground for a host of problems. Not being able to browse the Internet, intermittent connections drops, and dead spots in wireless coverage are just a small portion of the endless litany of migraine-inducing Wi-Fi weirdness that crop up when routers fail at their tasks.
You have the power to solve many of these problems, even if you cringe at the thought of troubleshooting your wireless network. I've covered many specific problems related to wireless networking: How to Boost Your Wireless Signal, How to Cast Out Intruders on a Wireless Network, and even How to Troubleshoot iPad Wi-Fi Connectivity Issues. However, some problems that crop up are common to all wireless routers, and we at PCMag want you to be able to solve them. Here are the twelve most common wireless questions I get from readers and corresponding down-and-dirty troubleshooting tricks you can try before you call technical support.

Source:  http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/262550/12-tips-for-troubleshooting-your-internet-connection