Jim Rossman: Tech troubleshooting 101: Working to solve your own issues

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This week I want to talk about troubleshooting your own tech problems.

I received this email a few days ago, “For the last few days, my iPad, which has worked well in the past on my home Wi-Fi provided by Frontier, has started bouncing from connected to not connected to the internet. It does it within seconds. While on Facebook it will display the messages 'connected to the internet' or working offline.'

"I’ve tried powering it down then powering up, but it continues to happen.

"I’d appreciate any help you can give me to resolve this maddening problem.”

The key to troubleshooting is breaking down the problem system to its basic elements and trying to isolate and change things to see if they are causing the problem.

To start diagnosing this Wi-Fi dropping, I’d start by trying to figure out if the issue is the Wi-Fi system or the iPad itself.

First, go to the Wi-Fi router and power cycle it. Unplug it from the electric outlet, wait 10 seconds and plug it back in. While you’re waiting for the router to restart, reboot the iPad. You’d be surprised how many tech issues are helped by rebooting.

You can go to the Wi-Fi settings on the iPad and choose your home network and tell the iPad to forget that network, then rejoin your Wi-Fi. You’ll be asked to re-enter the password.

If the iPad is still dropping the Wi-Fi signal even in the same room with the router, bring in another device – like a phone or laptop or tablet – and see if the Wi-Fi acts the same way on the second or even third device. Just sit them on the table and maybe start streaming a YouTube video and see how things go.

If the Wi-Fi drops for more than one device, you can safely blame the router.

If the other devices keep a solid connection, you can keep looking at your iPad. Make sure it is up to date on software updates.

If the iPad is still flaking out, take it on a field trip to a different Wi-Fi network like a coffee shop or library or a friend’s house and see if it keeps a steady connection or if it drops.

Eliminating variables, like watching how your Wi-Fi behaves with a separate device or taking your device to see how it behaves on a different network, will go a long way to help you zero in on a solution.

If the iPad is flaky on other networks, a trip to the Apple store may be in order to see about a repair.

If the iPad acts right in other locations, you can try a different Wi-Fi router at home. It’s easy to add a better router to your Frontier fiber modem. There are ethernet ports on the modem where you can connect your own Wi-Fi router. Depending on the size of your house, you can get a simple Wi-Fi router or if your space is larger, you might want to consider a two- or three-piece mesh Wi-Fi system that spaces Wi-Fi access points around your house to provide a strong and fast signal to every corner.

I use Eero mesh Wi-Fi at my house, but there are certainly other brands.