How Do You Fix Wifi Connectivity
Understanding Internet Addressing
When using the Internet, you may have a Public IPv4 address such as 119.112.50.167 or even an IPv6 address like 2000:24e7:e3c5:21c8:9f2e:8c0e:648f:bd74. If you want to verify this information, you can do so by visiting https://test-ipv6.com/. However, attempting to convey these addresses to individuals who are not well-versed in technology can be mistake-prone and quickly become complex. Moreover, this method does not provide any historical data, particularly for previous issues.
Navigating the World Wide Web
When trying to access a web page, like for example, https://ortiz.org, your first step is to reach out to a DNS server. This server will translate the host portion (ortiz) in combination with the Top Level Domain (org) of the URL into an IP address, such as 103.153.23.39. Interestingly, your computer and browser communicate their type with every web request, for example, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/7.0; AS; rv:11.0) like Gecko
The Significance of Default Gateways
Usually, your default gateway is an automatically assigned address through DHCP. You will be given a default gateway, such as 192.0.0.249 (although they normally end in .1 or .254, depending on the scope size). This is the point where your computer sends all of its traffic to be routed onwards. If you are using IPv6, you can refer to our comprehensive guide on how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/. Alternatively, you can verify this information on Mac or Linux by using the following commands:
IPv4 Routes and the Host IPv4 Route Table (inc. VPN)
netstat -rn -f inet | egrep -i "default|0/1|128.0/1"
0/1 172.18.12.193 UGScg utun3 default 192.0.0.249 UGScg en0 128.0/1 172.18.12.193 UGSc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v4 address space.
IPv6 Routes and the Host IPv6 Route Table (inc. VPN)
netstat -rn -f inet6 | egrep -i "default|2000::/3"
If you have IPv6 active the above should return at least one route (as per below) via a known interface such as “en0 " on a Mac.
default fe80:7524:efe9:6971:2b22%en0 UGcg en0 default fe80::%utun0 UGcIg utun0 default fe80::%utun1 UGcIg utun1 default fe80::%utun2 UGcIg utun2 2000::/3 utun3 USc utun3
Note: We are not just looking for the default but also for any VPN that overrides the public v6 address space.
Debugging DHCP for both IPv4 and IPv6
To get a look at the low level DHCP configuration (Mac/Linux):
ipconfig getpacket en0
...
domain_name_server (ip_mult): {94.189.197.174, 74.108.86.121}
end (none):
...
So, in the above we are not getting IPv6 DNS servers from the DHCPv4 reply but…
ipconfig getv6packet en0
DHCPv6 REPLY (7) Transaction ID 0x80940b Length 76
Options[4] = {
CLIENTID (1) Length 14: DUID LLT HW 1 Time 668691856 Addr 83:d2:71:34:86:cb
DNS_SERVERS (23) Length 32: 2606:4700:4700::1111, 2001:4860:4860::8844
DOMAIN_LIST (24) Length 0: Invalid
SERVERID (2) Length 10: DUID LL HW 1 Addr cc:92:7a:94:b2:43
}
Resolving Issues with Wired and Wireless Connections
When it comes to transmitting data to your router, you may be utilizing a wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) medium at the physical and data layer.
Troubleshooting on Apple macOS / OSX
Regardless of the version of OSX/macOS you are using, whether it’s 10.15.4, 11.5.4, or 12.2.1, there are various troubleshooting tools available. Unfortunately, these manual actions and scripts do not provide a set of correlated values over time. This is where automated remote troubleshooting proves to be beneficial, especially for teams that are adapting to remote work and Work From Anywhere (WFA).
Useful Built-in Scripts
One valuable tool on OSX/macOS is the sudo wdutil info command, which provides a dump of current wireless settings to the CLI and can also be configured to generate specific logs for troubleshooting. Additionally, the sysdiagnose tool can be used to generate a wide range of logs, although much of it is point-in-time data specifically related to wireless, similar to wdutil.
Running sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u & in the background will write logs to /var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz. If you prefer to run it interactively, you can use sudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose and it will display a privacy warning. When not run in the background, it should open Finder in the correct location, or you can navigate to /var/tmp using Finder with Cmd+Shift+G. Keep in mind that the file sizes are approximately 300MB.
Possibly Helpful Videos
P.S. Tips For Remote Network and Client Support
Digital work requires reliable connectivity. Whether for low latency or regular data streams, Wi-Fi, DNS, and network issues cause teams to lose time and productivity. Even worse is when support teams waste time trying to recreate and isolate issues! See how PanSift saves time, money, and frustration on all sides with instant remote troubleshooting 🏠🏝🛰.
