How Do You Fix Wifi Router Issues
Understanding Internet Address Allocation
When you use the Internet, you will be assigned a Public IPv4 address, such as 144.130.238.131, or an IPv6 address like 2000:7a55:ba0c:831d:e6fe:442:fafb:724b. The https://test-ipv6.com/ website can verify these addresses. However, for those who are not familiar with technology, conveying these addresses or even mentioning MAC addresses, like d5:6e:ce:11:de:f4, can lead to errors and unnecessary complexity. Furthermore, this method does not provide historical data, especially regarding previous issues.
Navigating the World Wide Web
When you want to visit a website, such as https://wilkinson.com, you first contact a DNS server to translate the URL’s host portion (wilkinson) and the Top Level Domain (com) to an IP address, such as 11.27.147.119. Every web request sent by your computer and browser includes its type, for example: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win 9x 4.90; SG; rv:1.9.2.4) Gecko/20101104 Netscape/9.1.0285
Understanding the Significance of Default Gateways
Your default gateway is typically an automatically assigned address through DHCP. This default gateway, such as 192.168.108.151 (usually ending in .1 or .254 depending on the scope size), is where your computer directs all its traffic to be routed onward. For IPv6, an in-depth explanation can be found at how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/, but it can also be verified on Mac or Linux using the following command:
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 192.168.108.151 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:a8c:d5c8:614c:2da%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): {248.43.150.185, 250.225.81.79}
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 d5:6e:ce:11:de:f4
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 19:2c:99:65:2a:4a
}
Solutions for Resolving Connectivity Issues
When it comes to transferring data to your router, you may encounter connectivity issues related to wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) connections at the physical and data layer.
Actions to Take on Apple macOS / OSX
Regardless of whether you are using OSX/macOS version 10.15.7, 11.4.1, or 12.1.5, there are a variety of troubleshooting tools available. However, these manual interventions and scripts do not provide a set of correlated values over time. This is where the significance of automated remote troubleshooting becomes apparent, particularly for teams that support remote work and Work From Anywhere (WFA).
Pre-installed Tools for Assistance
One valuable tool on OSX/macOS is the sudo wdutil info command, which provides a detailed account of current wireless settings to the CLI and can be configured to generate specific troubleshooting logs. Additionally, the sysdiagnose tool offers a more comprehensive option, producing a wide range of logs (although most are only relevant at a specific point in time, similar to wdutil).
Running sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u & in the background will generate logs in /var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz for you. For an interactive experience (although there is minimal interaction), you can runsudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose, which will trigger a privacy warning. When not run in the background, it should open Finder in the appropriate location, or you can navigate to /var/tmp or use Finder with Cmd+Shift+G to locate the path. Keep in mind that the file sizes are approximately 300MB.
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