How Do You Support Wifi Internet Issues
Understanding How Internet Addresses Function
When connecting to the Internet, you can obtain a Public IPv4 address similar to 174.46.185.33 or an IPv6 address such as 2000:974:a1b6:d083:fa69:f39d:7f8a:474d. You can verify this by visiting https://test-ipv6.com/. However, for individuals who are not tech-savvy, communicating or referencing these addresses, or even MAC addresses like 9c:fb:17:bc:00:c6, can be prone to errors and become complex rapidly. Moreover, this method does not provide any historical data, especially during previous technical issues.
Navigating Online Pages
To access a web page, such as https://mcdermott.info, you first reach out to a DNS server to convert the host portion (mcdermott) combined with the Top Level Domain (info) of the URL, into an IP address like 85.179.20.108. Your computer and web browser always submit their type with each web request, for instance: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; AOL 9.7; AOLBuild 4343.19; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0; FunWebProducts)
Significance of Default Gateways
Your default gateway is generally an address automatically configured via DHCP. You receive a default gateway like 192.168.162.102 (usually ending in .1 or .254 based on the scope size), and this is where your computer directs all its traffic to be routed further. For IPv6, a detailed examination can be found at how-to-fix-ipv6-connectivity/, but you can also verify this on Mac or Linux using:
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 192.168.162.102 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:c449:7ee9:4f45:1313%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): {167.67.91.49, 134.196.205.101}
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 9c:fb:17:bc:00:c6
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 08:33:8e:6f:4f:a5
}
Fixing Connection Issues for Wired and Wireless Networks
When it comes to sending data to your router, you might be using a wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) medium at the physical and data layer.
Troubleshooting Tips for Apple macOS / OSX
No matter which version of OSX/macOS you are currently using - whether it’s 10.12.4, 11.2.1, or 12.3.6 - there are various troubleshooting tools available. However, these manual actions and scripts do not provide a series of correlated values over time. This is where automated remote troubleshooting becomes valuable, particularly for teams that embrace remote work and the Work From Anywhere (WFA) concept.
Utilizing Built-in Scripts for Assistance
One useful 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 troubleshooting logs. Moreover, the sysdiagnose tool offers a more comprehensive option for generating a range of logs (although much of it is point-in-time data related to wireless, similar to wdutil).
To run it in the background and write logs to /var/tmp/<blah>.tar.gz, you can use the command sudo nohup /usr/bin/sysdiagnose -u &. Alternatively, for an interactive experience, you can run the command sudo /usr/bin/sysdiagnose (which will provide a privacy warning). When not run in the background, it should open Finder in the correct location, and the file can be found in /var/tmp. Keep in mind that the file sizes are around 300MB or less.
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 🏠🏝🛰.
