Diagnose Network Problems With Expert Network Troubleshooting

If your Apps are consistently slow or dropping out, it used to be simple to diagnose, with the LAN or the servers tending to be the cause. But with cloud servers and Apps, you must now ask more complex questions, taking into account the firewall, WAN, hosting servers and network. With network faults increasingly difficult to diagnose, we offer network troubleshooting guidance to rectify the issues you’re experiencing.

Fault Finding

Engineers with over 25 years experience building, configuring and fault finding business critical networks.

Performance Improvement

Whether it be performance issues or full network prioritisation for applications like VoIP or video our engineers can help.

Network Security

With Cisco qualified networks security experts, our team can work with you to create a network with enterprise grade security.

Our approach To Network Troubleshooting

Step 1

Map The Current Network Setup

If it’s not been done already, the first step in any network fault finding scenario is generally to map/document the current setup. It’s then possible to verify that all is as it should be.

This includes Access Point, Wireless controller, switch, router, server and firewall models. We would check their datasheets and resources, establishing speed & throughput ratings looking for the most likely bottleneck.

Step 2

Ask The Correct Questions

When identifying network faults, it’s essential to ask important questions, such as:

How many clients are affected?
What type of clients are affected?
Are they confined to one area, or is it across multiple areas?
One time of day, or seemingly intermittent?
Is it to one server/cluster/load balancer?
Where is that server located? LAN or WAN
Is it wired or wireless clients? Or both?

Once the above questions have been answered, it’s time to get down to troubleshooting the network.

Step 3

Client Testing Tools

The first place we usually start is using free utilities that are supplied on any Windows or Linux machine.

Alternatively, it’s possible to use free open source downloads.

These client testing tools include:

PING – test connectivity/latency & packet size issues.
Tracert/traceroute - test routed traffic paths.
Pathping/mtr – test routed traffic paths & packet loss/latency.
Ipconfig/ifconfig – verify a client’s IP & DNS/DHCP/subnet settings.
Nslookup – used to verify DNS
Netstat – check active ports being used.
Speedtest sites – quickly get a flavour of the internet connectivity speeds.
Iperf server – can be used across the WAN or local LAN to test client to server connection speeds.
Route/Route PRINT – used rarely nowadays. Most often, it shows client misconfiguration.
Wireshark – capture packets to really delve down into things.

The above tools should help pinpoint where the issue lies. We always document the results and test over time to build up a fuller picture.

With intermittent issues, it may be necessary to setup a monitoring station and monitor various points & applications. We may monitor using ICMP/HTTP-HTTPS/VoiP – whatever you are seeing issues with.

What Could Be Causing Network Issues?

Network issues can be caused by a range of factors, which our network fault finding service will pinpoint.

Common network issues could be down to:

Cabling – broken, or not providing the required speeds.
WiFi - interference, capacity, or design issues.
Switching – capacity/spanning tree/design issues.
Routing – sub-optimal routing. Incorrect PBR (Policy-Based Routing).
Firewall – capacity issues or mis-configuration.
WAN link/s – again, are they being used correctly? Latency/saturation issues.
QoS (Quality of Service) – not working for desired applications.
Server – resource or software issues.

Whatever the issue, our network experts have both the experience, along with specialist hardware and software network troubleshooting tools that will help pinpoint the cause of the issues. Our expertise and equipment cover both wired & WiFi network issues.

If you have a network which offers poor performance, speak to our UK-based customer support team for expert network troubleshooting advice. With over 25 years’ experience building high performance networks, we can offer expert network troubleshooting advice and guidance to help identify and rectify the issues that you’re experiencing.

Our engineers will assess your network and hardware, offering advice and solutions where applicable. We can then replace any hardware or reconfigure the network to provide you with optimum performance so that you have a fast, reliable and stable network.

Take a look at how we we approach various types of Wifi surveys

Wifi Surveys and Consultancy