by John Magluilo

After a lightening storm it is not unusual for your Internet to go out. There are several causes of this and a few ways to fix it.

Call Your ISP
Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) may be having problems. Call them and ask if there are any outages. If they say no then report your and have them check to see if it is on their end.

Reset Your Equipment
After lightening storm can cause your router and/or modem to freeze or lock up, like a computer sometimes does. Unplug both your router and modem from the wall (in some cases you may only have one of these). Wait at least 60 seconds and then plug your modem back in. Wait another 60 seconds and then plug your router back in. Give this equipment a few minutes (up to five) to turn back on.

If neither of the above works, then you may have a fried piece of hardware. The next steps will help you determine what is wrong.

Background Information:
Most lightning storms don't short out the router but actually short out the cable or DSL modem. You are going to want to figure out which one is fried. If it is the router, then it may be under warranty and you would want to contact the manufacturer. Some companies do not replace hardware is lightening is at fault. If it is the modem this is probably not covered under a warranty and will need to be replaced. Stores like Office Max sell them for about $60-$80 and the cable company usually charges about $90-$120. Be sure to check if a store bought modem can work with her cable provider before purchasing it.

To Test Which One Is Fried:
Be sure both the modem and router are plugged into the electrical outlet. See if any lights light up on the front of them. If both the modem and router have lights on the front follow the instructions bellow. If not, you know which one doesn't work.

To check if the router is working, plug a computer directly into it (try not to use wireless for this step). Type in 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.1.1 in your Internet Browser. If a box pops up asking for a user name and password then the router is probably not fried.

To check the cable modem, plug your computer directly into the modem (bypassing the router). Try to connect to the Internet like you usually do. Test it with a site such as google.com.

In the worst case scenario, both can be fried, but this is rare.

Prevention:
From now on don't plug your router, modem, or computer directly into the electrical outlet. Use a surge protector. Another thing to note is that power strips are NOT surge protectors. They only split the connection so you can plug more then two things into the outlet.

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Article Source: www.iSnare.com