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Regardless of how you connect to the internet, a device called a modem sits somewhere between your computer and your Internet Services Provider (ISP). A modem (short for "modulator/demodulator") is the equipment that is responsible for communicating between your computer and/or your home network to ensure that is in a format that is understandable by your ISP.

Modems allow computers to communicate with a wide variety of networks regardless of whether the connection is made by have a dial-up, DSL, cable, wireless or satellite. In short, the modem is responsible for initiating and maintaining the linkage between you and the Internet.

Unfortunately, it is all to common for these devices to lose their connection at the most inopportune times, leaving you with no internet connectivity just as you are trying to send an important email to your boss or buy your children their discounted tickets to the local theme park. When the modem "drops" its connection, it is sometimes due to bad line conditions or an intermittent glitch in the modem itself, and the modem is usually able to quickly reestablish the connection. However, there are some times when the transient problem "confuses" the modem, and the modem thinks that it is still connected to the internet when in reality, it is sitting there doing nothing other than look pretty with its little green lights blinking as if everything is normal.

When this happens, the quickest and easiest method to troubleshoot and usually fix the problem is to subject the modem to a system restart. In almost all situations, this will fix the problem with your modem (if it is indeed where the problem is), while also forcing it to run its own diagnostic routines and alert you if there is indeed a problem with the modem or the connection between going to the ISP.

If you are have a dialup connection to the internet, you probably have an internal modem. If this is so, the only way to reset your modem is to reboot your computer. Though this seems like overkill, it actually is a more thorough way to troubleshoot in that if the problem lies in another part of your computer, the computer restart will probably clear that problem as well.

If you have an external modem, or your connection to the internet is via a different type of connection such as a Cable or DSL modem (often referred to as "Cable Router" or "DSL Router"), then you will probably need to manually power cycle the modem itself. For some reason, many manufacturers do not place a power switch on their modems. If you cannot find a power switch on your modem, then you will need to unplug the modem from the wall, leave it unplugged for at least ten seconds, then plug it back in.

Once you have reset your modem to it's basic state via restart, your connection should be reestablished in a relatively short time. This will be evidenced by the appearance of either a green "LINK" or "INTERNET" light on your modem. If you have completed the reset and your modem still does not show that it has reconnected within a reasonable amount of time, then you should contact the provider of your modem (for Cable, DSL and/or Satellite, this will normally be your ISP) and ask their assistance in troubleshooting the modem. They will have special software that can provide a more in-depth diagnosis of your modem from their central office.

Though many associate modems almost exclusively with dialup connections, they are truly assocaited with all types of connections. Knowing how to perform basic troubleshooting on these simple yet important devices can help you be more independent of the technology mavens of your ISP who only want to talk to you when you have a blank check in your hand.

Learn more about this author, Alan Fernald.
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