Is it the machine or the connection?
Tell whether the trouble is inside your device or out on the line.
There is the machine in front of you, and there is the line that carries information to it.
Telling those apart cuts your problem in half in about a minute, and it costs you nothing to check.
The test is simple. Try the same thing on a second device on the same network.
If the second device also fails, the line or the service is at fault. If only one device fails, look at that device.
Key points
- Every fault is in the machine or on the line.
- A second device tells you which.
- Same network, or the test proves nothing.
- All devices failing points to shared equipment.
- One device failing points to that device.
What to remember
- A second device only proves something if it is on the same network.
- The device that still works is your best piece of evidence.
- When everything breaks together, look at what everything shares.
Try this
The next time a page will not load, pick up a second device on the same wifi and try that exact same page before changing anything.
Practice: Is it the machine or the connection?. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.