Modern technology and increased use of hosted services have brought about major changes in network and application infrastructures. These changes have given users more functionality than ever, but they have also increased our dependency on a functioning network to ensure that these critical applications are maintained. 

It can also make it more difficult and dangerous to fix a network issue. Knowing which network issues can most affect your network can help you quickly identify the network. Network problems include slow video calls, slow app speed, buffering, poor VoIP Quality, no Internet connection, and no Internet connectivity. There are many reasons why your network may be causing you problems.

VoIP calls, ERP apps, file downloads, and other network problems can all be affected. If you can’t access anything outside of your computer because you have a poor connection, you are likely dealing with a network issue.

Faulty hardware can cause network problems, including routers, switches and firewalls. Unexpected usage patterns like increased network bandwidth, app configuration changes, security breaches, or network bandwidth spikes can also lead to network problems.

Network problems can be frustrating and can lead to disastrous consequences for your business network if they are not addressed. It is important to know what can go wrong in your network to be able to quickly fix them before they impact your users.

Many network issues can impact network performance

• Use High Bandwidth

Bandwidth denotes the maximum data transmittable over an Internet connection within a set timeframe, facilitating data transfer between devices and the Internet. Often confused with Internet speed, it’s measured in megabits per second. High bandwidth enables faster data flow across networks and supports numerous connected devices simultaneously. Network congestion arises when bandwidth is fully utilized, hindering other network segments and leading to slow download speeds. High bandwidth usage, often caused by excessive data consumption, exacerbates congestion and may impede network performance.

• Large Downloads

Large files downloaded from the Internet can dramatically increase bandwidth usage. Your bandwidth usage will increase the larger the file is.

Latency

Latency is the time taken for data packets to reach their destination in a network. Frequent delays and sudden spikes in delay time can indicate major performance problems that could affect bandwidth time.

Packet Loss

Packet loss is when a packet of data is lost along its journey over a network. It never reaches its destination. It can lead to a lot of problems, depending on how many packets are lost and how frequently it happens.

Video Streaming

High bandwidth usage is more common when streaming videos via the Internet. Streaming video in 7k may consume up to 200 times as much bandwidth as audio streaming.

Large Applications

Different applications require different requirements. Many applications need an Internet connection such as programs for web development, email and computer games. You can increase your bandwidth usage if you have a lot of bandwidth.

File Sharing

Some programs allow users to transfer files over the Internet from one computer to another. These programs can cause high bandwidth usage because they require large files to be downloaded and transferred over the Internet.

• Duplicate IP addresses

Two devices trying to share one IP will result in the “Address Already In Use” Kill. This kill prevents you from accessing the network.

The Quick Solution: This is often due to your router’s default DHCP setup. DHCP will most likely try to assign your new device an IP address at the start of your subnet. However, another device could already be occupying these addresses with static IPs. You may have a DHCP server on a server or device you just added to your network. To restore sanity in your network, simply disable the DHCP servers on that device.

Preventive Measure: To avoid IP conflicts, you can modify your router’s configuration so that DHCP addresses are assigned near the top of your subnet. This will allow devices that need static IPs to have lower addresses.

• DNS Problems

Issues such as “The Network Path Could Not Be Found,” “IP Address Could not Be Found,” or “DNS name Does Not Exist” frequently stem from DNS setup problems. A swift way to view workstation DNS settings is by employing the command-line tool nslookup.

Quick Fix: Workstations can be set up to use their own DNS servers. This ignores the one assigned by DHCP. If an incorrect DNS server has been specified in the ‘Internet Protocol Version 4’ settings of your adapter, you can simply select “Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically”.

The Prevention Measure: Your router may be set up to act as a DNS Server and provide a DNS connection to your ISP’s servers. This can cause router overload on busy networks. To directly access your DNS servers, you can modify your network’s DHCP settings.

• Single Workstation Not able to Connect to Network

If a single computer is showing the “No internet” message, it is usually a sign that the rest are healthy. We can then focus our attention on any software or hardware that is specific to this system.

Quick Fix: First, eliminate obvious communication obstacles such as bad cables, weak WiFi signals or failing network cards. Make sure that your workstation’s network adapter has the correct IP, subnet and DNS servers.

If this doesn’t resolve the problem, you can check the firewall software to make sure that the necessary ports are open to the outside network. Common ports are 80 and 443 for web traffic and 25, 587 and 465 for 110 and 995 respectively for email.

Preventive Measure: It is best to set all TCP/IP settings on workstations to “Automatically assigned.” To give a uniform configuration to all devices in the network, use a DHCP server. Most DHCP servers can create static IP mappings if a static IP is required on a specific server or workstation.

• Malfunctioning Equipment or Devices

Network issues can sometimes occur in network equipment such as Firewalls or Routers.

Bad configurations, faulty connections or packet loss can all cause problems. To ensure your network works properly, you must make sure that all devices are correctly configured. To ensure the correct configuration of your network devices, it is important to test them before you reconfigure or reconfigure them.

Device misconfigurations can cause network performance problems. They can impact different areas of your network, and lead to major problems later. You need to be vigilant about all switches and devices in your network. If they don’t, you should quickly react.

• Interference in Wireless Network

WiFi issues are one of the most frequent complaints about modern-day connectivity. Wireless interference is when something interferes with the Wi-Fi signal transmitted by your wireless router.

Wireless interference signs include:

• Even when you are close to a WiFi broadcaster, signal strength is low
• When connected via WiFi, a slower Internet connection
• File transfers over WiFi are slow
• Bluetooth or WiFi devices cannot be paired even though they are within proximity to each other
• WiFi connection drops intermittently

Common household items like cordless phones and microwave ovens can cause slowdowns in your Wi-Fi network performance. Your neighbours’ Wi-Fi networks may be interfering with yours if you live in densely populated areas. This is especially true if your wireless router uses 2.4GHz.

Network administrators must be able to identify the source of interference and the exact time it occurred quickly, as failures can happen at any moment. Although users tend to be quick to report problems, it is best to find and fix the problem before it impacts users.

How to identify Network Problems

The first step in solving network problems is to identify them. This involves identifying who and what. where and when.

1.   Select a Network Monitoring Software

Network Monitoring software is the best tool to identify these network problems. Network Monitoring, also known as Network Performance Monitoring, monitors the performance of your network to detect network problems that are affecting end-users. This can be done over the Internet or in the local network infrastructure.

Because it does the job, we recommend software such as Obkio Net Monitoring Software.

Obkio installs Monitoring Agents in key network locations to simulate network traffic, identify network problems, and collect information.

2.   Do a Network Assessment

When it comes to identifying network issues, the next step is to perform a network assessment to gather some key information:

• The problem is that you need to understand these problems to find solutions. The network performance monitor software will analyze network metrics and provide details about the problem.
• Where is the problem? It is important to pinpoint exactly where an issue occurred in your network. Obkio’s Monitoring Agents allows you to deploy Agents at key locations in your network for end-to-end network visibility. This will provide you with information about the problem areas.
• Who is responsible for this network segment? Once you have identified the location of a network problem and its exact nature, you can easily determine who within your company is responsible.
• What steps to take: Once you have identified the problem, you can begin network troubleshooting. This could be done by reaching out to your ISP/MSP or bringing it up to your network administrator for internal resolution.

In Conclusion 

In conclusion, the escalating intricacies and scale of modern network infrastructures underscore the urgency of addressing network issues promptly. Given the significant impact on productivity, user experience, IT resources, revenue, and reputation, companies cannot afford the repercussions of prolonged downtime. Preparation is key, and understanding the fundamentals is essential for effective mitigation strategies. Leveraging a reliable network service provider like AVIANET offers proactive solutions to detect and resolve network problems, including the elusive intermittent network slowness issues, safeguarding against potential disruptions and ensuring seamless operations.