Handling IT projects means you can expect unexpected events all the time. These unexpected things might harm your network badly, or they can be manageable. But anyway, you need to act accordingly and immediately. Because if you don’t do that, you will most likely regret it soon. That’s why you need to have a strategy in hand to find out what’s going on and troubleshoot any issues.

Here, we will explore how you can do that. 

What are the most common network problems?

Don’t look for symptoms. Look for the causes. The best practice ever is to identify the roots of the problem. That might be

• Network performance: if your overall network performance is not so good, you should expect problems. Your network should respond quickly to any requests to ensure the integrity of any data. That’s why you must invest in bandwidth-intensive apps to leverage your network to a healthy level. 
• Configuration failures: It’s common to find out that your network problems come from faulty configurations, such as firewall misconfigurations, backup issues, IP address errors, or indirect routing configuration. 
• Hardware and software-failing issues: routers, switches, and connectors can be one of your network issues. At the software level, you should check all computers and smartphones to ensure they operate correctly through the last version.
• Security-related problems: it’s one of the most common issues. When diagnosing your network, make sure to hire a cybersecurity specialist to find out any denial-service attacks or malware. 

So, what do you need to do when your network goes wrong?

That’s what we will discuss now.

How to Solve a Network Problem

First, you need a vision or a systemic strategy to make it happen adequately.

• Address the problem: It’s an investigating process where you need to gather any information about the problem, then break it down into sets- each set explains one symptom of the problem and when it starts. 
• Use the right tool when checking routers and switches: Also, IT professionals need to investigate the matter with the users to know what applications they’re logging into. They might try to duplicate the problem on another software or hardware to find out where the problem is. 
• Disconnecting specific devices: Now it’s time to find out which devices or services cause the problem. It will be a good idea to get users involved in this step again by asking them about the problem they have encountered. That includes using log files or monitoring tools to gather the complete picture of your network status.
• Set the action plan: The IT employees need to set an action plan to execute the solution immediately. It might involve updating firmware or implementing a security patch.  
• Test your plan: It doesn’t end with coming up with the solution. IT admins should start testing the solution by identifying the symptoms of the outage and finding out the changes. They need to keep their eye on the network for a specific period to guarantee the problem disappears. 
• Document the issue: Here is the thing: the network problems will emerge from time to time, and it will never be the last one. That’s why your IT team should document everything from the symptoms and the solution they developed. It will be a reference for your team to figure out the previous strategies.  

How Can IT Pillars Help You?

In IT Pillars, we can provide you with the best network solutions for your company, contact us to learn more about these solutions.