We know that ‘Up Time’ is one of the most business critical priorities for your organisation. That’s why when you partner with Virgin Media Business, you’ll have access to our dedicated support team for businesses and an unbeatable 6-hour restore SLA.
We know we partner with extraordinary individuals and we’ve no doubt that, given the option, some of you would love to have a crack at getting to the bottom of an issue and resolving it yourselves. So, with this in mind we’ve put together some tips to help you out if your business’s ICT ever ‘Says No’.
We’re always there if you need us so, promise to call us if you get stuck? OK…Deal!
WIRED CONNECTIONS
Thanks to the wonders of unified communications, Virgin Media Business can offer you services like voice, email, internet and more through our fibre cable connection. It also means that on the off chance something is not quite right, we can help you troubleshoot and get things back on track more quickly and efficiently than ever before.
Suspect No 1: The Modem
When things go wrong, the first misbehaving suspect is the modem. This hard-working box, might only have taken a quick breather from normal service, but these steps will either have it back to normal, or removed as an item of interest from our troubleshooting investigation.
1. Light ‘em Up
Stable lights on a modem are good, flickering lights could be a problem. Check that the power light, US (upload speed) light, DS (download speed) and online lights are all on. If you’ve got a flasher on your hands unplug the power cable, wait one minute and plug it back in again.
If all your lights are stable it still makes sense to plug out the cable for a minute and plug it back in just in case it fixes the problem.
2. Here, There and Ether-Y Where
Check the ethernet cable going into the modem and see if the head is lit up when connected. If not, it’s possible that you have a faulty cable on your hands.
Plug out your ethernet cable and reconnect it. If the connection still isn’t up and running, swap this cable for a spare and see if you’re back in business.
Suspect No 2: Switches and Devices
If you’re satisfied it’s not your modem, it’s time to continue your line of inquiry with its known associates — switches and other devices.
1. Asleep at the Wheel
If you have multiple devices that are connected into the modem, make sure they’re all pulling their weight. If you notice that one device is offline, reboot that device and see if it makes a difference. If there is no change reboot all the devices that are connected.
2. Switch Things Up
If you have an internal switch installed on the premises, restart the switch and try the connection again.
If all your devices are offline and your modem has flashing lights, drop us a line and we’ll stop your modem thinking it’s a strobe light in no time.
WIRELESS ISSUES / WIFI
If the WiFi for your business or your customer WiFi has gone down there are a few things you can check before giving us a call, just in case it turns out to be a quick fix.
1. The Cable Guy
The first step to troubleshoot your wireless connection is to see if it’s the wireless that’s giving you trouble or your internet connection. Get a laptop or computer and plug it into your modem using an ethernet cable. If you are able to get online then you know you just need to tweak your wireless and that the modem is working correctly.
2. It’s Not You, it’s Me
Check with two different devices plugged into your modem, on the off chance it’s just your primary device that’s failing to connect.
Some laptops have a WiFi off switch or an airplane mode that you might have accidently pressed on your keyboard. Do a quick restart of all devices just to be sure. (We know we know – we are big advocates of ‘turning it on and off again’).
Still nothing? Give us a holler.
3. Quick Restore After a Drop
If your WiFI drops while you’re using a connected device like a phone, tablet or a laptop you can access your dashboard and switch the channel you are using and find one with a lower level of interference.
Enter the following sequence in the address bar of your browser: 192.168.10.1.
You’ll get a prompt to enter your Virgin Media Business username and password that you’ll have from your initial setup and installation. Once entered, you’ll see your dashboard.
- Go to “Wireless” and then “Radio Settings”
- Look for “Standard Channel” and click into the drop-down box and select a channel and click “Save”. Now you can change the channel
- On the right of the drop-down box if you selected channel 1 for example it might read “(Current: 1, Interference Level: Acceptable)”.
- If, for example you select channel 10 and the result is this: “(Current: 10, Interference Level: Severe)” you need to try another channel as this one has too much distortion on the frequency and your wireless will not function
Simply put, when it comes to interference warnings on your channel, “acceptable” is good and “severe” bad.
FIREWALL AND SLOW SPEEDS
If you think that your connection speeds aren’t as fast as they should be, make sure that it’s not a result of your internal network security. It’s possible that your firewall may be limiting your speed.
The first thing you should do is log in to your dashboard in the manner we mentioned previous and then bypass your firewall to run a speed test. (You may need help from your IT manager to do this).
If the speed test during the bypass reveals that your speed is within the threshold that you are paying for, (for example 150mb), then it’s possible that your firewall has a max speed setting of a lower speed and needs to be adjusted.
WIFI, WALLS AND OTHER WORRIES
We know how important WiFi can be for both your customers and your staff, so that’s why we work with you to make sure that our smart WiFi distribution offering delivers for your business.
If you’re already enjoying the benefits of a managed end to end solution, you can relax knowing that we’ve got your back if things go wrong. If you’re yet to become a Virgin Media Business customer, here’s a few handy notes that can help your business tackle some WiFi worries.
1. Think Open Plan for WiFi
Improve WiFi connectivity in your office by having all devices as close as possible to the router giving you your signal.
2. Access All Areas
Walls, doors, glass dividers and any other physical obstacles in your office can get in the way of WiFi frequencies. If open plan isn’t an option for you, look into acquiring WiFi signal boosters for your premises or talk to your provider about installing a second access point in the building.
3. Think Cable for Critical
Have all business-critical devices such as servers, computers and more connected directly into your modem/switch/firewall via an ethernet cable.
4. Businesses Back Up
We recommend you always have a redundant internet service in case your main connection goes down. For medium businesses this might mean buying an additional lower tier bundle from your existing provider. For a home business or small business, a pay-as-you-go internet dongle might be enough to keep you ticking over until normal services resume.
YOU’RE ALL SET
Don’t get annoyed if you become the ‘go-to guy’ for IT once you pull off some of these reboot resolutions.
If you ever need us, or have a thought on how we can ever help you deliver extraordinary service to your customers, give us a call us on 1800 941 941