Fault Finding — Network & Connectivity Issues

Start Here — Basic Checks

Before diving into advanced diagnosis, confirm these:

1. Is the broadband router powered and online? Check the router's WAN/internet LED. If it shows no connection, the problem is with the ISP or the incoming broadband line — ask the customer to contact their ISP.
2. Has anything changed recently? New router? ISP migration? New device added? Changes to the network often cause faults.
3. Is the fault affecting all devices or just one?
   • All devices → likely router, switch, or broadband issue
   • One device → likely that device's settings or Wi-Fi adapter
4. Is the fault affecting all locations in the property or just one area?
   • All locations → router/ISP
   • One room or area → likely a specific AP, switch port, or cable run

No Internet Access — All Devices

Check 1 — ISP/broadband

• Check the router's WAN/internet LED — orange or off usually means no WAN connection
• Connect a laptop directly to the router via ethernet and test — if no internet via direct wired connection, the problem is the ISP or the router WAN port
• Ask the customer: is there an active broadband subscription? Has it been working recently?

Check 2 — Router restart

• Power cycle the router (off, wait 30 seconds, on)
• Wait 2 minutes for it to re-establish the broadband connection
• Many intermittent "no internet" issues resolve with a router restart

Check 3 — DNS fault

• The internet connection is working but websites won't load → possible DNS failure
• Test by trying to ping a known IP address (e.g. 8.8.8.8) from a computer
• If the IP responds but domain names don't resolve, DNS is faulty — try setting the router's DNS to 8.8.8.8 (Google) or 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare)

No Internet Access — One Device

Check 1 — Is the device actually connected?

• Check the device's network settings — is it connected to the correct SSID? Is it showing a valid IP address?
• A 169.254.x.x address means the device did not receive an IP from the router's DHCP server — the device cannot communicate with the network

Check 2 — Forget and re-join the Wi-Fi

• On the device, forget the Wi-Fi network and re-enter the password
• This resolves issues caused by a corrupted wireless profile or a password change that wasn't applied to the device

Check 3 — IP conflict

• If two devices share the same IP address, both lose connectivity intermittently
• Check the router's DHCP client list for duplicate IPs
• Resolve by restarting both affected devices (they'll request new DHCP addresses), or configure DHCP reservations to prevent conflicts

Slow Wi-Fi

Check 1 — Signal strength

• Run a speed test at the device and at the router (via ethernet)
• If speed is good at the router but poor at the device → signal/Wi-Fi issue, not broadband
• Check signal strength at the device using a Wi-Fi analyser app — aim for -65dBm or better for good throughput

Check 2 — Interference and channel congestion

• Use a Wi-Fi analyser app (Network Analyser, WiFi Analyzer) to see which channels nearby networks are using
• On 2.4GHz: channels 1, 6, and 11 are the non-overlapping channels — use one of these
• On 5GHz: channels are less congested but range is shorter — prefer 5GHz for nearby devices
• Set the AP channel manually if auto-selection is picking a congested channel

Check 3 — 2.4GHz vs 5GHz

• Is the device on 2.4GHz when it should be on 5GHz? 2.4GHz has longer range but lower speed (150–300Mbps typical vs 500Mbps+ on 5GHz AC)
• Enable band steering in the AP controller — or manually direct devices close to the AP to use 5GHz

Check 4 — AP load

• Too many devices on one AP degrades performance for all
• A residential AP handles 20–30 devices comfortably; more than this may warrant an additional AP
• Check device count per AP in the controller

Check 5 — Speed limited by the broadband connection itself

• If the ethernet speed test at the router also shows slow speeds, the problem is the broadband connection — not the Wi-Fi
• Contact the ISP

Device Can't Connect to Wi-Fi

Wired Connection (Ethernet) Not Working

Check 1 — Physical connection

• Check that the RJ45 patch lead is seated properly at both ends — the click tab should be locked
• Check that the LED on the switch port lights up when the cable is connected — no LED means no physical link

Check 2 — Cable test

• Use a cable tester on the patch lead — a faulty patch lead is a common cause
• Test the structured cable run from the patch panel to the data point

Check 3 — Switch port

• Connect a known-working device to the same switch port — does it work? If yes, the cable or the original device's NIC is the problem
• Try a different switch port

Check 4 — VLAN / port configuration (managed switches)

• On managed switches, confirm the port is configured for the correct VLAN
• An unconfigured or mis-configured port on a managed switch will pass no traffic

Remote Access Faults (CCTV, Alarm Signalling)

Network faults often manifest as remote access failures — Hik-Connect offline, Premier Elite Connect offline. Diagnose in this order:

1. Is the DVR/NVR or alarm panel itself powered? Check on-site.
2. Is the device getting a valid IP address? Access the device's network settings locally — confirm a valid IP (not 169.254.x.x).
3. Is the network switch working? Check the port LED at the switch for the device's cable.
4. Can you ping the device from another device on the same network? If yes, the LAN connection is working — the issue is the internet or cloud connection. If no, the problem is on the local network.
5. Is the router's internet connection working? Test from another device on the same network.
6. Has the router IP range changed? If the DVR/NVR has a manually-set static IP that now conflicts with a new router's DHCP range, there may be an IP conflict.
7. Is the cloud platform itself down? Hik-Connect and Premier Elite Connect occasionally have outages — check with another internet connection or check service status.

DHCP Exhaustion

If the router's DHCP pool runs out of addresses, new devices cannot get an IP and cannot connect.

Signs: New devices show a 169.254.x.x address and can't connect; existing connected devices still work fine.

Fix: Log into the router and expand the DHCP pool range (e.g. from 192.168.1.100–150 to 192.168.1.100–200). Or reduce the DHCP lease time so addresses are released more quickly from devices that have left the network.

IP Address Conflicts

Two devices on the same network with the same IP — both lose connectivity intermittently.

Cause: Usually a device with a manually-set static IP that falls within the router's DHCP range. When DHCP assigns the same address to another device, both conflict.

Fix:

• Assign static IPs outside the DHCP pool range (e.g. if DHCP pool is 192.168.1.100–200, use 192.168.1.2–99 for static devices)
• Or use DHCP reservations — the router always assigns the same IP to a device based on its MAC address

Common Tools

Related Documents

• Getting Started — Wi-Fi & Networking
• Structured Cabling Guide
• Wi-Fi Access Point Installation