Wireless Troubleshooting

The following page is provided for basic troubleshooting and understanding of our Wireless broadband service at your premise.  Every installation is different at every location therefore specific information about your service will not be identified in this document, however the basic setup is basically the same for each installation.  First we will cover the standard installation, and then cover a more advanced connection with the addition of a router for Wi-Fi connections.

 

 

Outside equipment (Maybe one of the antennas shown below)

canopy_undereave140wMotorola_Canopy_Antenna_with_Reflector_Dishwireless1wireless2wireless3

fig. A

 

Most of these antennas require a line-of-sight back to our access points at select towers, take a moment and look at your antenna installation to familiarize yourself with the direction and location it is pointed. Examples of these antennas are shown above in fig.A.

If high winds severely move this antenna it many not be properly aligned and may require a technician to re-align your equipment, this will require on-site service and you need to call the office to schedule, however there is no charge for simple re-alignment.

Regardless of the type of antenna you have mounted outside of your residence the primary way of connection to the internet is the same.  From the outside antenna there is a Cat5 network cable that attaches this antenna to the equipment inside your residence and eventually to your computer that allows you to access the internet.

*If this cable from the antenna to the interior equipment becomes damaged it may cause you to drop your internet connection, and will need to be replaced or repaired at the expense of the customer.*

 

QUICK CHECK

  • Visually locate antenna from the ground to determine if damage has occurred.
  • Visually look to see if a blockage is occurring. (Ex. Broken tree limb in front of it)
  • Visually check exposed exterior cabling to see if damage has occurred.
  • Check the power supply status, is it plugged in? is electric outlet working?
  • If during normal business hours, ccontact the office to check if we have an outage.
  • Check connection to computer to make sure cable didn’t become unplugged.
  • Check the pigail connection between the computer and outside wiring to make sure a solid connection is made.
  • If you have a router at your residence, check the light status on the router.
  • Power cycle the router even if all of the indicator lights seem to be normal.
  • Contact our 24 Hour tech support line at 866-811-8769 for basic troubleshooting

If after following these steps and understanding your network as described in the following pages you are unable to make your internet connection, please call the office and report the problem.

Our office hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm 319-256-2736. We also have after hours service available by leaving a message. 

Inside equipment

*Either method of connection (with or without a router) still requires a critical piece of equipment supplied from Farmtel and that is the power supply shown in fig. B.

This device is the power supply and we refer to that section of cable between where the cable coming in from the outside plugs into it and the part that plugs into your computer or network as the pigtail. Some of these power supplies have an indicator lamp on them to verify the unit is operating.

ps

fig. B

*Failure to have this device plugged in properly and powered up will result in failure for our outside equipment to connect to the internet.

This is the first thing to check when internet service has been interrupted.*

 

If you are not using a router at your residence then this would be the completion of your standard installation. A complete setup would look something like (fig.C) below:

canopy1

fig. C 

 Router Troubleshooting

If a router is needed and in place at your residence it does add another level of difficulty troubleshooting your internet connection, for you may have an internet connection to the router but not through the router.  Power cycling a router is simply unplugging the electrical power source from the router, waiting a few minutes and plugging it back into the electrical outlet. This allows the router to restart and if operating correctly obtain a connection from Farmtel and pass that connection through to your computers or network devices.If power cycling a router does not correct the problem, then bypassing the router completely to a wired computer (similar to fig. C) would be the next step in troubleshooting. After bypassing the router, if an internet connection is obtained it would indicate a problem with the router and this piece of equipment would need replaced.If you are still unable to obtain an internet connection, a call to our office to schedule a service appointment would be the next step.

If you are using a router at your residence then this would be the completion of your standard installation. A complete setup would look something like (fig.D) below:

Example with router

fig. D

  1. In many cases, the first step to take if you have a router and have lost your internet connection would be corrected by simple power cycling of the router.
  2. *The pigtail from our Motorola power supply must be plugged into the WAN or Internet port! NO OTHER COMPUTER OR DEVICE SHOULD EVER BE PLUGGED INTO THIS PORT!!!*
  3. The front of the router shown in (fig. E) should have indicators for power, WLAN and Internet. Your particular router may also have lights for other features and functions but these are the primary ones we are concerned with. The power button should be lit indicating that the router is powered up. The Internet or WAN light should be lit up indicating the router is connected to the internet or outside world. The WLAN indicator will be lit up if you have a wireless device (such as a laptop or gaming device) connected to the router. The back of the router shown in (fig. F) will have several network jacks and a place for an electrical connection. A wired computer or other network device can be plugged into any one of the ports except for the WAN port.  Below as shown in (fig E) is a basic front and (fig F) is a basic back of a typical router and the primary things you will need to know for each.

router lights

fig. E

routerback

fig.F

There are many different brands and models of routers and it would be impossible to cover every possibility of every router in this documentation. However most still have similar features and functions that are basically the same with the position and layout differing slightly from one to another.

Router Information

If you are using a router at your residence then your installation and configuration changes from the standard install. With a router in place you are creating a network and attaching that network to your Farmtel internet connection. The reasons for using a router would be to include the ability to connect multiple computers or devices to the internet or to give your network the ability to connect wireless devices locally at your residence with a Wi-Fi connection. If you have no need for either of those options then a router is not necessary.

Inside the premise of the residence the installation may vary depending on what the customers needs are. These differences are dependant on whether you are simply connecting it to a single wired computer or if you are going to use a router to connect more than one device to the internet and/or connect a device wirelessly to your internet connection.