by Charles Miller

When it comes to troubleshooting his internet connection, my friend the retired lawyer well understands how reading and follow directions may be more important than having a complete understanding of the underlying technology.

He emailed me recently reporting an internet issue and included a screen shot of trace route test he had run using his computer. I responded to him saying: "Check your spelling, there is no 'E' in yahoo.com." He said "Oh yeah, I see that now."

Sometimes there appears to be a problem with the internet, but it can be as simple as one mistyped letter. Other times the issues can be more complex, and the trace route test is hands-down the best diagnostic tool to use when your internet connectivity goes on the fritz.

On another occasion my brother phoned me and read off the first few lines of the trace route report. I told him "The location of the problem is definitely with your internet provider AT&T there in Houston, so you should call them and tell them word-for-word exactly what you just read to me."

He called me back a bit later saying "The guy at AT&T complemented me on my diagnosing the situation saying the problem was probably one of their fiber optic splice closures down the street in my neighborhood, and they would send out a repair crew this afternoon."

To be certain, if you need to phone your internet provider to report a problem, you can expect to be treated with a lot more respect if you are able to provide them specific diagnostic information rather than wasting their time prattling about the blinking lights on your modem or other useless drivel.

On yet another occasion someone else phoned me when they were having trouble connecting to a certain web site, but were able to connect to others. After they read off the first few lines of the trace route report I had to tell them: "Sorry, but that last line of the report that has "SFO" in its address indicates that your connection was good all the way from your house in Mexico to San Francisco, California (SFO) but the server there could not connect further. Your local internet connection is just fine. There's nothing we can do on our end but hope that somebody in California knows their server there is down.

Another time when yet another person called telling me the results of the trace route test he had just run. When he read off the first few lines of the rest results I asked him to check to see if the Ethernet cable connecting his computer to his modem had come unplugged. "That was it!" he responded.

Something all of the previous stories have in common is that the internet users did not necessarily know how to interpret the results of their trace route tests, but they knew how to do the test, then ask someone who does know more about computer networking to evaluate the test results. Something else all three also had in common is that they all got an immediate solution to their problem or an explanation of its cause.

Trace route is a very simple-to-use diagnostic tool that is already installed on every computer, and one that you can install on your smart phone or tablet. It is a tool you need to learn how to use if you want to be a smart internet user. If you do want to be a smart internet user rather than an ignorant one, you can start by pointing your browser to www.youtube.com and searching for "trace route tutorial." There you will find many videos explaining how easy it is for you to learn the most valuable skill everyone using the internet needs to know.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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