How do I check a connection problem?

If you are having trouble accessing BizDiary, it is useful to check where the connection problem is occurring.  This article can help you determine the nature of a connection problem, and provide accurate information to our support team to assist in resolving the issue as quickly as possible.

Slow Connection?

If it seems slow getting from one page to the next, or to log in etc, this indicates that the connection is available, but something is slowing it down.  The following table lists some common causes of slow connectivity and ways to resolve them...

Cause	Description	Solutions
Other activity on connection	If you, or someone else on a shared connection is sending or receiving large files via email, watching video-streaming, downloading large files, etc, then this will impact on the speed at which you can access BizDiary.	If you do have other activity that will interfere with your connection speed try doing it at times when you do not need access to the diary.
Poor connection	Damaged cables, or cables that are not plugged in tight will cause your connection to perform poorly.	Check cables.
Software issues	Your browser, or even the operating system may be running badly. Restarting the computer can resolve these problems.	Reboot the computer.
Hardware glitches	Sometimes routers/modems fail or perform poorly.  A restart of the hardware may resolve the problem.	Turn off the router, wait 10 seconds and then turn back on.  Make sure you wait at least 30 seconds before trying to access the internet, as the router needs time to reestablish its connection.
ISP issues	Reputable ISPs generally have sufficient bandwidth to deal with demand. Some budget ISPs do not, and at times of heavy demand the network can become bogged down.	Use a reputable ISP.

No Connection?

If you cannot access BizDiary at all then there may be a more serious connection issue.

General Connection Issues

The first thing to try is to check that you can access other websites.  In particular make sure you can access other Australian sites.  If you cannot then your internet connection is down.  You should check that your router is turned on, and that the appropriate connection lights are showing.  If in doubt call your service provider.

Is BizDiary up?

Our servers are monitored very closely, and technical staff are alerted should there be a server issue.

You can do a quick check using this handy link...

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/bizdiary.com.au

(although if you are reading this then our site is up)

Is it an ISP issue?

If BizDiary is up (according to downforeveryoneorjustme) and you still cannot connect, then the problem may be with your ISP.

When you access any website, the information travels between that site and your computer through a number of "nodes".  If any of these nodes are having problems then the data cannot get through.

It's like when there's a traffic jam on the F3 between Sydney and Newcastle.  It means you can't drive from Sydney to Newcastle, but has no impact on driving from Sydney to Wollongong.

You can test whether this is the issue by running a network trace.  It's not difficult, just follow these instructions (for Windows)...

1. Hold down the Windows key and press R. 
   The Run dialog will appear.
2. Type cmd and then press Enter.
   A command window will open.
3. Type tracert bizdiary.com.au and press Enter.
4. Click on the little icon at the top left of the window to open the menu, and select Edit > Mark.
5. Using the mouse, click and drag to select the results.  Press Enter to copy them to your clipboard.
6. Paste the results into an email, and send it to support@bizdiary.com.au, along with a description of the problem you have been having.

You should get something like this...

Tracing route to bizdiary.com.au [112.140.179.179]         over a maximum of 30 hops:
 1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  10.1.1.1
 2    17 ms    16 ms    17 ms  nexthop.nsw.iinet.net.au                     [203.215.17.248]
 3    17 ms    16 ms    16 ms  te1-1.syd-ult-bdr2.iinet.net.au              [203.215.16.24]
 4    17 ms    17 ms    17 ms  te1-2.syd-ult-bdr1.iinet.net.au              [203.215.20.146]
 5    17 ms    16 ms    16 ms  xe-1-1-0-0.syd-ult-core1.iinet.net.au        [203.215.20.30]
 6    17 ms    16 ms    16 ms  as4826.sydney.pipenetworks.com               [218.100.2.45]
 7    18 ms    17 ms    17 ms  ten-0-2-0.cor01.syd03.nsw.VOCUS.net.au       [114.31.192.56]
 8    30 ms    29 ms    29 ms  ge-0-0-0.bdr01.mel04.vic.VOCUS.net.au        [114.31.192.83]
 9    29 ms    29 ms    29 ms  as45638.cust.bdr01.mel04.vic.VOCUS.net.au    [114.31.197.78]
 10   28 ms    27 ms    28 ms  unassigned [112.140.179.179]
Trace complete.

This shows the steps through the network from your computer to the server.

The 1st column is just the step number.

The next 3 columns represent the time taken (it tests it 3 times).

The last column identifies the machine for that step.

In this example everything just takes a few milliseconds from one step to the next.  This is the case normally.

If any of the times are very high (more than 100ms), or show "*" then there is a problem at that point in the connection.

Look at the name of the machine at the node where there is a problem. If it includes your ISP name (e.g. "tpg") then the problem is on their network, and you should contact them.

If it does not specify the name of your ISP, then please forward the details to us and we will investigate further.