When disaster strikes, what can you do?
1 Wait
Broadband connections these days are generally reliable, so when they do go offline, there’s a good chance they’ll be back pretty soon. With that in mind, you can simply wait until that happens, patiently staring at your non-functional web browser, while tapping your fingers on your desk, then looking towards your router to see if the right lights are on, before returning your gaze to your screen again. You can repeat this process until the internet is back or until you get bored and realise that there’s a bigger problem.
2 Reset Everything
Although it’s become something of a cliche, turning things off and on again really can make a difference, so reset your router, your PC, any network switches or Homeplugs, adopt the most difficult yoga position you know, and try again. If the internet still won’t work after a reset, then it’s quite likely that the problem lies not with your equipment but with the broadband connection coming into your house. The good news is it’s not your fault.
3 Cry
At this point, you are now allowed to sob heartily and shamelessly. Your ability to watch cat videos on YouTube has been stolen from you, and you can no longer share those videos with your Facebook friends.
Of course, the next thing to do is to pull yourself together and phone your ISP to demand they fix it. With any luck, they’ll be able to do something over the phone, but if not, then you’ll have to book an engineer in to come round your house and fix the problem. When they tell you the next free appointment is in two weeks, you’re once again free to burst into tears.
4 Play Solitaire
Thankfully, not everything on your PC requires you to have a working internet connection, so rather than doing something productive that doesn’t involve your computer like, say, reading a book or going outside, you can simply while away the hours playing the games built into Windows or, if you’re a more serious gamer, then you might be able to play your Steam games in offline mode. You won’t be able to play any multiplayer stuff or any games that require you to sign in online to play them, but you’ll have something to do.
Of course, once you’ve completed all the games and got bored of solitaire, you can repeat tip 3.
5 Tether
If you own a reasonably recent smartphone, then you don’t have to be without the internet at all. Thanks to the magic of tethering, you can simply use your phone’s 3G or 4G connection to access the World Wide Web. Many phones let you set up a wi-fi hotspot, and some allow you to tether via USB or Bluetooth too.
The main problem with tethering is that most people have fairly small internet allowances on their phone contracts or PAYG deals, so it won’t take you very far. If your broadband connection is going to be down for a while, you’ll need to pay for premium add-ons, which can be costly (so, yes, you can cry again).