Its one thing for someone in the shop to say,  “Just plug it in and it will work’, but its always a different situation when you but a network related device, add it to your internet at home and things just stop working.

The main reason behind this is your network at home or business, in most cases are reliant on your router (which also looks after your internet).

Each router is different, and so is each device you buy in the store – there is no way anyone can know what you are using at home and how it is setup to really know if a new network device will work.

How a Router Works

Each device on your network uses an specific address called an IP Address.

This helps the router and each device determine who is who and make sure the right devices get the right information.

The router is the controller of these addresses, everything goes through the router and in most cases the router decides who gets what address, according to how it does things.

When a new device comes onto the network, if it is not configured to work the same way your network is, it might not be able to work properly, or worse bring the whole network down.

So why have I lost internet or connection to a network device

If a new device on the network like a wireless access point, computer or another router devices it’s the one who will start allocating IP addresses this could throw the whole network out.

Your internet goes through your router as well and if your devices can no longer see the router, they will no longer be able to access the internet.

Also, new devices can potentially/accidentally steel the address of network devices already on the network if they are made a certain way.

When in doubt unplug

Most network devices wont damage your computer, or devices.

But they can cause significant down time and a lot of backup devices such as Apple Airport an Time machine all use the computer network and can be effected.

If in doubt, unplug, call Townsville Nerds and we can take a look.