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My Internet Connection Appears to be Down, How do I fix?
An internet connection outage is one of the most common problems a customer has when utilizing digital signage. This article will help you diagnose the issue and get your sign back up and connected to the internet.
Although your sign will continue to play without an internet connection, an internet connection outage will cause your sign to not update weather, events, news, or slides anymore (because it can't get online to get the updates), also in some cases it may cause a .Net error to show on the screen.
Fixing the internet connection will resolve all of these issues.
This is unfortunately not something we can remedy remotely. However the problem is usually due to one of the following:
1) Someone unplugging or snagging the internet cable by accident
2) A change in the Wireless key or Access Point Name (SSID) and whoever made the change forgot to also update the media player
3) Poor Wireless Performance/Signal Strength (this would be an ongoing issue usually though)
4) Media player hardware failure (nothing would be displaying on your screen in this instance)
2) A change in the Wireless key or Access Point Name (SSID) and whoever made the change forgot to also update the media player
3) Poor Wireless Performance/Signal Strength (this would be an ongoing issue usually though)
4) Media player hardware failure (nothing would be displaying on your screen in this instance)
If something changed with your internet recently (I'd check with an IT department if you have one) then that change will need to be applied also on the media player.
You can actually test the internet connection locally by doing the following:
1) Hook up a keyboard/mouse to the media player
2) Hit "Esc" on the keyboard (This should bring the media player window down to a smaller window if its running)
3) Hit "Ctrl" + "Esc" or the "Windows" key or simply move your mouse to the bottom of the screen to expose the task bar
4) Click on "Internet Explorer" or "Chrome" from the Quick Launch Icon on the Task bar
5) The browser should automatically try and visit "www.signera.net" if it doesn't, please try typing "www.signera.net" into the Address Bar
6a) If "Unable to display web page" or a similar error shows up, you've confirmed your internet is down and needs fixed. Usually this means re-entering (or changing) wireless settings. You can see the Wireless icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen (to the left of the Time + Date). It looks like a signal bar on a phone. Click on this, then click on the Wireless Network Connection you will be using. It is also important you make sure the Wireless connection connects automatically by keeping "Connect automatically" checked. If it's not currently checked, you need to check this before proceeding (otherwise, every-time your media player reboots, it will stay offline). Click "Connect". Now you need to enter your Wireless Key if needed (it'll prompt you if it is required. Then hit "OK"). Your media player should be back online (you should see a signal strength in the icon tray). Lastly, reboot the media player. If it doesn't come back up successfully, please let us know.
6b) If the Web page comes up successfully, try rebooting the media player manually by going to Start, Shutdown, Restart (or press the power button on the front of the unit). The media player should start back up successfully. If an error message displays on the screen, please let us know.
2) Hit "Esc" on the keyboard (This should bring the media player window down to a smaller window if its running)
3) Hit "Ctrl" + "Esc" or the "Windows" key or simply move your mouse to the bottom of the screen to expose the task bar
4) Click on "Internet Explorer" or "Chrome" from the Quick Launch Icon on the Task bar
5) The browser should automatically try and visit "www.signera.net" if it doesn't, please try typing "www.signera.net" into the Address Bar
6a) If "Unable to display web page" or a similar error shows up, you've confirmed your internet is down and needs fixed. Usually this means re-entering (or changing) wireless settings. You can see the Wireless icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen (to the left of the Time + Date). It looks like a signal bar on a phone. Click on this, then click on the Wireless Network Connection you will be using. It is also important you make sure the Wireless connection connects automatically by keeping "Connect automatically" checked. If it's not currently checked, you need to check this before proceeding (otherwise, every-time your media player reboots, it will stay offline). Click "Connect". Now you need to enter your Wireless Key if needed (it'll prompt you if it is required. Then hit "OK"). Your media player should be back online (you should see a signal strength in the icon tray). Lastly, reboot the media player. If it doesn't come back up successfully, please let us know.
6b) If the Web page comes up successfully, try rebooting the media player manually by going to Start, Shutdown, Restart (or press the power button on the front of the unit). The media player should start back up successfully. If an error message displays on the screen, please let us know.
To aid in diagnosing the problem, it may be helpful to know the time the media player last connected to Signera. You can get this information by logging in and going to the "Manage Signs" button or "Sign Network" tab. From here click the "Edit" button next to the sign in question (the sign should be showing a red traffic light if its disconnected to the internet).
Under the 'Status' section you should have a date/time under the traffic light that says "Sign Last Connected:". There should also be a "Sign IP Address:". Both pieces of information may be helpful to IT in helping diagnose the issue.
If you don't have Wireless, or have confirmed the Wireless is strong, please make sure the data connection to www.signera.net is not being blocked by IT and is not being throttled.
Also confirm with IT that the latency to the network is reasonable and there is enough data bandwidth to communicate with www.signera.net. Verify with IT that a proxy isn't being used (or is being bypassed if so), that cacheing isn't in place, and that if a firewall is in place, it lets unobstructed access to www.signera.net on ports 80 and 443. No incoming ports need to be allowed on the media player side.
IT will know what this means in larger organizations and should be able to make the appropriate changes. In smaller organizations (using standard internet connections) this isn't a change that should need made.
If you are still having issues, or need to speak with Signera Support further, please call 301-714-0110 x1 or email support@signera.net
Thanks,
Signera Support
