When nothing loads, the useful question is not "is the internet broken" but "how much of it is broken". The answer is nearly always one of three things: one computer, the whole office, or the internet connection itself. Telling those apart takes about five minutes and saves a lot of guessing.

Try this first

1. Test your mobile phone on mobile data. Turn Wi-Fi off on your phone so it is definitely using the mobile network, then load a website. If it works on mobile data but not on the office Wi-Fi, the problem is in the office, not with the website you were trying to reach.
2. Ask one other person in the office. If only you are affected, it is your computer. If everyone is affected, it is the connection or the equipment it plugs into. This single question narrows things down more than anything else on this list.
3. Try a computer that is plugged in with a cable, if there is one. Working on a cable but not on Wi-Fi points at the Wi-Fi. Not working on either points at the connection.
4. Look at the modem. That is the box the internet line comes into, usually in a cupboard or under a desk. Do not try to work out what the lights mean. Just write down what you see, or take a photo on your phone: which lights are on, what colour each one is, and which are flashing rather than steady. Different providers use different colours, so the photo is worth more than a guess.
5. Restart the modem once. Unplug the power, count to thirty, plug it back in, then wait a full two minutes before you test anything. Many connections take that long to reconnect and sign back in. Restarting it over and over does not speed that up, and it makes the fault harder for the provider to trace.
6. Check your provider's outage page on your phone using mobile data. Most providers list current faults by suburb or by service.
7. Write down the time it started. Providers ask for this, and a rough time is much better than none.

If that didn't fix it

Log a ticket and include what you found. The details that actually speed things up are:

• The time it stopped working.
• Whether it is one person, one part of the building, or everyone.
• What the modem lights look like, ideally as a photo.
• Whether mobile data works in the same room.
• Whether every website is failing, or just one. A single site being unreachable is a different problem and usually not yours.

If it is stopping you trading, say so when you log it, and call us as well.

Whose job it is to fix

If the line itself is down, the fault belongs to your internet provider. Only they can send a technician to the street or the exchange, and only they can raise a fault reference. Chasing them is our job. We log the fault, get the reference number, push for updates and tell you what we are told, so you are not sitting on hold repeating your account number.

How to reduce the pain next time

Outages happen and no amount of care prevents them. What helps is having a fallback ready before you need it: a mobile connection that can carry email and phones for a day, and a clear decision about who works from home when the office drops. Ask us to price a backup connection if a lost day of trading would hurt.

Still stuck?

Log a ticket at portal.yougrowit.com.au or email support@yougrowit.com.au. If it is stopping you working right now, call 03 9028 4358.

Support hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm Melbourne time, excluding Victorian public holidays.