Connected to wifi but no internet connection

Wifi connected but not workingBefore trying some of the fixes below, check if other people connected to the same Wi-Fi network are also experiencing the same problem.

If you have more than one device, check if the other devices (i.e phone, tablet, etc) is also having the same problem.

If none of the devices on the Wifi network can connect to the internet, restart the router. This is on the assumption that it was working and has just stopped.

Restarting the router will flush the cache and any memory leaks or problems that may be associated with the wireless networking functions. A restart of the router fixes a lot of minor issues.

If the problem is not fixed after a restart, plug your laptop/PC directly into a spare port on the router to check if you have internet access. This will also rule out the Wifi network as the problem.

If you do not have an internet connection when directly connected to the router via a network cable, the problem may be with your broadband connection. Contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to investigate the issue further.

How to fix WiFi connected but no Internet

If other devices have internet access then the issue is like to be device-related and you can try the following fixes.

Reboot your device and check the IP addressing

  1. Reboot the device and try reconnecting to the wireless network
  2. If you are on a Windows PC or Laptop, right-click on the network icon in your task tray and click on “troubleshoot problems”. Windows will attempt to automatically diagnose and fix the problem.
  3. Check that your device has an IP address. The process is dependent on the make and model of your device. Search youtube for videos on how to find your IP address.
    If you find that you do not have an IP address, then this is the likely reason why you don’t have internet access. Check the DHCP service on your broadband router or contact your ISP to check it for you. You may have run out of IP addresses.
  4. Check that you can Ping your gateway IP address

Disable Fast Startup

Fast startup is a feature on Windows 10 that helps the computer startup faster but it does not close all running processes and/or services.

If there is a problem with your wireless adapter driver, it will not be shut down and restarted if you have Fast Startup enabled.

To disable Fast startup
1. Click on the start menu and type “Power options”

Windows Power Options

2. In the Power Options menu, click on “Choose what the power button does”

Windows Power Button Options

3. On the next window, take the tick out of “Turn on Fast Startup (Recommend)”

Windows Disable Fast Startup

4. Restart your PC/Laptop and test internet access

Flush your DNS

  1. Click on the Start menu and then type CMD and hit enter
  2. Type ipconfig /flushdns then press Enter.
  3. Type ipconfig /release then press Enter.
  4. Type ipconfig /renew then press Enter.

Update your wireless network adapter

  1. Click on Start > Device manager
  2. Expand the “Network adapter” section in the device manager
  3. Right-click on your wireless adapter and select the “Update Driver Software…” option

How to update Windows Network Driver

Windows winsock reset

If you have a yellow exclamation mark or have an error saying no internet is not available, you can reset the winsock catalog back to default settings and to a clean state.

This is related to network connections and provides a clean reset.

  1. Click on the Start button then Programs->Accessories and click on Command Prompt.
    Press Ctrl-Shift-Enter keyboard shortcut to run Command Prompt as Administrator. Alternatively, you can click Start then type CMD and hit enter.
  2. Type netsh winsock reset catalog then press Enter.
  3. Type netsh int ip reset reset.log hit then press Enter.
  4. For good measure also type netsh int ip reset
  5. Restart your PC

Keywords: Wifi on but no internet connection, Internet connection but no wifi, Wifi but no internet, Connected to wifi but no internet