Connected To Wi-Fi But No Internet Access
Seeing the annoying “connected but no internet” error on your Windows PC? Follow these steps once you haven’t any internet access.
Seeing the dreaded warning over your Windows 10 internet connection icon proclaiming that you simply haven’t any Internet Access? You’re probably wondering the way to fix this frustrating Windows error.
We’ll show you the steps to follow once you haven’t any internet access but are still connected to Wi-Fi in Windows.
How to Fix “No Internet Access” Errors
Let’s first quickly outline the steps to resolve “connected but no internet access” errors. We’ll then enter detail on each one:
- Confirm other devices can’t connect
- Reboot your PC
- Reboot your modem and router
- Run the Windows network troubleshooter
- Check your IP address settings
- Check your ISP’s status
- Try a couple of prompt commands
- Disable security software
- Update your wireless drivers
- Reset your network
What Does It Mean When You’re Connected With No Internet?
Before we proceed, we should always explain what exactly happens on your network when you’re connected to Wi-Fi but haven’t any internet. To do so, it is necessary to elucidate some basics of home networking.
Wireless devices sort of a laptop hook up with your router. The router may be a device that handles the connections between the devices in your home. Your router plugs into a modem, a tool that bridges the traffic on your home network and therefore the internet.
When you see error messages like Connected, no internet access or connected but no internet on your computer, it means your computer is connected to the router correctly, but can’t reach the web. Conversely, if you see Not connected, no internet, or No internet connection messages, it means your computer isn’t connected to a router in the least.
This gives you some clues about what the difficulty is, as we’ll see below.
1. Confirm Other Devices Can’t Connect Either
Before you are doing any troubleshooting, it is vital to work out whether your PC is that the only device with no internet connection. Grab your phone or another computer that’s connected to your Wi-Fi network and see if it’s online properly—try streaming a YouTube video or almost like a check.
On most Android versions, you will see an X icon over the Wi-Fi symbol and see you’re connected to your mobile network for data. iPhone and iPad users can visit Settings > Wi-Fi and check for a No Internet Connection message under your network name.
If your computer won’t connect but others will, this is often likely thanks to a misconfigured setting on just your PC. But if you’ve got no internet on every device, the matter lies together with your network equipment and you’ll thus skip a number of the PC-only steps below, as noted.
Before you proceed, if the matter affects all of your devices, you ought to perform a fast test. Disconnect the coaxial cable that connects your modem to your router, and use it to attach your PC to the modem directly instead.
If you’ll get online with this setup, the matter lies together with your router. do you have to proceed through the subsequent troubleshooting and not find the fix for your issue, your router is probably going faulty.
2. Reboot Your PC
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
As with many issues, rebooting your computer is that the first troubleshooting step you ought to try. If you’re lucky, you would possibly clear up some temporary glitch by restarting and fix your network connection issue.
Most of this recommendation assumes you’re employing a Wi-Fi connection since they run into problems more often. However, if you hook up with your router with a coaxial cable, you ought to also try another cable at this point to verify that yours isn’t faulty.
3. Reboot Your Modem and Router
Since most network issues involve your modem and/or router, rebooting them next is sensible. While some routers offer the choice to reboot through an interface, you do not necessarily get to do that. Simply pull the facility plug from both devices and leave them unplugged for a couple of minutes.
Plug the modem in first, let it boot up, then connect your router again. Wait a couple of minutes for them to start copy fully. While you’re doing this, confirm that your router and modem are working properly. If you do not see any lights on one of the devices, or the lights are flashing in an irregular pattern, you’ll have a nasty piece of hardware.
If your computer says “no internet” even after this, continue —your issue is more complex than a basic reboot.
Note that you’re simply rebooting, not resetting, your equipment. Resetting means putting the device back to its factory default settings; you do not get to do this yet!
4. Run the Windows Network Troubleshooter
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
If you’re only having a problem together with your Windows PC, something is probably going wrong together with your computer’s network settings. While the built-in Windows troubleshooter usually doesn’t fix issues, it’s worth a try before you progress on it.
To access the network troubleshooter, visit Settings > Network & Internet > Status. Select Network troubleshooter and follow the steps to ascertain if Windows can rectify the matter. On Windows 7, you will find this same tool at Start > instrument panel > Troubleshooting > Network and internet > Internet Connections.
5. Check Your IP Address Settings
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
Next, you ought to rehearse one of the key steps for diagnosing network issues: confirming that your computer features a valid IP address. In most home networks, under normal circumstances, the router hands out an address to devices once they connect. If your computer’s IP settings aren’t correct, it can cause this “no internet access” problem or maybe the “Wi-Fi doesn’t have a legitimate IP configuration” error.
To review this on Windows 10, head back to Settings > Network & Internet > Status. Click the Change adapter options entry then double-click the connection you’re using.

On Windows 7, right-click the network icon in your System Tray at the bottom-right corner and choose Open Network and Sharing Center. Then click the name of your network next to Connections.

Once you’ve got a window open with information about your connection, click the Properties button. Find Internet Protocol Version 4 within the list and double-click that.
There, confirm you’ve got obtain an IP address automatically and acquire DNS server address automatically both selected. Setting an IP address manually is for advanced users; the likelihood is that if you’ve got something entered here, it’s invalid.

Click OK after telling these to both use automatic values, then try to get online again.
6. Check Your ISP’s Status
At now, if you cannot get any devices online, it’s worth checking if your internet service provider (ISP) has a problem. Though this is often rare, it could explain why you’ve got no internet access in the least.
Use your phone’s data connection to ascertain if Comcast, Verizon, or whoever provides service in your area has reported outages. DownDetector may be a great site for this. a fast Google or Twitter search can reveal whether others are having a drag, too.
7. Try Networking Command Prompt Commands
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
Windows offers several networking commands within the prompt. you ought to run a couple of of them if you continue to haven’t any internet access in Windows 10 at now. to try to do that, type cmd into the beginning Menu, then right-click thereon and choose Run as administrator to open an elevated prompt window.
To reset a number of the files Windows keeps to access the web, use these two commands:
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
If that doesn’t work, try releasing your computer’s IP address and obtaining a fresh one from the router with these two commands, one at a time:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
Finally, refresh your computer’s DNS settings with this command:
ipconfig /flushdns
It doesn’t hurt to reboot your PC again at this point. If you still have no internet access, there are a few more steps to try.
8. Disable Security Software
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
Another uncommon, but plausible, the scenario is that you simply have some security software on your PC preventing access to the web. Avast and other antivirus suites have had problems with in the past where glitched updates block some websites, or maybe the whole internet, for no good reason.
Disable any third-party antivirus apps you’ll have installed and see if your connection comes back. If it does, you’ll get to change the settings in your antivirus app or think about using an alternate solution.
While we’re on the subject of security, it’s worth running a malware scan with an app like Malwarebytes. A computer virus could have knocked out your internet connection.
9. Update Your Wireless Drivers
This step isn’t necessary if your connection issue is affecting multiple devices.
Normally, you should not get to update your computer drivers, as doing so often causes more problems than it’s worth. But since you are still having this network connection issue, you ought to check for driver updates for your computer’s wireless chip.
If you’ve got a manufacturer update app (like HP Support Assistant or Lenovo System Update) installed on your PC, open that up and check for wireless driver updates. Otherwise, follow our guide to updating your Windows drivers manually.
10. Reset Your Network
At now, if you’ve proceeded through these steps and still have the “no internet access but connected” problem, there’s not much you’ll do aside from resetting your network settings.
If your Windows 10 PC is that the only device you cannot connect with, you’ll reset its network configuration by visiting Settings > Network & Internet > Status. Click the Network reset text at rock bottom of the screen, then Reset now.
This will completely remove all network adapters and set all of your network settings back to the defaults. you will have to line everything up again, including VPN software, but it’d be the fix you would like.
There’s, unfortunately, no equivalent of this in Windows 7, but you’ll simulate a part of the reset. Right-click on the network icon in your System Tray, choose Open Network and Sharing Center and click on Change adapter settings.
Then right-click the adapter you’re using and choose Disable. Reboot and re-enable it to ascertain if that fixed anything.
When you can’t get online with any devices, your best bet is resetting your router (and modem, if needed). Search for a little pinhole on the rear or bottom of your router and hold it certain several seconds to reset it to factory defaults. If there is no push button, you will need to log in to your router and run the factory reset from there.
With everything reset, you’ll run through the initial setup and use the factory defaults to ascertain if you’ll get online again. If you continue to haven’t any internet connection after this, you likely have faulty equipment and can get to get a replacement.
Don’t Fear “Connected but No Internet” anymore
Hopefully, you do not need to factory reset anything to repair your connection issue. one among the sooner steps should look out for it, but there is no perfect formula for network issues. If you follow all the steps, you’ve confirmed that your devices are found out correctly and you do not have anything blocking the connection.
It’s possible to leap into more comprehensive troubleshooting if you desire. However, it’d be worth contacting a network-savvy friend for further help instead.
Mustafa Al Mahmud is the Founder and CEO of Gizmo Concept and also a professional Blogger, SEO Professional as well as Entrepreneur. He loves to travel and enjoy his free moment with family members and friends.