Why does my WiFi show connected but there's no internet?

Your device connected to the router successfully, but the router itself cannot reach the internet — or your device received incorrect DNS or IP settings. The most common cause is a temporary router glitch, which a 30-second power cycle fixes in most cases.

Does restarting the router fix 'connected but no internet'?

Yes, in the majority of cases. Unplugging the router for 30 seconds clears its DHCP lease table, resets the WAN connection to your ISP, and flushes the DNS cache. After the router restarts, devices reconnect and receive fresh IP addresses.

Why is only my laptop not connecting while other devices work fine?

If other devices on the same network have internet but your laptop doesn't, the problem is specific to your device — not the router or ISP. Common causes include a corrupted Windows network stack, incorrect DNS settings on the adapter, or a VPN or firewall application blocking traffic.

What does 'No internet, secured' mean on Windows?

'No internet, secured' means Windows connected to the Wi-Fi network and the connection is encrypted, but your device cannot reach the internet. This usually means the device received an APIPA address (169.254.x.x) instead of a valid IP, or DNS resolution is failing.

How do I fix WiFi connected but no internet on Android?

On Android, go to Settings > Network and internet > Wi-Fi, long-press your network, and select Forget. Reconnect and enter your password. If that does not work, go to Settings > General management > Reset > Reset network settings to clear all saved Wi-Fi credentials and network configuration.

WiFi Connected But No Internet — Fix

The WiFi connected but no internet error is one of the most common network problems across Windows, Android, and Mac. Your device successfully joins the Wi-Fi network — the Wi-Fi icon appears, the signal bars are full — but web pages refuse to load and apps report no connection.

According to Microsoft’s Windows networking troubleshooting documentation, this error occurs when your device connects to the router but the router cannot reach the internet, or when the device has incorrect DNS or IP configuration that prevents it from resolving addresses even with a valid connection.

WiFi no internet diagnosis: decision tree showing all-devices vs single-device issue with 4 fix paths

What causes “WiFi connected but no internet”

The error appears in two distinct scenarios:

Scenario 1 — The router has no internet (all devices affected)

Your ISP has an outage
The router’s WAN connection dropped (cable unplugged, PPPoE session expired)
The router needs to be restarted

Scenario 2 — Only one device has the problem

The device received an incorrect IP address (APIPA address: 169.254.x.x)
DNS servers are unreachable or returning errors
The Windows Winsock or TCP/IP stack is corrupted
A VPN or firewall application is blocking traffic

How to fix WiFi connected but no internet

Step 1 — Restart the router and your device

A router restart clears the DHCP lease table and forces all connected devices to request new IP addresses. It also resets the router’s WAN connection to the ISP.

Unplug the router’s power cable from the wall outlet
Wait 30 seconds — this ensures the router’s memory fully clears
Plug the power cable back in
Wait for the internet indicator light to become solid (typically 30–90 seconds depending on your ISP)
Restart your computer or phone

After both devices restart, check whether the internet is restored before continuing to further steps.

Step 2 — Run the Windows Network Troubleshooter

Windows includes a built-in diagnostic tool that detects and fixes common network configuration errors automatically.

On Windows 11:

Go to Settings → System → Troubleshoot → Other troubleshooters
Click Run next to Internet Connections
Follow the prompts and apply any suggested fixes

On Windows 10:

Go to Settings → Update & Security → Troubleshoot → Additional troubleshooters
Click Internet Connections → Run the troubleshooter

The troubleshooter checks DNS resolution, adapter configuration, and Windows network services. It can detect and fix corrupted adapter settings that are not visible through the network settings menu.

Step 3 — Flush DNS and reset the network stack

A corrupted DNS cache or a damaged Winsock configuration prevents Windows from translating website names into IP addresses — even when the physical connection is working.

Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin)
Run each command, pressing Enter after each one:

ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset

Restart the computer after all three commands complete — the Winsock reset only takes effect after a restart

After restarting, check whether internet access is restored.

Step 4 — Change DNS servers

Your ISP’s default DNS servers can become slow or unresponsive, causing the “no internet” error even when the connection itself is working. Switching to a public DNS server (Google or Cloudflare) bypasses the ISP’s DNS.

On Windows 11:

Go to Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi
Click your connected Wi-Fi network
Click Hardware properties
Under DNS server assignment, click Edit
Switch from Automatic (DHCP) to Manual
Enable IPv4 and enter:
- Preferred DNS: 8.8.8.8 (Google) or 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare)
- Alternate DNS: 8.8.4.4 (Google) or 1.0.0.1 (Cloudflare)
Click Save

On Windows 10:

Go to Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Change adapter settings
Right-click your Wi-Fi adapter → Properties
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) → Properties
Select Use the following DNS server addresses and enter the values above

Step 5 — Check for a router or ISP outage

If the steps above have not resolved the issue, confirm whether the problem is with your device or with the router and ISP.

Check other devices: Connect a phone or tablet to the same Wi-Fi network. If it also shows no internet, the problem is with the router or ISP — not your computer.

Check the router’s WAN status:

Open a browser and go to 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 (your router’s admin page)
Log in with the router’s admin credentials (usually printed on the router label)
Look for WAN Status, Internet Status, or Connection Status
If it shows Disconnected, No IP, or 0.0.0.0, the router is not receiving an internet connection from the ISP

If the router shows no WAN IP, contact your ISP. If the router shows a valid WAN IP but devices still have no internet, factory reset the router as a last resort.

How to verify the fix

Open a browser and navigate to a website you have not visited recently (to avoid cached results)
Open Command Prompt and run ping 8.8.8.8 — you should see replies, not timeouts
Also run ping google.com — if this works but 8.8.8.8 did not, there is a specific DNS issue

Frequently asked questions

WiFi connected but no internet only on one website. If most sites work but specific ones do not, the problem is with those servers or your DNS cache for those domains. Run ipconfig /flushdns and try again. If the site is down, the issue is not on your end.

Phone shows WiFi connected but no internet. On Android: go to Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi → tap your network → Modify network → Advanced → IP settings → switch from DHCP to Static, and enter the DNS values manually (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4). On iPhone: go to Settings → Wi-Fi → tap the ⓘ next to your network → Configure DNS → Manual → add 8.8.8.8.

VPN is connected and now there’s no internet. A VPN that routes all traffic but cannot reach its server causes the “connected but no internet” error. Disconnect the VPN, check if internet is restored, then reconnect the VPN. If the VPN itself is the cause, contact the VPN provider or check the server status.