Connection problems can be due to a variety of reasons—problems with the website, your device, the Wi-Fi router, modem, or your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Try the following steps to help narrow down the source of the problem.

  1. If the “Wi-Fi connected” icon  appears on the right side of the taskbar, visit a different website. If the website opens, there might be a problem with the specific website. If you can’t connect to another website, go to the next step.
  2. On another laptop or phone, try to connect to the same network. If you can connect, the source of the problem is likely due to your device—go to the section Network troubleshooting on your device. If you can’t connect to the network on any device, continue to the next step.
  3. Check to see if there is a problem with the connection to your Wi-Fi router.  Do this by using a ping test.
    1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt. The Command Prompt button will appear. To the right of it, select Run as administrator > Yes.
    2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig, and then select Enter. Look for the name of your Wi-Fi network within the results, and then find the IP address listed next to Default gateway for that Wi-Fi network.  Write down that address if you need to. For example:  192.168.1.1
    3. At the prompt, type ping <DefaultGateway> and then select Enter.  For example, type ping 192.168.1.1 and select Enter The results should be something like this:
  • Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
  • Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
  • Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
  • Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
  • Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:  Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 5ms, Average = 4ms

If you see results like this and are getting a reply, then you have a connection to your Wi-Fi router, so there might be a problem with your modem or ISP. Contact your ISP or check online on another device (if you can) to see if there’s a service outage.

If the results of the ping test indicate that you are not getting a reply from the router, try connecting your PC directly to your modem by using an Ethernet cable (if you can). If you can connect to the internet using an Ethernet cable, it confirms the connection problem is due to the Wi-Fi router. Make sure you’ve installed the latest firmware and see the documentation for your router.