Connected but No Internet? Test the Other Device First

Your Wi-Fi says connected, the icon has a little globe or a warning triangle on it, and every page you open says it cannot be reached.

The important thing takes thirty seconds and costs nothing: find out whether it is this machine or the whole house. Microsoft's own troubleshooting page starts there, and it is the step people skip.

I ran the three layer test on this laptop before writing so I could show you what all three passing looks like.

The thirty second split

Before any command, any setting and any restart.

⭐ Microsoft states it in its own Wi-Fi troubleshooting page: "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."

⚡ A phone on the same Wi-Fi is the whole test. If the phone is also stuck, the PC is not the problem.

⚠️ Take the phone off mobile data first. Otherwise it will look fine while proving nothing at all.

⛔ Everything below assumes the phone works and this machine does not. If both are stuck, it is the router or the line.

The three layers, and which one broke

One vague symptom becomes three specific ones, and that split is ours.

⚡ Layer one is your own network. Can this machine reach the router at all?

⭐ Layer two is the internet. Can it reach an address out on the internet, by number rather than by name?

⚠️ Layer three is naming. Can it turn a website name into an address?

⛔ Almost every connected but no internet report is layer two or three. Layer one is usually fine, which is why the icon says connected.

What all three passing looks like

Tested from this laptop, so you have something to compare against.

⭐ Adapter up, a default gateway present, and one IPv4 name server configured. That is a normal, working setup.

⚡ The router answered a ping and a public address answered a ping. Layers one and two both fine.

⚠️ A website name resolved to two records. Layer three fine as well.

⛔ So nothing here is a reproduction of the fault. ⚠️ What is shown is a passing result, which is what yours should look like when it is working.

Run the same three yourself

Three lines, and none of them changes anything.

⚡ Paste these into Terminal one at a time:

Test-Connection -Count 2 (Get-NetIPConfiguration | Where-Object IPv4DefaultGateway).IPv4DefaultGateway.NextHop
Test-Connection -Count 2 1.1.1.1
Resolve-DnsName microsoft.com -Type A

⭐ First fails: the machine cannot reach your own router. Wi-Fi password, adapter or a guest network keeping you separate.

⚠️ First passes, second fails: your router has no internet. Restart the router and check the line before touching Windows.

⛔ First two pass, third fails: this is a naming problem. That is what DNS server not responding means.

Microsoft's own reset sequence

Four commands, in order, and the order is its own.

⭐ Microsoft lists them as "netsh winsock reset", then "netsh int ip reset", then "ipconfig /release", then "ipconfig /renew".

⚡ Then flush the name cache with ipconfig /flushdns, which is the step that fixes layer three surprisingly often.

⚠️ These need an administrator Terminal. Right-click the Start button and choose the admin option.

⛔ Restart afterwards. Some of them do not fully take effect until you do.

The last resort, and what it costs

Microsoft is clear that this one goes last.

⚡ Microsoft says: "Using network reset should be the last step you try."

⭐ It explains why: a reset "removes any network adapters you have installed and the settings for them", then reinstalls them at their defaults.

⚠️ You will be typing your Wi-Fi password in again afterwards. Have it to hand before you start.

⛔ Anything else you had set up on the network goes back to default too. Including things you may have deliberately changed on the router side.

When it is not the PC at all

Four cases, and all four look identical from the chair.

⭐ A guest network that isolates clients will show connected with no useful access to anything.

⚡ A captive portal waiting for a login does the same in cafes, hotels and some workplaces.

⚠️ An expired or suspended broadband account connects the router and passes nothing.

⛔ And a wired machine has its own version of this. Start with whether the cable made a link at all.

What not to do first

Short, because the order saves you the evening.

⚡ Do not reset the network before the three tests. You would lose settings to fix something that may be the router.

⭐ Do not reinstall the network driver as step one. It is almost never the driver.

⚠️ Do not change your DNS on a hunch. Do it when layer three actually failed.

⛔ And do not phone the broadband company before testing a second device. They will ask you to do exactly that.

Status: the three layer network test run from here on 29 August 2026, on a Windows 11 Home 25H2 laptop, alongside Microsoft's own Wi-Fi troubleshooting page. ⛔ All three layers passed here, so the fault is not reproduced, nothing was changed or reset, and no network name, address, gateway or identifier is published.

And when the router itself is the problem, a second machine can carry you until it is fixed. Any Windows laptop can become the hotspot.

Why does my Wi-Fi say connected but there is no internet?

Because the connection to your router is working while something past it is not. Test a phone on the same Wi-Fi first, with mobile data off. If the phone also fails, the problem is the router or the line rather than your PC, and nothing you change in Windows will help.

How do I know if the problem is my PC or my router?

Microsoft's own answer is to try another laptop or phone on the same network, and says that if that device connects, the problem is likely your device. It takes thirty seconds and it decides everything you do next.

Should I use network reset to fix no internet?

Only last. Microsoft says network reset should be the last step you try, because it removes your network adapters and their settings and reinstalls them at defaults. You will need your Wi-Fi password again afterwards, so have it ready before you start.

The Short Version

• Test a phone on the same Wi-Fi first, with mobile data turned off.
• Microsoft says if the other device connects, the problem is likely yours.
• Three layers: your router, the internet, and turning names into addresses.
• Three commands tell you which layer broke. None of them changes anything.
• Router fails: not a Windows problem. Names fail: a DNS problem.
• Microsoft's reset order is winsock, int ip, release, renew, then flushdns.
• Network reset goes last. It wipes adapters and their settings.
• Guest networks and captive portals look identical to a broken connection.

Where to Next

Pick up a phone, turn mobile data off, and join the same Wi-Fi. That answers the big question.

If the phone is fine, run the three commands and find out which layer failed on the PC.

Match the failing layer to the right fix rather than working through a list from the top.

Save network reset for last, and have your Wi-Fi password written down before you use it.

And if all three of your tests pass and pages still will not load, say what browser in the comments. That combination points somewhere else entirely.