There could be several reasons why your laptop can’t connect to the Internet. We’ll run through a few of the most common here but there are a few things that need to happen for a laptop to gain Internet access through WiFi. You need to have a router, modem or access point configured properly, you must have a working Wifi adapter on the laptop, and you need to have passwords to any security the gateway device might be running. There are other things, like firewalls and other security that might prevent Internet access, but for the sake of this article, we’ll assume you are trying to gain access to the Internet from a working connection in your home.
Configure The Router
If the router has not been configured yet, you will need to physically plug into it via an Ethernet cable and follow the router’s and your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) instructions for setting it up. Routers will not just work right out of the box. You will need to enable wireless, configure it as a DHCP server so it gives your laptop an IP address and you will want to change the default login and password, as well as set up WPA-2 wireless encryption. You may also be required to clone your laptop’s MAC address. You can not do this initial setup through wireless, as the laptop is not on the same network as the router. Once the initial setup is complete, you can reboot the router and unplug the Ethernet cable. If you configured the router to use WPA-2 or WEP encryption, you will need to click on the WiFi icon in your system tray and enter the password for your network.
Make Sure WiFi is Enabled
If the router is configured but you still can’t get access to the Internet, make sure you did not inadvertently disable the WiFi adapter. Laptops will usually have a switch or button that enables and disables the WiFi. It might also be associated with a function (FN) key. If you can’t find it, consult your laptops documentation. If the WiFi is turned on in hardware, it could also be turned off in software. Navigate to the Control Panel and look for the Network Connections icon. You will likely find two adapters in there, one for the wired and one for the wireless. Make sure they are enabled. You can also check their properties from here. Right-click the adapters and check their properties. Under TCP/IP, make sure they are set to Obtain IP Address Automatically. If your router is setup to be a DHCP server, it will give the laptop an IP address.
Laptop Still Cannot Connect
If you still cannot connect with your laptop, try disabling any firewalls you have running. You can also try rebooting all devices. This will often fix DHCP and DNS issues. Power down the laptop, unplug the router and modem, then slowly power each up in reverse order. If you still cannot connect to the Internet and have confirmed the router and laptop are setup properly, you can try bypassing the router and plug directly into the modem (if they are separate). If you can’t connect either wired or wirelessly, you should contact your ISP for further assistance.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
My laptop and modem is working properly but It can’t access the net. Anytime I put the modem cable at the back of the laptop the light goes red and yellow instead of red and green so please can you help me solve the problem.
Try a new cable first. You might be using a cross-over cable by accident.
Hello Dave- my situation is a little bit like emmanuel my laptop works great I had got on the net with my laptop before when i take the cable of my laptop and put it on the computer it works now when i switch it back to the laptop i can’t get a connection period can u help me.
Try rebooting the laptop with the cable plugged in. If that doesn’t work, Go into the control panel and look under your network connections. make sure the connections is not saying DISABLED. You will sometimes even have a tiny icon near the clock. If that has a red X over it, then it’s disabled.
Something is wrong with my interent connection on my hp windows vista laptop. I had viruses/spyware on my laptop, but I didnt have a program to remove them, so i created a backup point, and when i did that, i couldnt access to the internet, but i can still connect to my wifi, but it says unidentified network. What should I do?
I have a laptop and just go tit yesterday, i got the router and everything set up and it worked great. Then I shut down the laptop and went to get back on the internet later and it won’t work. The status image shows bars and a little blue circle on top of the bars. When I click connect to a network it doesn’t do anything. Can you help me?
Does it connect if you plug it in? Make sure you didn’t accidentally turn off the wireless using the function keys. I would post your question on our forums at http://www.pctechbytes.net and we will help you get this sorted out.
Dear respected sir,
we have a problem in our router, that can’t work properly. In a while it connect after sometime it disconnect. We are using the Insta DSL. We also configured the Router for 3 time, but the problem does not solve. Please help me in this event.
Thanks
If this is a wireless connection, you probably need to relocate the router, as interference will often cause a wireless signal to drop-out.
Hi Dave,
My vista home premium gateway laptop is connected wirelessly to my d-link router (DI-714P+) which is connected with an ethernet cable to my desktop pc (XP-SP3). For the last few years, there has been no problem with laptop connecting automatically to my WEP encrypted SSID which has a MAC filter. Now suddenly it won’t even see my wireless network, but it does see all our neighbors’ networks. Our iPhone also stopped seeing our network, so I’m thinking it has something to do with the router hardware or software or our desktop software. Please advise. Thanks.
I would try updating the firmware on the router. While there is no reason why anything should have changed, something has. Since the router is a few years old, maybe refreshing the firmware will help.
I am having troubles connecting to the Internet on my Toshiba laptop. It works fine at WIFI hotspots but it won’t connect to my home network. The other laptops that use the same router works fine. Also when I try to connect the Lan line directly to my laptop, it won’t connect either. I am so at lost. Noone is able to help me. I had a virus a few weeks ago and it I had it removed, had my whole system reformatted … it worked on my unsecure work router for a month then now it doesn’t work anymore. Do you think it’s my laptop ? HELP…
Hi,
i encountered problem connection to my WIFI, before its working and now its not, i try to connect again but, i cant find my WIFI account, i try already at network connection and enable the wireless but still its not connected. the strange thing is that, i can check the other Wifi account but i cant find my account name on the list of wireless.
please help
If you can see other routers in your neighborhood, but not your own. Try rebooting the router. Unplug it for a minutes then plug it back in, then reboot your laptop and see if that helps. For more help, please join our forums.
I can connect to the internet in safe mode but I can’t connect when my computer is booted normaly. I have tried ipconfig release and renew, and disabling a lot of startup programs.
I forgot to add that I can ping websites. Both Firefox and IE8 don’t work
Hey My laptop works fine and the monitor does too but when I try to connect to the internet it tries to identify the connection through a Ethernet cable but when its done identifying it said unidentified network no internet access
and it was working a few weeks ago and then nothing…I disabled the firewall
Enabled the ethernet port and still nothing…but this computer its working of course.
hello. i just want to ask about my laptop. i can’t connect to the internet eventhough i had a internet access. can you please please help me regarding with problem. thank you.