How to fix laptop that connects to WiFi but internet doesn't work
Published: 15 January 2021
I had the following question sent to me:
format_quoteI have an Acer i3 laptop - it's about 7 years old, but works (was working!) well. I upgraded to Windows 10 with no problems too.
However, during the last 3 months or so, it has stopped connecting to the internet. I can go into 'Network & Internet Settings' and manually turn on the WiFi connection, but although it says it's connected, it isn't. I've recently discovered that, having turned on WiFi manually, if I immediately reboot the machine it connects to the internet - but not every time.
(I read somewhere that the problem may be solved by updating some drivers, but I needed to connect to the internet to download the drivers!)
Any suggestions please?
Many thanks.format_quote
There are a few possible solutions to this that I can hopefully help you with:
- Make sure your wireless adapter drivers are up to date.
- Reset your connection to your wireless network by "Forgetting" the network then trying again.
- Make sure your router is using a "clear" channel.
Instructions: How to check if your drivers are up to date
This details how to check if your drivers are up to date - but obviously will only work if you can get your laptop online. If you can connect via ethernet to do this temporarily then that may be the best option.
- Go to the following page which should allow you to download a program to see if you need to update any of your drivers: https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html
- If you see any drivers available for anything mentioning Wireless then try and update those.
- Restart your PC and try connecting to your WiFi
If that didn't work then you can try the following:
Instructions: How to Forget the wireless network you are trying to connect to
- Click on the World symbol in the bottom right of your PC and find the wireless network that you are trying to connect to.
- Right click on the wireless network and then click on Forget
- Restart your PC. This step in not compulsory but sometimes helps.
- Try now connecting to your WiFi by clicking on the World symbol again and this time left click on your wireless network to connect, and it should ask you for your password. Make sure Connect automatically is checked.
- Type in your password and it should hopefully work.
If neither of the above didn't work then please do feel free to get in touch again and I will add to this article.
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