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Fix network connection issues in Windows 10

If youre having problems getting connected to a network and cant get onto the Internet,
here are some things you can tryin Windows 10.

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Things to try first

Try these things first to help you fix or narrow down the connection problem.

Check out Why can't I get online? and try some of the basic troubleshooting steps
mentioned there.

Restart your modem and wireless router. This helps create a new connection to
your Internet service provider ISP. When you do this, everyone that is connected
to your WiFi network will be temporarily disconnected.

The steps you take to restartyour modem and router can vary, but here are the
general steps:

1. Unplug the power cable for the router from the power source.

2. Unplug the power cable for the modem from the power source.

Some modems have a backup battery. So if you unplug the modem and
lights stay on, remove the battery from the modem.

3. Wait at least 30 seconds or so.

If you had to remove the battery from the modem, put it back in.

4. Plug the modem back into the power source. The lights on the modem will
blink. Wait for them to stop blinking.

5. Plug your router back into the power source.

Wait a few minutes for the modem and router to fully power on. You can
usually tell when theyre ready by looking at the status lights on the two
devices.

6. On your PC, try to connect again.

 6. On your PC, try to connect again.

Generate a wireless network report. This report can help you diagnose the
problem, or at least provide you with more information to give to others who
might be able to help.

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt, press and hold
or rightclick Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator >
Yes.

2. At the command prompt, type netsh wlan show wlanreport.

This creates an HTML file that you can open in your web browser from the
location listed under the command prompt. For more info about the network
report and how to analyze it, see Analyze the wireless network report in Fix WiFi
problems in Windows 10.

Make sure its not a problem with your cable modem or Internet service provider
ISP.

1. If it is, contact your ISP. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command
prompt, press and hold or rightclick Command prompt, and then select
Run as administrator > Yes.

2. At the command prompt, type ipconfig.

Look for the IP address listed next to Default gateway. Write down that
address if you need to. For example: 192.168.1.1

3. At the prompt, type ping <DefaultGateway> and press Enter. For

example, type ping 192.168.1.1 and press Enter. The result 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 milliseconds: Minimum = 4ms,
Maximum = 5ms, Average = 4ms

If the ping is successful and you see results similar to the results above, but
cant connect to the Internet on your PC, there may be a problem with your
modem or Internet service provider ISP.
 Run the Network troubleshooter followed by networking commands
The Network troubleshooter can help diagnose and fix common connection problems.
Using this troubleshooter, then running some networking commands afterwards if
needed, can help get you connected.

To run the Network troubleshooter

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Network troubleshooter, and then select
Identify and repair network problems from the list of results.

2. Follow the steps in the troubleshooter and see if that fixes the problem.

If that doesnt fix your connection problem, try these things:

Reset the TCP/IP stack

Release the IP address

Renew the IP address

Flush and reset the DNS client resolver cache

To run these networking commands in a command prompt window

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt,press and hold or right
click Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator > Yes.

2. At the command prompt, run the following commands in the listed order, and then
check to see if that fixes your connection problem:
Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.

Type netsh int ip reset and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.

Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

Update the network adapter driver

An outdated or incompatible network adapter driver can cause connection problems. If
you recently upgraded to Windows10, it's possible that the current driver was designed
for a previous version of Windows. Check to see if an updated driver is available.

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device
 1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device
Manager from the list of results.

2. In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.

3. Press and hold or rightclickthe network adapter, and then select Update driver
> Search automatically for updated driver software. Follow the steps, then
select Close.

4. After installing the updated driver, select the Start button > Power > Restart
if you're asked to restart, and see if that fixes the connection issue.

If Windows cant find a new driver for your network adapter, visit the PC manufacturers
website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If your PC can't
connect to the Internet, you'll need to download a driver on a different PC and save it to
a USB flash drive, so you can manually install the driver on your PC. Youll need to know
the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

To manually install the network adapter driver

Do one of the following, depending on what kind of file you downloaded from the PC
manufacturers website:

If you downloaded an executable .exe file, just doubleclick the file to run it and
install the drivers. That should be all you need to do.

If you downloaded individual files,and at least one file has an .inf file name
extension and another has a .sys extension, do the following:

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select
Device Manager from the list of results.

2. In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.
If its not listed there, check in Other devices.

3. Press and hold or rightclickthe network adapter, and then select Update
driver > Browse my computer for driver software.

4. Select Browse > select the location where the driver files are stored > OK.

5. Select Next > follow the steps to install the driver > Close.

6. After you'veupdated the driver, select the Start button > Power >
Restart if you're asked to restart, and see if that fixes the connection issue.

Roll back the network adapter driver

If you were connected before and recently installed a new network adapter driver, rolling
back your driver to a previous version might help.

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device
 1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device
Manager from the list of results.

2. In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.

3. Press and hold or rightclick the network adapter, and then select Properties.

4. In Properties, select the Driver tab, select Roll Back Driver, then follow the steps.

If the button is unavailable, that means there's no driver to roll back to.

5. After rolling back to the previous version of the driver, select the Start button >
Power > Restart if you're asked to restart, and see if that fixes the connection
issue.

If Windows cant find a new driver for your network adapter, visit the PC manufacturers
website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If your PC can't
connect to the Internet, you'll need to download a driver on a different PC and save it to
a USB flash drive, so you can manually install the driver on your PC. Youll need to know
the PC manufacturer and model name or number. To learn how to manually install the
driver, see theprevious section.

Temporarily turn off firewalls

Sometimes firewall software might prevent you from getting connected. You can see if
the connection issue is caused by a firewall by turning it off temporarily and then trying
to visit a website you trust.

The steps to turn off a firewall depend on the firewall software youre using. Check the
documentation for your firewall software to learn how to turn it off. Make sure you turn it
back on as soon as you can. Not having a firewall turned on makes your PC more
vulnerable to hackers, worms, or viruses.

If you have trouble turning off your firewall, do the following to turn off all firewall
software that's running on your PC. Again, make sure you turn your firewall back on as
soon as you can.

To turn off all firewalls

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt, press and hold or right
click Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator > Yes.

2. At the command prompt, type netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off, and
then press Enter.

3. Open your web browser and visit a website you trust and see if you can connect to
it.

4. To turn on all firewalls you might have installed, at the command prompt, type
 4. To turn on all firewalls you might have installed, at the command prompt, type
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state on, and then press Enter.

If you find the firewall software is causing the connection issues, contact the software
manufacturer or visit their website to check and see if updated software is available.

Temporarily turn off any antivirus or malwareprevention software

Sometimes antivirus or malwareprevention software might prevent you from getting
connected. You can see if the connection issue is caused by antivirus and malware
prevention software by turning it off temporarily and then trying to visit a website you
trust. If you find it is causing the connection issues, contact the software manufacturer or
visit their website to see if updated software is available.

The steps to turn off antivirus or malwareprevention software depend on the software
youre using. Check the documentation for your software to learn how to turn it off. Make
sure you turn it back on as soon as possible. Not having antivirus or malwareprevention
software turned on makes your PC more vulnerable to hackers, worms, or viruses.

If youre not sure what antivirus or malwareprevention software program you have
installed, Windows might be able to tell you.

To find out what antivirus or malwareprevention software is installed

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type System and security, and then select
Review your computers status and resolve issues.

2. Select the down arrow next to Security.

If Windows can detect your antivirus software, it's listed under Virus protection.
For malwareprevention software, look under Spyware and unwanted software
protection.

3. If the antivirus or malwareprevention software is on, check the documentation for

that software to learn how to turn it off.

Make sure you turn your antivirus or malwareprevention software back on as soon as
you can to make sure your PC is better protected.

Uninstall the network adapter driver and restart

If the previous steps didnt work, try to uninstall the network adapter driver, and then
restart your computer and have Windows automatically install the latest driver. Consider
this approach if your network connection stopped working properly after a recent
update.

Before uninstalling, make sure you have drivers available as a backup. Visit the PC
manufacturers website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If
your PC can't connect to the Internet, you'll need to download a driver on a different PC

and save it to a USB flash drive so you can install the driver on your PC. Youll need to
 and save it to a USB flash drive so you can install the driver on your PC. Youll need to
know the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select Device
Manager from the list of results.

2. In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.

3. Press and hold or rightclickthe network adapter, and then select Uninstall
device> Delete the driver software for this device check box > Uninstall.

4. After uninstalling the driver, select the Start button > Power > Restart.

After your PC restarts, Windows will automatically look for and install the network
adapter driver. Check to see if that fixes your connection problem. If Windows
doesn't automatically install a driver, try to install the backup driver you saved
before uninstalling.

Use network reset to reinstall network devices

Using network resetshould be the last step you try. Consider usingit if the steps above
dont help to get you connected.

This can help solve connection problems you might have after upgrading from a previous
version of Windows to Windows10, as well as fix problems where you can connect to the
Internet but not to shared network drives. It removes any network adapters you have
installed and the settings for them. After your PC restarts, any network adapters are
reinstalled, and the settings for them are set to the defaults.

Note
To use network reset, your PC must be running Windows10 Version 1607 or later. To see which
version of Windows10 your device is currently running, select the Start button, then select
Settings > System > About.

1. Select the Start button, then select Settings > Network & Internet >
Status > Network reset.

2. On the Network reset screen, select Reset now > Yes to confirm.
Wait for your PC to restart and see if that fixes the problem.

Notes
After using network reset, you might need to reinstall and set up other networking software you
might be using, such as VPN client software or virtual switches from HyperV if you're using that
or other network virtualization software.

Network reset might set each one of your known network connections to a public network mode.
In a public network mode, your PC is not discoverable to other PCs and devices on the network,
which can help make your PC more secure. However, if your PC is part of a homegroup or used
 for file or printer sharing, youll need to make your PC discoverable again. To do this, go to
Settings > Network & Internet > WiFi. On the WiFi screen, select Manage known
networks > the network connection you want to change > Properties, and then turn on the
switch under Make this PC discoverable.

Properties

Article ID: 10741 Last Review: 12 Apr 2017 Revision: 97

Applies to
Windows 10

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