I've got an Acer Nitro AN517-55 running Windows 11, and I'm facing a frustrating problem. My laptop connects to both Wi-Fi and an Ethernet cable, but it always shows 'no internet access'. I thought it might just be an internet issue, so I even bought an Ethernet cable to test that, but it still says 'no internet'. I can't get on Google or sync my game data on Steam. I've tried several troubleshooting steps: restarting my laptop, performing a Winsock reset, restarting the router, using the Ethernet cable, running virus checks with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes, and even deleting some recent downloads. Unfortunately, nothing has helped. I can't update drivers or reinstall Windows 11 because of the lack of internet. This exact problem happened on my desktop a while back, but I fixed it by resetting the computer, which I'm trying to avoid this time as I don't have backups of my important files. Any advice would be appreciated!
4 Answers
It might be a DHCP issue with your laptop. If you're comfortable, you could try setting up your network adapter with manual IP settings. Just make sure you know your router's IP address for the gateway. Some users have found that helps with connection problems.
Since your laptop was working fine before, it's worth checking if your laptop's date and time settings are correct. Sometimes an incorrect time can mess with internet access. Also, have you tried turning on your phone's hotspot to see if that works?
The date and time are only a couple of seconds off compared to my phone, so it seems accurate. I did try the hotspot, but that didn't work either.
Have you tried resetting your network settings? Just go to your laptop's settings, search for 'reset network settings', and follow the steps. It usually takes about 10 minutes, and once it restarts, it might fix the issue.
Hi! I gave that a shot, and it showed 'connected', but Google still didn't work. Then it dropped back to 'no internet' after about 5 minutes. Thanks for the suggestion!
Before diving deeper, can you check if other devices connect to the same Wi-Fi without any trouble? If they do, then it’s likely something with your laptop. If you have access, try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network, like in a café, to see if that resolves it.
Yes, my family's phones and my brother's computer connect just fine. I'll have to find a way to test another Wi-Fi connection, though it's a bit far to go.
I'm giving that a go, but I'm struggling to figure out what a subnet mask is. Any tips?