"Connected Without Internet"

[Old_Geezer]

Getting this very often despite changing modem/routers, just get the same message on the mobile WiFi devices.

I'm assuming it's a poorly worded warning meaning they aren't connected to the Internet (the important bit) at all, but managed to find whatever router was connected at the time.

But the weird thing is that sometimes the cable connected desktop is on the Internet (not always though as the supplier does seem very useless, especially during evenings).

Anyone have any idea why the WiFi connection is not being connected to the Net while the desktop cable is sometimes allowed through ? And any suggestions for fixing it ?

TIA

[rowanwitch]

I was told wired connections are more stable, which I why the help desks tend to ask you to connect with an Ethernet cable when they are trying to troubleshoot PC\laptop problems... I just say I can't because the router is in the sitting room about 50 feet away and the pc is too heavy to move ...unless they can send me a long enough cable... They just send an engineer. It might be to do with where you live though. I only have a smallish flat but the steel and concrete construction plays havoc with Wi-Fi, so I mostly have to do stuff in the sitting room. Or use plug in extenders

[50HellsofPain]

It sounds like you may be experiencing a network connectivity issue. First, try to check for physical connectivity issues such as loose cables or unplugged modems. If that doesn't work, you should try to restart your modem and wireless router. This will help create a new connection to your internet service provider (ISP). If that doesn't fix the issue, you should try to check for a different frequency band. Many consumer Wi-Fi routers broadcast at two different network frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, so try connecting to the other network. You should also make sure the physical Wi‑Fi switch on your laptop is turned on and run the Network troubleshooter in Windows. Additionally, you can try to reset your router and test if another device can connect over the 5Ghz. If that doesn't work, try using an Ethernet cable, which is faster than Wi-Fi. Lastly, you can try running network commands and uninstalling the network adapter driver and restarting your computer.

[bhg481]

I sometimes get this while my wife, sitting opposite me, is still connected. My solution is to open Computer Management/Device Manager/Network Adapters and disable the wireless one. As soon as it's done that, re-enable it. My laptop then re-connects to the router and I get internet service back.

[barry1010]

Is anything interfering with your signal? Where is your router - is it near other electrical equipment such as your microwave?

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll try working through them later today. However with all the router changes, all exhibiting the same issue, and changes at the mobile device, turning on and off, some of this will have already been covered.

Just seems weird to me that it suggests it reaches the router, so why, after that, would it distinguish between the cabled desktop input and the WiFi input when outputting what it's received to the ISP ?

It seems unlikely to have interference since it is in the upstairs "study" and noisy microwaves will be downstairs in the kitchen.

[Etch]

The router isn't distinguishing between the cabled desktop input and the WiFi - devices are connecting, wired or wirelessly, to the Local Area Network (LAN) under management of the router - but the router is failing to connect to the internet.

[Old_Geezer]

But in many cases only for the desktop ?

[bhg481]

I find it odd that my laptop has the problem but my wife's doesn't - both HP laptops but mine is W7, hers is W10 and with different wi-fi adapters. It makes me think the software running on my machine is getting in a knot - the device drivers for the wi-fi adapter are up to date, so it's not that. Disabling my adapter and then re-enabling fixes my problem without interfering with her connection, so is less intrusive than re-booting the router etc. I don't even have to leave my chair!

[Etch]

If you're running Windows try opening a 'Command Prompt' window and pinging various addresses. On my router local devices are of the form 192.168.0.n but it may be different on your router. For example, if at the command prompt I enter
ping 192.168.0.1
my router will respond to 4 'pings', showing that the LAN is working. If I enter
ping google.com
then I get responses from the google.com server, indicating that my internet connection is good.

[Old_Geezer]

Again, thanks.
I will look at later today.
(Managing on my partner's mobile data at present.)

[Dizmo]

OG, can you answer the following:

1. What type of internet connection is it. DSL, Cable, LTE, Satellite... etc?
2. What ISP?
3. Is there any child filtering or blocking/filtering on the connection?
4. The output of any status pages for the internet connection status pages?
5. Are your Wi-Fi settings correct (to the best of your knowledge, that is)?
6. What distance are the Wi-Fi devices being used from the router?

[Dizmo]

My OH's guess is:

Either the Wi-Fi settings are wrong, it's giving out the wrong information via DHCP for DNS resolution (a common reason why you get 'connected, no internet'), they're too far away from the router, there's a dodgy internet connection / faulty line that keeps going up and down, could maybe be connected to the wrong access point, or maybe their ISP DNS is too slow, down or blocks the required lookups to confirm a connection.

[Old_Geezer]

Apologies, I had intended to look at it this afternoon but my woman was using the desktop in the "study" most of the day, and, I not being that well, managed to nod off around the time she'd finished; so it'll have to be tomorrow. (It's still not working properly though.)

Type of connection ? I should know this; it's the basic telephone line one. Is that DSL ? She was considering fibre as the contract needs renewing, but we had no idea if that would result in the connection being out just as often, but paying more for a faster speed during the time it actually was up.

Plusnet. I have no idea how they have any customers, given the issues we've had and their inability to either know how to, or be bothered to, correct problems. They're just good at fobbing folk off.

No, there are no children, no filtering. Not unless it's set itself on all three routers.

Unsure what 4. means, but each router has been known to display it's own troubleshooting page on occassion.

The WiFi has worked better in the past and has not been changed for ages. So settings should be ok. I do recall in the early days of this issue, when it wasn't so bad, changing frequencies, but clearly it solved nothing over the time.

The router is upstairs in the "study". The mobile devices could be anywhere in the house, but the vast majority of the time they are in the room almost directly underneath. I guess about 12 foot up through the ceiling/floor ?

The number of times cables have been unplugged and plugged back in I feel less than confident that a connection is the cause; but they can be unplugged & and replugged again to check. Last time the connections were looked at was a couple of days ago when (as it turned out some idiot had disconnected us at the cabinet and we had neither phone nor BB). The Openreach guy examined and connected to the main socket as part of his testing. The WiFi issue was an issue both before & after that.

Thanks.

[Old_Geezer]

Can a router's ISP DNS rate be adjusted ?

[Old_Geezer]

Or tested ?

[Etch]

Old_Geezer - Do you know how to log into your router? The simplest way is usually to just enter the router's IP (Internet Protocol) Address in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) field of your browser. For me that is just 192.168.0.1 - no 'http://' needed. If you are able to log into the router then it should give access to various pages that would help to diagnose what the connectivity problems are.

[bednobs]

https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Question1813111.html

[Etch]

Old_Geezer - It would seem that Plusnet routers have their IP addresses set to 192.168.1.254 so use this instead of the 192.168.0.1 in my earlier descriptions.

[Old_Geezer]

There are 3 routers up there. The Thompson that Plusnet provided, one I brought from my place but don't recall model without going upstairs and looking, and a BT "smart" one that we bought a while ago. I suspect they all have different addresses. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to check tomorrow.

[Etch]

Old_Geezer - I've just remembered another useful command. If you enter the following in a Command Prompt window it will return detailed connection information:
ipconfig /all
In particular, it will list the DNS Servers that are being used. For you, these should be as given here for Plusnet:
https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/uk-isp-dns-server-settings