Wi-Fi connected but no internet
| You, the router, or the provider | |
| Five-minute checklist | |
| When only some sites open | |
| Slow instead of dead | |
| Proving it is the provider |
You, the router, or the provider
«Connected, no internet» means Wi-Fi works and the uplink does not. Check a second device first: if the phone is offline too, the fault is past your PC — router or provider. If only your machine is dark, the fault is local and fixable in minutes.
Five-minute checklist
Reconnect to the network (forget it first on stubborn cases), restart the router by power (thirty seconds off, not the reset pinhole), then release and renew the address. On Windows the built-in network troubleshooter actually fixes the common DHCP hiccup — run it before calling anyone.
When only some sites open
Internet «half working» is almost always DNS: switch to a public resolver temporarily and retest. If everything loads, the provider DNS is down — report that exact symptom, it tells support where to look. Check networks basics if the words above mean nothing yet.
Slow instead of dead
Crawling Wi-Fi is usually interference, not bandwidth: neighbors on the same 2.4 GHz channel, a microwave between you and the router, or a router from 2015 negotiating ancient rates. Move what you can to 5 GHz, place the router centrally and high, and retest with a cable once — if cable flies, the air is the problem, not the line.
Proving it is the provider
Support believes lights, not feelings: router WAN light status, three traceroutes saved to a file, and the exact hours it fails. «Internet is bad» waits in the queue; «packet loss starts at hop 3 every evening, logs attached» gets an engineer.
