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Can’t Connect To Internet? Here Is The Solution

November 29, 2016Posted by Mark Weber

Many calls that I receive are in regards to not being able to connect to the Internet.  Here is my checklist of top tips in getting this issue resolved:

  1. Are other computers at this site able to connect to the Internet or is this computer specific? If all computers are affected, disconnect power from the Internet Provider’s modem/router.  If another Wireless router is connected to that device, disconnect power from it. Wait 30 seconds and reconnect power to the Wireless Router.  Wait 1 minute, then reconnect power to the Internet Providers modem/router.  Wait 1 minute, then test at the affected computer again.
  2. If a specific computer is unable to connect to the Internet, let’s check it from a command prompt.  Enter “cmd” in the Run or Search field.  When the cmd Command Prompt suggestion is shown in the results, right click and select “Run As Administrator”.  You should get a black box with a prompt like C:\Windows\System32> shown below. That is where we need to be.
  3. To test if we can get to the Internet, try pinging the ISP box.  To determine the IP address of that box, type “ipconfig /all” to see a list of adapters and their status.  The Default Gateway is the IP address of the box that is our router.  See if you can ping that IP address.  For example, say the Default Gateway is showing 192.168.1.254, then try pinging that IP address to verify you can get to the default gateway. You should be able to ping that box inside your network with that command.
  4. (Screen shot of pinging the router)
  5. Next, try pinging a website like “ping weberscomputers.com”.  If you run that command, you will get a result showing how long it took to ping that website and a success message.  It should look like this: Pinging weberscomputers.com [162.249.0.243] with 32 bytes of data:
    Reply from 162.249.0.243: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=50
    Reply from 162.249.0.243: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=50
    Reply from 162.249.0.243: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=50
    Reply from 162.249.0.243: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=50
  6. (Screen shot of pinging an external website)
  7. If the request fails, you’re not able to get out of the router. Another trick is to reset the TCP/IP protocol stack.  To do that,we’ll have to type the following command inside the command prompt dialog box: “netsh winsock reset catalog”.  This will run and ask you to reboot your computer when it completes. Restart the computer and retest to see if the problem has been resolved.
  8. (Screen shot of netsh winsock reset catalog)
  9. Other factors that can keep you from connecting:
    1. Proxy Server settings are turned on. Turn off if you’re a home user. To get to this page, go into Control Panel, select Internet Options, click on the Connections tab, then click on the LAN Settings button
    2. (Screen shot of Proxy settings – be sure everything is unchecked)
    3. Old DNS information.  You can clear DNS cache with the following command at the command prompt: ipconfig /flushdns
    4.  (Screen shot of ipconfig /flushdns)
  10. Lately the resetting of TCP/IP protocol (step 7) has been the most important step to do. Remember, you’ll need to restart your computer after that step in order for it to take effect.

Beyond that, give me a call – or if any of these steps are beyond your pay scale.

Best Regards,

Mark Weber

(214) 533-6216

mark@weberscomputers.com