"Connected, no internet" means your device successfully joined the WiFi network but cannot reach the wider internet. The WiFi link between your device and the router is fine - the break is somewhere between your router and your ISP, or in the way your device is getting an address or resolving names. Work through these fixes in order; the first few solve the large majority of cases.
1. Power-cycle the right way
Unplug both your modem and router, wait a full 60 seconds (this lets capacitors drain and your ISP clear the old session), then power the modem on first. Wait for its lights to settle before powering the router back on. A rushed reboot is the most common reason this step "does not work."
2. Test whether it is your device, router, or ISP
If only one device is affected, the problem is that device. If every device is offline, the problem is your router, modem, or ISP. To rule out your router, plug a computer directly into the modem with an Ethernet cable - if that has no internet either, the issue is upstream of your network.
3. Run a ping test
Open a command prompt and run ping 8.8.8.8. If the pings succeed but websites still fail, the problem is DNS (name resolution), not connectivity - skip to the DNS fixes below. If the pings fail, the problem is the connection itself.
4. Check your router's WAN IP
Log into your router (see how to access your router settings) and look at the WAN/Internet status. If it shows an address starting with 169.254.x.x (an APIPA address) or is blank, your router is not getting a valid lease from your ISP. That points to a modem, cabling, or ISP issue - or a DHCP error.
5. Flush the DNS cache
On Windows, run ipconfig /flushdns. On a Mac, run sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. A stale or corrupt DNS cache is a frequent cause of "connected but pages will not load."
6. Switch to a public DNS server
If your ISP's DNS is down or slow, change your DNS to a public resolver such as Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8). See our guide on how to change your DNS server for device- and router-level steps.
7. Reset the TCP/IP stack (Windows)
A corrupt network stack can leave a device online but unable to route traffic. In an elevated command prompt run netsh int ip reset and reboot. You can also reset the Winsock catalog - see netsh winsock reset.
8. Renew your device's IP lease
Run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew on Windows to request a fresh address from the DHCP server. If two devices grabbed the same address, see Windows IP address conflict.
9. Forget and rejoin the network
On the affected device, forget the WiFi network and reconnect, re-entering the password. This clears a saved profile that may hold bad settings.
10. Update your router firmware
Outdated firmware causes connectivity bugs and leaves security holes open. Check for an update in your router's admin page - on newer WiFi 7 hardware especially, firmware fixes are still rolling out frequently.
11. The WiFi 7 / 6E edge case: disable IPv6
Some early WiFi 7 routers have shown packet loss tied to Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and IPv6. If you are on new hardware and nothing else works, temporarily disable IPv6 on the affected device to test whether that is the culprit, then look for a firmware fix.
12. Rule out Double NAT and call your ISP
If you have your own router behind an ISP gateway, you may have Double NAT, which breaks some services. If your WAN IP is still invalid after all of this, the problem is on your ISP's end - contact them to check for an outage or a deactivated modem.
Still stuck?
If everything connects but speeds are the real problem, work through our WiFi optimization guide and confirm your numbers with how to test your internet speed.
