Why my phone says no internet connection

There are times when your Android starts behaving weirdly with the Internet. That dreaded “Connected but no Internet Access” message is just vague. There are a number of reasons that can lead up to this issue. Here are some of the things you can try to fix the problem.

In this article, we are focusing on Android only. In case you have a problem connecting your desktop to the Internet, check out our other article.

Fix Android Connected To WiFi But No Internet

Since there is no particular reason for this connectivity problem, there are a number of possible fixes. Below we have listed a few fixes which you can try to restore the Internet.

1. Check If You Are Actually Connected to the Internet

I know, this sounds stupid. But trust me, I’ve been there and done that. More often than not, you might be facing this issue because your router is not connected to the internet. So, try to connect to that router wirelessly using another device and see if you can access the internet.

If the other devices connected to your WiFi network are not also able to access the Internet, then chances are either your ISP is down (you can confirm this by calling your ISP), or someone has accidentally cut the broadband cable coming to your house (you can confirm this by asking your neighbors who share the same connection) or you have simply exhausted your monthly data plan.

Most ISP has an unlimited data plan, however, there are few internet providers that capped data usage after a certain threshold. To fix this, you simply have to recharge your internet plan. Once you’ve done that, reboot your device and try to connect to the WiFi network again.

Another scenario is that at times some websites don’t work on a particular WiFi network. For instance, in our office WiFi, all torrent websites are blocked. So, if that’s the case, try opening a bunch of different websites.

If you are able to access the Internet on all the other devices except your Android smartphone, then obviously, there’s something wrong with your Android. Moving forward we’ll try to fix your Android smartphone.

Read: Test Internet Connection Speed Using Ping Command

2. Check If Mobile Data is Turned Off

At times, when you have mobile data turned on and then connect to a WiFi network, you might not be able to access the internet. So, try disabling mobile data to fix the issue.

Now, you might be thinking Android is too smart for this. But occasionally, when you connect to a WiFi network, Android will prioritize WiFi over the mobile data. However, some networks require users to log in before they can access the internet. Even after logging in, Android might not see it as an active connection and still use mobile data. Under such circumstances, Android might not be able to connect to the internet on both networks.

TL;DR, try disabling mobile data and then connect to the WiFi network.

3. Check for Captive Portals

You can skip this step if you are connecting to a home WiFi network. However, some WiFi networks (especially in offices, airports, or coffee shops) have a special kind of Wi-Fi network are called “Captive Portals”.

When you connect to this type of WiFi network, even after entering the correct WiFi password – you have to complete one extra step before accessing the internet. This one extra step could be anything from sign in with your email, phone number, watch ads, or agree to the network’s terms of usage.

To find out if you are connecting to Captive Portal WiFi, you will notice your device will display a notification prompting you to sign in. If you don’t get the sign-in notification for the first time, you can disconnect and reconnect to the network. It should work. Tap the notification and follow the instructions on the web page. Complete the required task or contact the network administrator for the login credentials.

For example, our office WiFi network requires users to log in with an official username and password to access the internet. See, the screenshot below. This login session is only valid for 24 hours and then you have to repeat the process.

4. Check Time and Date Settings

This is another thing that looks silly but ill-configured time and date settings can cause a lot of problems. Generally, Android devices are configured to obtain date & time information automatically from your network operator. However, if you’ve changed those settings manually then you might have to reset the settings. Because when the date & time settings are set to manual, the clock may not be updated due to a restart.

To set up an Automatic date & time, open the “Clock” app. Tap on the three vertical dots at the top-right corner and tap on the “Settings” menu.

From the Settings menu, tap on the option “Change date and time”.

In the next screen, toggle the buttons next to “Automatic date and time” and “Automatic time zone”. In case you don’t want automatic time settings, then manually set proper time by selecting the options “Set date”, “Set time”, and “Select time zone”.

Once you’ve done that, reboot your device and try to connect to the WiFi network again.

5. Forget and Reconnect to WiFi Network

Sometimes, forgetting the problematic network and reconnecting might fix the issue. When you reconnect the WiFi network, you might be provided with a new local IP address which might actually fix the issue. To do that, open your Android Settings and navigate to “WiFi”. Next, tap on the WiFi network and select the option “Forget”.

Now, tap on the WiFi network again, enter the password and tap on the “Connect” button. That is it. If the issue is still not fixed proceed to the next solution.

Read: How to Remove Cellular Data Limit Exceeded Notification

6. Check If Router is Blocking Network Traffic

It is possible that the WiFi router you are trying to connect to might be blocking your Android device from connecting to the internet. For example, someone may have accidentally exploited your router’s MAC address filter and blocked your Android. If that’s the case then you won’t know it, unless you look at the WiFi router’s admin page and unblock yourself.

The router admin page differs from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. So, consult your router manual, go to the appropriate settings page and see if the router is blocking your device. Some routers have the IP address of the portal, username, and password written on the back of the device. We have a detailed guide here, that will help you to log in to your router. 

In my case, I have a D-Link router. I can check if my device is blocked or not by navigating to the “Advanced” tab and selecting the “Traffic Control” option. For other routers, look for options such as the MAC Address Filtering menu. If your Android phone is on the list of blocked devices, click Remove or Allow to restore internet access.

Read: See What Others Are Browsing on Your WiFi

7. Change your DNS

Check if you are able to access websites from their IP Address instead. If you can, then chances are there is a problem with your ISP’s domain name server. Simply switching to Google DNS (8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4) will fix the issue.

We have a detailed guide on how to change the DNS on all your popular devices, but for Android, simply go to your WiFi setting, long-press the WiFi network whose DNS you would like to change, and then select “Modify network”. Select Static under IP options and next enter the static IP, DNS1, and DNS2 IP address. Save changes and that’s it.

Alternatively, you can use a Wi-Fi third-party app like WiFi Settings. However, if you are on Android 5.0+, then your “save changes” button may not work. Android has restricted third-party apps from making changes to the network settings prior to Android 7.

8. Change Wireless Mode on Router

This is an exceptional case and happens only if you have an old Wi-Fi card or device. If you are getting Internet access on other devices, then chances are there is a communication barrier between your Android and router.

There are several Wireless modes on a router. For instance, you might have seen something like 802.11 b or 802.11 b/g or 802.11 b/g/n, etc. These b, g, n, and ac are different Wireless standards. B is the oldest WiFi standard which covers less area and gives less speed while ac is the latest with wider coverage and better network speed. Consider them like USB 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 standard; where the latest is fastest and backward compatible. Now usually the Wireless mode is set to 802.11 b/g/n/ and it works fine for most people. But sometimes the old devices (especially old smartphones) are not compatible with this mode and thus show network issues.

One way to fix that is — from your computer, log in to your router dashboard and look for the option that says – Wireless Mode. Usually, it’s under the Wireless settings where you set WiFi SSID and password. Next, to the Wireless mode, you’ll see a drop-down menu, click on that and select 802.11 b and save changes. Now restart the WiFi on the devices which had the WiFi issues and see if this fixes the problem. If this doesn’t work, then try 802.11 g. If you still find no luck then see the next solution.

9. Reboot or Reset WiFi Router

Once you are sure the Android device is not blocked on the router level and there is no issue with the wireless mode, try rebooting the router. It doesn’t matter if you trigger the reboot via the admin page or the physical buttons. So, pick your choice and reboot the router, it doesn’t take more than 30 seconds to complete the process.

If rebooting did not work, the next step is to reset the router. Again, depending on the router’s manufacturer, the reset option might be located either on the Maintenance page or the Advanced options page. Alternatively, you can also do a hard reset by pressing the hardware reset button located on the back of the router.

Do keep in mind that resetting the router will remove all the settings and ISP IP address configurations. So, note down the credentials and backup the necessary information beforehand so that you can configure the router once you are done with the reset.

10. Reset Android Network Settings.

If all the above tips didn’t solve the internet connectivity issue, then it is time to reset Android network settings. Open the Settings app and go to “Reset options”.

Now, tap on the “Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth“ option.

On the next page, tap on the “Reset Settings” button at the bottom.

After resetting, try to connect to the WiFi network and see if it fixes the issues.

11. Factory Reset

Eventually, if nothing else works then you should bring the hammer down and factory reset your Android device. To do a factory reset, open the Settings app, navigate to “Reset options”. Finally, tap on “Factory data reset”.

On the confirmation page, tap on the “Reset Phone” button to factory reset the Android device. The resetting process may take some time to complete. So, make sure that your device is fully charged or at least has over 70% battery before doing the factory reset.

That’s all the troubleshooting steps we can come up with. If you found some other workaround, do let us know in the comments below.

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