Internet is very important in our daily life and work, but occasionally we will encounter a situation that our computer suddenly cannot access the Internet, which subsequently causes many arrangements to be made.
If a Windows 10 computer displays the message "No securely protected Internet connection" and cannot connect to the Internet when using Wi-Fi or wired LAN, how can we start to fix it? Here are some items that can be checked.
Wireless connection check
If you are using a wireless connection, then you can try to perform some simple steps first to see if you can fix the problem. Otherwise you can skip this part.
1. Try to turn Wi-Fi on and off
The first thing you need to do is try to turn the Wi-Fi feature on and off.
Click Network Settings at the bottom right of the screen to open the Wi-Fi settings menu. Click on the "Wi-Fi" tile to turn it on and off.
If it is off, try to turn it on; if it is on, try to turn it off and then on again.
2. Check if Airplane mode is enabled
Airplane mode turns off all communication features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. you may inadvertently press a shortcut key and turn on Airplane mode, making the network unusable.
As with the Wi-Fi switch, click on Network Settings in the bottom right corner of the screen and you will see the option for Airplane Mode. Please make sure it is off.
3. Check the wireless router status
Check the status of your wireless router. On the front of the router, there is a light that indicates the status of the router, which may help you determine the cause of the problem.
Unplug and plug in the AC adapter of each device to turn it back on.
Check the network adapter settings
If you change your computer location between work and home, you may find that you can't connect to Wi-Fi or the Internet at home if your IP address is fixed to your company's settings.
1. Right-click on the Windows logo at the bottom left of the screen and select "Network Connections".
2. In the "Status" tab of the "Network & Internet" window, scroll down to select "Change adapter options".
3. When the "Network Connections" window opens, right-click the connection you are using (Ethernet, for example), and choose "Properties".
4. In the pop-up window, double-click "Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" in the "This connection uses the following items" section.
5. Check the "Obtain IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" options and press OK.
Note that if you are using your computer in a corporate environment, there may be a specific IP address or DNS that you can ask the appropriate person.
Shut down and restart your computer
Windows 10 is designed to recover from a normal shutdown quickly while maintaining the state of your USB devices and operations. Therefore, completely shutting down your computer and then starting it up again may improve performance.
To completely shut down your computer, go to the Start menu at the bottom left of your screen, hit Power button, hold down the shift key and select Shutdown. After shutting down your computer, turn it on as usual and check if your network connection has improved.
Reset network settings
Windows 10 includes a "Reset Network" feature that removes all network adapters and initializes various settings.
After resetting, you may need to reinstall or reconfigure network-related software, so if the previous methods do not improve your symptoms, you can try them. After resetting the network settings, you will need to restart your computer.
You will also need to re-enter your security key when connecting to Wi-Fi, so please be prepared.
1. Right click on the Windows logo at the bottom left of the screen and select "Network Connections".
2. In the "Status" tab of "Network & Internet" settings, scroll down to select "Network reset" at the bottom of the menu.
3. From the Reset Network menu, select "Reset Now".
4. You will be asked to confirm that you want to reset your network, select "Yes".
After resetting, you will be prompted to exit. Save any files you are working on.
After shutting down, the system will automatically reboot. After rebooting, you will need to reconfigure your settings, such as Wi-Fi destinations and security keys.
Reinstall the network adapter driver
You can try the following steps to check and reinstall the drivers for your network adapter.
Please be careful when reinstalling the driver as it may not work properly.
1. Right-click the Windows logo at the bottom left of the screen and select "Device Manager".
2. In Device Manager, find "Network adapters" and expand its menu.
If you see "Wi-Fi", "Wireless", etc., this is the network adapter used for Wi-Fi connection. A network adapter that says "Gigabit" or "Ethernet" is for a wired connection.
If a network adapter with "! " or "? " icon, the driver is not correctly recognized. In some cases, even if the driver is correctly recognized, older versions of the driver may cause problems with the Internet connection. In this case, uninstalling the driver may help.
Most network adapters work with the standard Windows 10 drivers, but there are some products that require special drivers. Please note that you may need to prepare the driver CD that comes with the network adapter, laptop, motherboard, etc., or download the latest version of the driver from the manufacturer's website on another computer beforehand.
3. Move the cursor over the network adapter and right-click on it. From the menu that appears, select "Uninstall device".
4. Select "Uninstall" when the confirmation screen appears.
Once the uninstallation is complete, restart your computer and the driver will be updated automatically. Please check if the network adapter is correctly recognized in the Device Manager and try to connect to the Internet. If the driver is not updated automatically, please install the latest version of the driver from the driver CD or download it beforehand.
Besides these cases, sometimes the settings of security software may also restrict your Internet connection. So you can try to close the security software temporarily and see if you can connect to the Internet. If the problem persists, please check the blocking settings and firewall settings of your security software.