1. Is It Just You, or Everyone?
- Try another device on the same Wi-Fi, like a phone or a tablet. If nothing in the house can get online, the problem is the router or the line, not your computer.
- Check for an outage in your provider's app or on their support line (MEO, NOS, Vodafone, DIGI, or whoever you pay). If there's a fault in your area, restarting things at home won't help; you just have to wait.
2. Restart in the Right Order
- Turn the router off at the power button or the plug, and leave it off for 30 seconds.
- Turn it back on and wait until the lights settle, usually a few minutes. Don't touch anything while it's still blinking through its startup.
- Then restart your device, once the router is fully back up. Doing it in this order means your device reconnects to a fresh router.
3. On the Device Itself
- Check that Wi-Fi is switched on and airplane mode is off. Both are easy to toggle by accident.
- Make sure you're on your own network, not a neighbour's or a guest network with a similar name.
- Forget the network and join again, typing the password in fresh. The password is often printed on a sticker on the router itself.
- Check the password carefully: capital letters, zeros and the letter O, and the number 1 and the letter l are the usual mix-ups.
4. Weak or Dropping Signal
- Move closer to the router and see if it improves. Thick walls, floors, and metal all weaken the signal.
- Keep the router out in the open, up high and near the middle of the house, not inside a cupboard or behind the TV.
- Watch out for the microwave. If the Wi-Fi drops every time it's running, that's the cause, and it comes back once it stops.
- Know your two networks. Many routers show two names, one ending in 2.4G and one in 5G. The 2.4 GHz one reaches further and through walls; the 5 GHz one is faster but only up close. If one is bad in a far room, try the other.
5. Quick Fixes on Windows
- Run the network troubleshooter. Search for Troubleshoot in the Start menu and run the one for network and internet. It fixes the simple things on its own.
- Try a network reset as a last step: Settings, Network & internet, Advanced network settings, Network reset. It removes every saved Wi-Fi network and password, so have your Wi-Fi password to hand before you do it. The computer restarts afterwards.
6. Who to Call
- Call your provider if no device in the house can get online after a router restart, if the router's lights show an error, or if there's an outage in your area.
- Call me if everything else connects fine and only one computer won't, or if the Wi-Fi is weak in part of the house and you'd like it sorted properly.
Not sure where to start? Try the step-by-step troubleshooter, or get in touch.