Internet won't connect - no valid IP configuration error

caviardreams

Hi guys
I use a wifi hotspot with my mobile broadband and when I switched on my laptop today the connection was showing as normal, but displaying "no internet". My phone was able to connect to the wifi fine, so it is not an issue with the wifi.

Restarted the hotspot, restarted the laptop etc.

When I ran the troubleshooter I got the error below:
"Wifi doesn't have a valid IP configuration"

I also tried using the SIM card in a USB dongle I had, which I am guessing should work even if the wifi adapter is broken, and I got the same issue - error below:
"ethernet 2 doesn't have a valid IP configuration"

I ran a system restore (this is about teh height of my technical expertise / troubleshooting this kind of stuff ) which seemed to have fixed it at least temporarily, but it went again there just now. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might have caused it, or what I could do?

Thanks a million!

campo

Your internet is down by the sounds of it, I often get this with eir where the WiFi light is green but internet light is red and I get very same message as above

caviardreams

campo wrote: »

Your internet is down by the sounds of it, I often get this with eir where the WiFi light is green but internet light is red and I get very same message as above

Thanks Campo - but it is working fine on my phone as wifi so I don't think that's causing it. It just won't work from the laptop

Edgarfrndly

Open your command prompt and type ipconfig /all

What is the ip address and gateway listed for your wireless connection?


Also, I'm assuming you're on Windows - What version?

caviardreams

Thanks Edgar

It doesn't list an IP address - just "physical address" and IPv4 address which is 198.168.8.100

The gateway is 198.168.8.1

Not sure what that means!

Yes, I am on windows, sorry - Windows 10.1.

Thanks a million

Edgarfrndly

Yes, your IPv4 address is your IP address. It looks like a valid ip address according to your configuration. Unless it's conflicting with some other device on your network that has been statically assigned the *.100 address.

Try type the following

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

And then ipconfig /all again and tell me what it says for the ip address. If your phone is working fine on the wifi (and isn't using data to access the net), then it just seems like a configuration issue.

Failing that - go to Network & Internet and your settings, click on change adapter settings for your wifi and make sure it's set to obtain ip address automatically.

caviardreams

Thanks Edgar - I just tried the release and renew and got the same IP address but the little yellow exclamation mark beside the wifi connection is now gone and it seems to be working, so fingers crossed! I am not sure what caused it go go funny in the first place though, and I googled it and it seems to have happened a good few people.

Thanks so much for all your help! Great to have my internet back Edgar, you are so helpful!

Edgarfrndly

Glad it worked. Enjoy pictures of cats and memes!

r3nu4l

Came across this thread while trying to fix the same issue on my dad's Windows 10.1 machine.

IPconfig /release and renew both claimed to have failed but the problem resolved during the process anyway Thanks!

Ambermonaf

I found it helpful.