Wi-Fi Troubleshooting: What to Do When Your Internet Isn’t Working

If you’re dealing with constant outages and slowdowns, you may be best off switching to a more reliable internet provider. Before committing to a full troubleshoot, you might want to search your zip code below to see what internet providers are available in your area.

You can get ALL the recommendations on fixing your internet below. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can do:

To troubleshoot site and network issues:

• Test a different website or app
• Clear your browser’s cache
• Diagnose internet issues
• Disable your firewall, antivirus, and VPN
• Clear DNS cache

To troubleshoot device, router, and equipment issues:

• Restart your device
• Restart your internet router
• Upgrade your router’s firmware
• Test your Wi-Fi on different devices
• Check who’s using your Wi-Fi
• Switch Wi-Fi bands
• Try an Ethernet cable
• Reset router to factory settings
• Move your router and equipment
• Try a mesh router or Wi-Fi extender

To troubleshoot service provider issues:

• Run a speed test
• Check for internet outages
• Call your provider

Site, network, and provider issues can all cause similar problems like 404 errors when trying to access sites, getting disconnected messages, and being told the server can’t be reached, so I’ll address the troubleshooting for them together.

If you’re happily browsing and suddenly get disconnected, the culprit could very well be the website you’re on. Try to navigate to another site, or use your search bar. If that works, there’s probably an issue with the specific website. If you want to check if the site is down, you can use Downdetector to check for real-time site outages.

The process for clearing your browser’s cache is simple and can often be an easy fix whether you use Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari or another browser.

1. Go to your browser’s Settings menu
2. Open your Privacy and Search settings to find where you can clear your cache. This may vary according your browser.
3. Click on clear browsing data, and check the boxes to clear browsing history, cookies, and cached images and files.

This should help clear out any issues that might stem from a website your browser has cached.

On Mac, you can follow these steps:

1. Quit all open maps
2. Try to join the Wi-Fi network you’re having problems with if you aren’t already connected
3. Press and hold the Option key and click the Wi-Fi status icon
4. In the menu bar, click Open Wireless Diagnostics
5. Follow onscreen instructions to analyze network connection
6. After analysis completes, you can click the Info button on the Summary pane to learn more about the issues

If you’re lucky, this will resolve the problem, but in my experience, this rarely ever works, so you’ll need to try something else.

Sometimes, overzealous built-in protections can block sites you’re trying to access. This isn’t uncommon if your firewall or antivirus software enables “Strict” filtering. To solve this you can follow these steps:

1. Go into your Windows Settings
2. Click on Privacy & security
3. Go to Windows Security
4. Click on Open Windows Security button
5. Navigate to the Firewall & Network Protection menu. There, you can find options to reset firewall settings or allow a specific app through the firewall.

Windows Defender Firewall settings can also be accessed with these steps: 

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click System and Security
3. Click on Windows Defender Firewall. Here, you’ll see if you have the firewall enabled and find options to turn the Windows Defender Firewall on and off.

If you have a separate antivirus program aside from Windows Defender, go ahead and disable that too before trying to connect again.

On Mac, the steps are slightly different.

1. Open the Apple Menu
2. Click on System Settings
3. Click Network in the sidebar
4. Click on Firewall on the right, you may need to scroll down to find it
5. You should now see various options to Add or Remove apps from incoming connections, go ahead and add the app you’re using to access the internet 

If you’re running a VPN for work or personal use, turn it off. A VPN routes your connection through another server, adding a layer of privacy but also a point of failure where things can go awry. More than once, I’ve found my VPN being too aggressive about blocking ads and buying links—to the point it wouldn’t let me access Amazon.

At this point, you should clear your Domain Name System (DNS) cache. Put simply, this is the server that matches your device with an IP address when you try to visit a site. These get cached over time, which might cause problems with your internet performance.

Clearing the DNS cache is simple. On Windows, go to the Start menu, and run Command Prompt as an administrator.

In the command prompt menu, type in ipconfig /flushdns

If successful, it’ll say something like, “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.”

At this point, you can try to use the internet and visit the website you were trying to reach before. Ideally, this solves the problem, but if not, it’s time to start looking at your equipment.

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If you’ve tried everything on the website and server end, it’s time to start looking at your own hardware. Here are the steps we recommend following.

Restarting your router and cable modem might seem obvious, but it’s an often effective troubleshooting step. If you configured your router with a network portal or a smartphone app, you may have an option to remotely reboot your router. That’s a feature my mesh router offers. Otherwise, you can do it physically by unplugging the cable from both the modem or router, or finding the switch on the back of the router or modem and flicking it off. Sometimes, the solution to an internet problem can be as simple as a loose Ethernet cable.

Leave your router and modem off for about a minute or two to give things time to reset, before powering it on again. If you’re a Verizon FiOS user, a physical reset requires an extra step, since you need to go to your OPT box, unplug it from the wall, and remove any battery backup. Some newer OPT boxes come with a reset button, but I’m not lucky enough to have that.

If nothing you’ve tried so far is working, it’s time to test your Wi-Fi connection on other devices. If you’re on your PC, grab a laptop, phone, or tablet and try it out. Make sure the device you test is on the same network and Wi-Fi band. If your connection doesn’t work on a different device, the problem is with your network.

One thing to note if you use a smartphone as your alternative device: They’ll often automatically use cellular data as a backup option if your Wi-Fi isn’t working, so make sure you have mobile data disabled in your phone settings while testing.

This might be less obvious, but it’s possible for old devices and guests to clog up your network. This is more likely if you run an unsecured network (meaning there is no password protection, and anyone can connect to your service).

This is a problem I’ve often found when visiting my parents. You’re giving the whole neighborhood internet access, which can not only slow down your connection, but also opens you to liability. Your router account or router’s smartphone app should have a place where it lists every device that’s connected to your network. Go through, kick every device you don’t recognize, and secure your account if you don’t have a password.

Most routers these days are dual-band, meaning they have a 2.4GHz band and a 5GHz band. Put simply, the 2.4GHz band has a better range but slower speed, while the 5GHz band has a shorter range but is capable of faster speeds and higher bandwidth tasks. If you’re experiencing slow internet speeds and disconnections, separating out Wi-Fi devices on different bands may be a wise move.

Put low-demand devices like smart home devices, phones, and e-readers on the 2.4GHz band, and leave your 5GHz band for high-demand devices like your gaming PC, gaming console, and streaming sticks. Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 routers additionally come with 2.4GHz and two separate 5GHz bands, allowing for more segregation of devices and use cases. Avi Greengart, a tech analyst from Techsponential, recommends getting a Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 router, which comes with 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands, and letting it manage that process for you automatically so you don’t have the manually separate bands.

“Some devices eat up your bandwidth with absolutely enormous file downloads,” says Greengart. “I’m looking at you, game consoles! And are best wired up to an Ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi.”

You should make sure you get an Ethernet cable that matches your router and ISP’s maximum bandwidth. Get a Cat 5 cable for 100Mbps, a Cat 6 cable for 1Gbps, a Cat 7 cable for 10Gbps, and a Cat 7a cable for 40Gbps. Ethernet is capable of more reliable throughput than Wi-Fi, , especially when doing intensive streaming, online gaming, and downloads.

If you’ve tried everything else, your last resort is completely resetting the router and reconnecting all your devices. It’s a pain, but if there’s an issue with your router, this should help resolve it by giving you a clean slate.

Many people make the mistake of  sticking their router in the basement buried behind thick concrete walls, then acting surprised when the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t reach the second or third floor. This is a problem I’ve encountered while visiting my wife’s parents, and one of the easiest solutions for it is moving the router. Put it somewhere in the center of the house or the area where you’re using the most high-bandwidth devices. For most people, this is the living room or one of the bedrooms.

If you have a big home or an older home, it’s time to consider investing in a Wi-Fi extender or mesh router setup. Both operate on a similar principle, giving you better Wi-Fi range throughout your home.

“For an apartment or small single-floor home built in the U.S. within the last 30 years, a single modern router should be sufficient, as all it has to do is push the signal a short distance through cardboard (drywall) and saran wrap (Tyvek),” said Greengart. “For multi-floor suburban McMansions or homes in the Northeast built before WWII, you need a mesh system. My first house was built in 1929 and even some interior walls were made of plaster over wire mesh over mortar over wood over brick. It was basically a Faraday cage inside a bomb shelter, and Wi-Fi did not like it one bit.”

This is how I resolved Wi-Fi problems in my prewar apartment (built in 1920). I put the main router in the living room and a second router in the bedroom. I haven’t had a problem with Wi-Fi range or connectivity since, and it was such a success I was able to convince my wife’s parents to let me set up one for them as well.

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If you’ve tried everything and your internet problems still persist, it’s time to look at your service provider.

Start by running a speed test and matching up the results with what your ISP promises. If the speed test is a lot slower than what you’re paying for (barring congestion issues), then it’s likely a problem on your provider’s end, in which case it may be time to give them a call.

It isn’t just websites that can have an outage, your ISP could be having one too. It could be a general outage in your area, which you can usually identify by checking your providers’ site and social media accounts or monitoring Downdetector. I once had an outage caused by squirrels chewing through the fiber optic cables outside my apartment. The only solution for this is a physical repair or replacement.

If it’s an issue of a cable being down, then the responsibility is with your provider, and you should give them a call to notify them of the problem. They’ll likely make you run through the same troubleshooting steps again, unless you tell them that you can visually see a damaged cable or modem. Keep your patience and run through the steps with them until they agree to send a technician out to scope out your issue.

Fair warning—your ISP may also try to upsell you on upgrading to a faster broadband service tier or push for gigabit internet. In most cases, you should resist the upsell unless your use case truly warrants it.

“Most broadband service is already fast enough for most things consumers do on the Internet, including watching 4K streaming TV—at least for one person and device at a time,” says Greengart. “If everything is fine until you are streaming multiple shows around the house, or you need to get on a video conference while another PC is backing up your files to the cloud, absolutely look into faster tiers of service.”

If your internet causes you endless troubleshooting headaches, then it may be time to switch to a more reliable ISP. Take a look at our list below of the best internet service providers—and scope out our Best Internet Providers guide for info on plans and pricing.

Search with your zip code below to find the best internet for you in your area.

Most internet problems come down to three things: Site and network issues, equipment issues, and provider issues. According to Greengart, if you’re seeing slowdowns, dropouts, or having general connection trouble, the first thing to do is check and make sure that your router and cables are all current, updated with the latest firmware, and connected properly. Often a simple restart of your device, router, and modem is enough to resolve any problems.

To write this article, I researched a combination of first-party and third-party sources, and followed each of the troubleshooting steps myself on my PC and other devices. As an avid gamer who built my own gaming PC, high-speed internet is one of my top priorities. I’ve spared no expense on having the best setup by using Verizon FiOS as my provider and an Asus ZenWiFi AC3000 mesh router setup to ensure Wi-Fi reaches every corner of my apartment.

For this article, I also spoke with Avi Greengart, the founder and consumer tech analyst at Techsponential. Greengart has broad expertise in all things tech, including computing, home networking, home media devices, consumer IoT, and more.

I also leveraged my expertise as a tech journalist and editor with over a decade of experience in the industry, and I’ve been building my own gaming PCs since I was a teen. I was section editor for the mobile team at Digital Trends, where I reviewed flagship phones, tablets, wearables, and more. I also built Lifewire’s review section from the ground up, working with writers to test thousands of products, including routers, adapters, TVs, phones, laptops, and more. Previously, I was a Mobile Analyst at PCMag, where I tested hundreds of phones, tablets, hotspots, and travel routers. I’m deeply familiar with networking technology and the challenges of staying connected to Wi-Fi in older buildings and bigger homes.