"Cannot connect" is a complaint that covers several distinct problems. The first step is working out which one you have, because the remedies are not the same.
| Symptom | What it means |
|---|---|
| The network is not in the list | The device cannot hear the router |
| The password is rejected repeatedly | Failing at the authentication stage |
| Stuck on "obtaining IP address" | Failing to get an address |
| Connected, no internet | On the network, but no route out |
The sections below follow that order.
The network does not appear
1. Confirm the router is on and transmitting
Check the Wi-Fi indicator light on the router. Some routers have a physical button for switching Wi-Fi off that is easy to press by accident while cleaning.
Test from another device. If a second phone cannot see it either, the problem is at the router.
2. Check the device supports that band
Older devices and many smart devices only support 2.4 GHz. If your router uses a different name for each band, such a device will only ever see the 2.4 GHz one.
If the router uses one combined name, some older devices fail to join at all. To set up a device like that, switch 5 GHz off temporarily, complete the setup, then switch it back on.
3. Check the country setting on the router
Permitted Wi-Fi channels differ by country. If the router's region setting is wrong, it can transmit on a channel your device will never display. Make sure it is set to Indonesia.
4. Restart the device's Wi-Fi adapter
Turning aeroplane mode on and off again is usually enough. On a laptop, disabling and re-enabling Wi-Fi through Device Manager sometimes clears a stuck adapter.
The password is rejected
5. Forget the network and reconnect
This is the fix that works most often. Devices store passwords against the network name. If the password was ever changed, the device keeps trying the old one and fails without explaining why.
On Android: long-press the network name › Forget. On iOS: the (i) icon › Forget This Network. On Windows: Settings › Network › Manage known networks.
6. Check for lookalike characters
Wi-Fi passwords are case sensitive. Pairs that get confused often: the letter O and the digit 0, lowercase l and the digit 1, uppercase I and lowercase l.
If the password came off the router's sticker, note too that some fonts print the digit 1 almost identically to a lowercase l.
7. Check the device limit
Some routers cap the number of clients, particularly on the guest network. Once the cap is reached, new devices are refused with a misleading message such as "incorrect password".
Look at the connected device list in the admin pages. How to read it is explained in the guide to checking connected devices.
8. Check for MAC address filtering
If this feature was ever switched on, unlisted devices are always refused. Look for a "MAC Filtering" or "Access Control" menu and confirm its state is what you intend.
Stuck on "obtaining IP address"
9. Restart the router
Unplug it, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in. Wait for all the lights to settle, usually two to three minutes.
Those thirty seconds are not a myth, the capacitors inside need time to discharge fully so the memory actually clears.
10. Check whether DHCP has addresses left
If the DHCP range is exhausted, new devices get no address. Another sign is an address
beginning with 169.254, which means the device gave up waiting for a reply.
Widen the range in the router's admin pages. How it works is explained in the guide to local IPs and DHCP.
Connected, no internet
11. Check for a captive portal
In cafes, hotels, and public places, you need to open a login page before you can browse. Sometimes that page does not appear on its own.
Open a browser and type an address starting with http://, for example
http://example.com. An HTTPS page will not trigger the portal because the connection
is encrypted from the outset. How it works is explained in the
guide to captive portals.
12. Check the connection from router to provider
Look at the internet or WAN indicator on the modem. Red or blinking indicates the connection to the provider is down, your Wi-Fi is fine, but there is nothing outside to reach.
Open the status page in the router's admin pages to see whether a public IP address has been obtained. If it is blank or all zeroes, the connection to the provider has not been established.
If every device loses internet at the same moment and the modem lights show a fault, there is nothing to fix at your end. Note the time and contact the provider.
A few Windows-specific steps
Windows stores network configuration that sometimes breaks after an update. The three commands below return it to a clean state. Run Command Prompt as administrator:
netsh winsock resetnetsh int ip resetipconfig /flushdns
Restart the computer afterwards. This resolves most cases where one laptop misbehaves while every other device in the same house works normally.
The last resort
If the twelve steps above do not help, reset the router to factory settings by holding the reset button for 10 seconds.
Before doing so, make sure you have these:
- The PPPoE username and password from your provider
- The Wi-Fi network name and password you want to use
- Any custom settings you made, such as port forwarding
Without the first, the connection to the provider cannot be re-established and you will be waiting for a technician. That is why a reset sits last in the order, not first.
Frequently asked questions
What does "connected, no internet" mean?
It means the device joined the local network but has no route outwards. The most common causes: the connection from the router to the provider is down, the device did not receive an IP address, or there is a captive portal you have not completed.
The password is correct but keeps being rejected. Why?
Often because the device has stored an old password for the same network name. Use "forget network" and reconnect. It can also be that the router limits the number of devices, or that MAC address filtering is switched on.
The 5 GHz network does not appear in the list. Why?
Either the device genuinely does not support 5 GHz, or the router is using a channel not permitted in that device's region. Check the country setting on the router, devices only display channels that are lawful for their region.
Will resetting the router solve this?
Sometimes, but it is the last step. A reset erases every setting including the provider connection details, so it can make things worse if you have no record of them. Try a plain restart first.
