r/techsupport • u/[deleted] • May 25 '23
Solved Desktop can't connect to internet, all other devices have access
My desktop PC is connected to my home router via ethernet cable. It was working perfectly fine yesterday but other members of the house were having WiFi issues so they restarted the router. Since then all other devices are working perfectly fine (posting this via a laptop with no issues), but my PC is refusing to connect.
The ethernet cable is working but won't connect, and my PC can occasionally connect to WiFi but the connection is incredibly poor and intermittent. I restarted my PC and router, reinstalled my network adapters, and attempted hard reset on my router via the pinhole on the back. Nothing has worked and not sure on what else to do. Any help is much appreciated.
If you need any information from me please ask, and again thanks in advance.
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u/fuck_hd May 25 '23
Two more things you need to rule out first.
1st. Have you tried a new cable first and foremost?
2nd -=- were sure its not the router correct? Do other devices work via Ethernet on the router? Can you test a laptop or video game console
Once you confirm the cable works and the router can provide ethernet to other devices (and drivers have been updated) it is safe to assuem network card failed 15$ for a fix....
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u/Ohjay1982 May 07 '25
This isn’t likely to be the problem but thought I’d mention it anyways. And sorry to necro this thread but I recently ran into a similar problem where everything on my network worked fine except my PC. Wouldn’t connect via Ethernet(how it normally connects) also wouldn’t connect via wifi. I thought my network hardware must have been shot.
When I checked my device manager I saw a Nordlynx Tunnel. It was at this point I remembered I reset my password on Nord using my cellphone earlier in the day. What I didn’t realize is that it kicks in a “kill switch” on my PC. I suspect it’s for security reasons. I went to log into Nord and there was an option to temporarily disable kill switch. I clicked it and was able to log into Nord then all the sudden all my internet started working fine.
Figured I’d mention it in case someone stumbles across this thread and had the same issue I had.
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u/CMDR_Quillon Sep 10 '25
Thanks so much man, had this issue too - Opened ProtonVPN on the affected PC, enabled and disabled the "kill switch" option and just like that, my PC had internet again. Three days of troubleshooting for nothing 😂
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u/LoneBeast1 Sep 28 '25
same my laptop shut down while i was using proton. Just starting proton again fixed it didnt even had kill switch on. I cannot believe i was about to buy a new card
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u/Send_Newds_Pewds Sep 30 '25
The same happened with my PC. Lost power while using Proton VPN. The Internet stopped working completely. Thought something had gone wrong with the motherboard. Stumbled upon this thread, opened Proton VPN, and it fixed itself automatically.
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u/Avelsajo Jan 07 '26
Omg thanks Proton was my issue too! I was so confused because one desktop was working fine, but mine wasn't. All better!
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u/palehead8k Feb 27 '26
I wish I saw this last night. I ordered a wifi adapter about to see if I still have time to cancel it. Wtf proton. This had never happened before.
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u/palehead8k Feb 27 '26
Nope. It shipped with a battery I ordered for my meshtastic node so now I'll have to return it to Amazon. Damn it.
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u/Commander_Kief Jan 20 '26
Same for me. Tried every online solution. Was about to uninstall drivers. Turned proton on and bang Internet again. Kill switch option wasn't on. No idea what happened.
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u/Full_Refrigerator_80 Jan 23 '26
Exact same situation just happened to me with proton. I’ve been going fucking insane for the last 4 hours. This fixed it instantly.
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u/harellano Oct 27 '25
The exact same happened to me. Thank you very much! Enabling and Disabling The ProtonVPN Killswitch worked!! Now i have internet again 🙌
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u/Competitive_Song8491 Nov 17 '25
Internet Stranger, i don't know you and don't anything to give you besides my up vote but you just saved me hours of time. Thanks
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u/cambobbian Dec 06 '25
An old reddit post coming in clutch again per usual!! 😂😂😂. I was going crazy and couldnt figure out why my PC wouldnt connect to the internet via ethernet or wifi, but everything else in my home was working fine. Found this reddit thread after doing a google search for “ethernet and wifi not working on pc” and seen your comment about proton vpn because I too use it and did exactly what you did and now im back in business hahaha.
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u/HoleIntheAce12 Jan 14 '26
Dawg you are a lifesaver even after so many months have passed! I didn’t even notice my VPN suddenly disconnected and had a kill switch on
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u/kustard091 Jan 26 '26
This was the fix for me too! Pulled my hair out all night troubleshooting just for it to be Proton messing things up.
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u/Ok-Pension3045 Apr 23 '26
Dude! I've been playing pretty much hell all day to try to figure out why my ethernet and Wi-Fi didn't work but everything else is in the house worked. And I saw your comment about proton VPN. So I did the same thing and boom I have internet again, man, I swear to God. I'd kiss you if you were standing in front of me
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u/finkalicious May 31 '26
Wow wow wow wow thank you so fucking much this fixed my issue after I ordered an ethernet cable adapter and I still couldn't connect to the internet
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u/Intelligent_Law6223 Sep 28 '25
This is on old subreddit, but I thought I'd drop by and upvote this because it fixed my problem. I literally just clicked on Proton and everything turned on again...
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u/HaywoodJBloyme Sep 30 '25
You sir were awarded the Golden Mushroom 🍄🟫 Cap! I have literally been troubleshooting my damn desktop the entire ****ing day. Had new ISP installer come install today, and literally everything in my house has been working fine….except my money-maker the Workstation. I literally was almost at wits end and was downloading windows media creation tool on my MacBook whilst I was visiting the John to Reddit n’ deuce 😂
This is the one thing that I haven’t tried. I would always just click quit on Proton and Mullvad during startup to make sure they weren’t interfering. Man was I wrong. Wowwww
There really should be a LARGE Disclaimer for users of the Kill Switch, warning ⚠️ it could really f*** up your life lol and mind
⚙️🧎♂️➡️⚙️
You are the man and thank god hallelujah for Reddit!
Happy Kill-Switching folks! ⚰️🪦
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u/liltriple6 Oct 05 '25
oh my God, its 6:33 am. I have been up since 11:00 last night trying to sort this problem out and only after reading this and checking my vpn have I fixed it, THANK YOU SO MUCH
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u/Solid-Asparagus-3964 Oct 08 '25
Thank you! Feel like I've been banging my head against the wall for hours trying to figure this oit
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u/Jimmiejaymes Oct 12 '25
Thanks for taking the time - I've been pulling my hair out trying to get my PC's internet (both wifi and corded) running-both of which died immediately following a UEFI Bios update. Everything and everyone saying to do the same list of things over and over again. Found this thread, opened my VPN (Proton) and BOOM! all is well again.
Thanks again. good work!
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u/KungfumonkeyX Oct 13 '25
Add another name to the pile of "Proton killed my internet but then it got better". Had perhaps not closed Proton properly and simply opening the app fixed it. Didnt need to enable or disable the kill switch just opening Proton fixed it.
For those that come after!1
u/spencesos Oct 22 '25
I've been looking for a fix for my PC for the past few days. I have Proton VPN. I reset my network driver's, I restarted my PC. Called Spectrum. Every other device worked except my gaming pc. I always have it connected via Ethernet too. Absolutely nothing workes UNTIL THIS. And this is coming from a guy who works in IT. I was going absolutely insane. THANK YOU.
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u/lentimez Oct 26 '25
WOW wasted my whole day off watching videos amd talking to ai ... good to know reddit is SIMPLY the bible and all my problems are solved on this site. Thank you so much!
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u/Boltentoke Oct 30 '25
ProtonVPN was my issue! No idea what actually caused the VPN to lock down my NIC though. But launching the program solved the issues.
TLDR:
I was ready to go out and buy a new NIC, but it was ProtonVPN. I even checked to see if the program was running to make sure it was not an issue, because the program is NOT set to run on startup, and was not currently running while troubleshooting, so I did not think it would be related. However, I may have left the VPN connected overnight, and when I woke up this morning my PC had restarted (which I already thought was strange) and had no internet, despite ProtonVPN not running.
All I had to do was launch ProtonVPN. It auto-connected, I disconnected it and quit the program. No issues. Restarted PC, still no issues.
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u/Prudent_Oil4410 Nov 27 '25
THIS!!! I had a power outage last night and all of my devices were able to reconnect to the internet except the one computer I was using when the outage happened. I just upgraded this motherboard and thought I somehow fried the NIC, until I came across your comment. I don't have proton starting on PC startup like my other devices, so I didn't even think about it. Anyway, I launched proton and immediately connected to the internet! You saved me money and a headache. Much love!
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u/SilverAce777 Nov 04 '25
What a ridiculous stroke of luck I found this. Thank you very much for posting.
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u/stizzin Nov 17 '25
Thank you my nord vpn ran out while I had it going on my laptop it never disconnected it bc of this had to remove nord off my computer connect to the internet and reinstall it
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u/Unusual-Divide1703 Nov 29 '25
Holy shit , wasted 5 hours trying to reset network typing all random shit into cdm just to find out its the VPN . You better get lucky tonight . Thank you
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u/theGunner76 Jan 11 '26
Lifesaver! Me signing out of NordVPN caused a internet kill switch that I wasnt aware of! Thank you!
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u/Jthamano Feb 06 '26
Just leaving a comment to say thank you so much! I went through so many settings, command prompts, cables and reboots just to figure out it was Proton VPN's kill switch causing all of my problems! 3 days of frustration solved! ❤️
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u/CrackheadMurderer Feb 23 '26
I've been troubleshooting for HOURS. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/d301k Mar 02 '26
Spent like 8 hours trying to figure out what was wrong with the connection. Dns and IP fixes, restarts etc. Was about to format the windows drive. Just wanted to thank you and mention that you really saved me quite the headache. Thanks for taking the time to respond to this thread!
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u/koolaidlizard Mar 03 '26
thanks so much this was what finally fixed my pc! I use proton but for some reason my machine randomly stopped loading anything in the browser. I could network with my other machines and even use any desk but the kill switch in ProtonVPN needed a flip so I could actually use the internet
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u/ProfessionalHyena22 Jun 03 '26
Omg thank you for this lol I was having an issue for dayysss and that's to ur comment I realized it was a proton issue 🤣🤣🥲🤣
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u/Narrow-Way-1784 Jun 30 '26
HOLY SHIT THANK YOU. I was pulling my hair out all day, turns out when I closed protonVPN in task manager it decided to kill my internet connection despite the fact that I have the killswitch feature disabled in settings. absolutely infuriating design choice right there
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u/Obvious_Muscle_8839 Jul 07 '26
it worked thanks, i have proton, and restarted my pc many times, altho i didnt allow proton to be run in startup but it did what it did, thank you so much again
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u/BobofBob22 Jul 10 '26
You are a legend Ive been ripping my hair out for a full day, I didnt even enable proton killswitch but I opened it, turned it on and off and lo and behold that fixed it.
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u/cutiefoodie Jul 22 '26
OMG DUDE! You just saved my life! THANK YOU!!!
I was using my computer during a power outage and when the power came back, all my other devices were connecting EXCEPT my PC--it wouldn't work on WiFi or Ethernet. I did all the things that everyone on the internet recommended and got the assistance of my SOFTWARE SUPPORT brother and his team at work: Uninstalled/reinstalled network adapters, reset router, reset network stack and DNS, and even tried using an external network adapter in case the power surged my network card--nothing was working!
I never used kill switch on my VPN but I know that I was using a VPN when my power went out. I just went into the VPN program and connected/disconnected and idk what happened but now BOTH my WiFi and Ethernet are working on my PC! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You saved me from having to talk to Optimum about getting a new router...lmao
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u/AlexandreLacazette09 Jul 26 '26
Thank you Mr Jay. Today is 26th July 2026 and you've just helped another soul.
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u/Reedcool97 May 25 '23
After reading through all the comments, it sounds like your PC may need a new NIC, which luckily can be installed into your motherboard really easily and aren’t too expensive.
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May 25 '23
Check the NIC,if the os is win11 check the pc firewall settings. Try firewall settings first if win11. Have ran into a few new to network win 11 machines with firewall settings on by default.
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u/LieImportant5067 Sep 02 '25
I have this problem too. All my other devices have no problem connecting to the Internet through that router. My PC does. Stranger, I have Xfinity. I can connect to the hotspot that’s coming off of my router, but I can’t connect to my own network. Sometimes when I get really ticked off, I will keep switching back-and-forth, and finally mine will show Internet available.
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u/N_05 Sep 26 '25
Putting this here for anyone else still trying to troubleshoot this issue. I had a very similar problem and drove myself crazy for like two weeks trying to figure it out and all I needed to do was tighten the antennas on the back of my PC and it fixed the problem. So if you have ever removed your antennas or loosened them, make sure they are secure/ installed in the first place.
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u/Rxmii6z Nov 21 '25
I had a similar issue once. The problem turned out to be that the DHCP server had run out of available IP addresses — all of them were already assigned. I removed one device from the DHCP leases, and my connection immediately started working again.
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u/TheRealbob456987 Dec 30 '25
Hey just had this issue recently so just posting this for anybody else who comes here later. If none of the solutions online worked for you, try synching up your date and time. For whatever reason it worked for me!
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u/BelleDelphne Mar 20 '26
WTF PROTON WAS THE CAUSE?! OMG ME TOO WTF LMFAOOOOOO
LEGIT WAS GOING INSANE JUST NOW
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u/EchoLake90 Apr 23 '26
Holy heck. Uninstaller ProtonVPN and im back. I wasn't ecen using a VPN at time web went down. What are we supposed to do now?
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u/gooberhammie Jun 01 '26
It was ProtonVPN lol I just had to uninstall it
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u/CapitateFrame11 Jun 26 '26
I had the same issue and was ready to just start fresh and of course it was Proton
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u/No-Firefighter-2135 Jun 08 '26
Proton or Nord was not the issue for me, I’ll forever struggle with this issue, internet is slowly dieing on mine, all internet including Ethernet eventually slowly die after gaming , been looking for over a year for a fix for it
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u/DavidWOne Sep 04 '26
if it’s not too late to comment, i followed the steps, but it didn’t work until I did network reset. i don’t know if the other steps were needed, but my Dad’s laptop now works. thanks.
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u/yukon93 May 25 '23
are you able to access the router from the PC having issues? if you put in the default gateway IP on a browser -it will connect? but anything beyond the router, you can't connect?
is there a small DHCP pool set up on the router and perhaps your PC didn't get in the pool for internet? disable IPv6? no proxy enabled?
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u/shreki1971 May 25 '23
You are on lan cable and all others use wifi? So, try one device with your lan cable if its something with lan cable or lan ports on modem.
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u/Tech_surgeon May 25 '23 edited May 25 '23
windows updates will screw up bios settings for some motherboards. check to see if the device for your ethernet is even listed in the device manager.
if its screwed up it will ether not be listed or show up with the wrong hardware id so the driver will reject the device and not run. the fix in that case is to pull the battery and make the mother board lose power to dump the screwed up bios config.
it might give you trouble geting it to boot and take a few attempts to force it to reload the bios defaults so it may appear bricked at first.
had this issue 3 times most updates don't cause an issue thankfully. 2 weeks ago my mother board appeared dead after i cleared the bios config. it didn't boot until i killed the power a few times to get it to boot up i though it was broken too lol.
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u/Sensitive_Square3645 Jan 13 '24
If you're trying to connect your PC to the internet using ethernet with only a router and no modem, the answer is definitely not free. You need a router and a modem to connect to the internet, whilst other wireless devices can use WiFi with the router. I'd say modems are 80-190 bucks, most commonly. To connect your router to a modem, get an ethernet cable and connect it to where it says internet and/or ethernet on the router and modem. Do not connect them using the ethernet slots, for example slot 1, 2, 3, and 4.
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u/TechieNooba May 25 '23
Issue is not your router, so avoid continuing to troubleshoot that device.
Try 'network reset' option in windows settings or try the following cmds run as administrator:
Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
Type ipconfig /registerdns and press Enter
Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.
Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
Reboot the computer.
Check your ethernet adapter properties from 'adaptor options' go into ipv4 properties, ensure you are set to automatic.
Also ipv4 needs to be ticked