At times, you may face an issue with the network connectivity when trying to connect to the network, where the error says “Unidentified network“. While no sure shot solution is available for this, we have compiled an exhaustive list of troubleshooting steps which could help. Please go through the entire list first and then decide which of them may apply in your case.
Unidentified Network in Windows
To fix the issue of Unidentified Network in Windows 10/8/7, the following steps could be following in sequence:
Step 1: Turn off the Airplane mode
Windows 10 supports the Airplane mode. You have to ensure that it is turned off. This could be done as follows:
1] Press Windows key + A. This opens the ‘Action Center’.
2] Check if Airplane mode is ON. If yes, change it to OFF and check if the internet connects.
Step 2: Update the Network Card drivers
Sometimes the issue might be with the Network drivers. Update them and see if this helps.
1] Press Windows + X or right-click on the start button.
2] Click on Device Manager to open it.
3] Find ‘Network Adapters’ and click on the forward pointing arrow to expand the list. Right click on all the Network drivers and update them one by one.
Step 3: Disable the security software temporarily
Many at times, anti-virus or firewall software interferes with the network connectivity or causes other issues. It is understandable that the anti-virus software is crucial for the system, but to isolate the issue, it could be disabled to check if the network connectivity issues resolve in its absence. Right-click on its system tray icon and see if yu get an option to disable it. Once disabled, see if you can connect. If you use Widows Firewall, you may want to reset Windows Firewall settings to default and check. If you are using a VPN software, disable it and try.
Step 4: Switch off the Fast Startup feature
All of us have noticed that the later versions of Windows boot considerably faster than the previous versions. This is because of a feature called Fast Startup. Sometimes, this made causes issues. To disable the feature, use the following steps:
1] Search for ‘Power Options’ in the Windows search bar. Open the Power Options window and among the tabs on the left, click on choose what the power button does.
2] Click on ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable’.
3] Uncheck ‘Turn on fast startup’. Shut down the system and reboot after 30 seconds.
Step 5: Change your DNS servers
1] Press Windows + X or right-click on the start button.
2] Click on ‘Network Connections’.
3] Right-click on your network connection (Ethernet or Wifi) and click on properties. It might prompt for administrator credentials.
4] Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4.
5] Select ‘use the following DNS server addresses’ and set but the preferred and alternate DNS server address to 8.8.8.8.
Step 6: Run these commands
Open ‘command prompt’ by searching it in the Windows search bar. Try the following command one by one and restart the system. Basically these commands – renew the IP address, reset Winsock, Flush DNS cache, and reset TCP/IP.
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /renew
- netsh winsock reset
- netsh int ip reset
- ipconfig /flushdns
- ipconfig /registerdns
- netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
- netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
- netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
- netsh int tcp show global
Step 7: Diagnose the network
1] Press Windows + X or right-click on the start button.
2] Click on ‘Network Connections’.
3] Right-click on your network connection (Ethernet or Wifi) and click on ‘Diagnose‘. It will start an automatic troubleshooter.
Step 8: Change the Ethernet cable
At times, the fault might be with the Ethernet cable. You could try to changing it to isolate the issue. Or else, try connecting to a Wifi network (if available) and check if it works.
Step 9: Set a static IP address
1] Press Windows + X or right-click on the start button.
2] Click on ‘Network Connections’.
3] Right-click on your network connection (Ethernet or Wifi) and click on properties. It might prompt for administrator credentials.
4] Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4.
5] Select the radio button at ‘Use the following IP address;.
6] Check the IP address settings for others using the same network as yours and change your settings to the same.
7] Click OK to save the settings and exit.
Step 10: Use an external Network Adapter
To isolate if the issue is with the network adapter, try an external adapter and check if it resolves the problem.
Step 11: Restart your modem and router
1] Switch off both your modem and router keeping them physically connected.
2] Start the modem. Wait for 30 seconds after all the lights turn green.
3] Start the router.
This is called power-cycling.
Step 12: Upgrade the router firmware
If all devices connected to the router are facing network issues, you might need to contact the router’s tech support to help with upgrading the firmware of the device.
Step 13: Disable Virtual Network Adapters
Once again open the Devices Manager and expand the Network Adapters section. In case Virtual Adapters are present, right click and disable them.
Step 14: Run the built-in troubleshooters
To open Internet Connections Troubleshooter:
msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsWeb
To open the Incoming Connections Troubleshooter
msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsInbound
To open the Network Adapter Troubleshooter:
msdt.exe -id NetworkDiagnosticsNetworkAdapter
This post offers mores suggestions to fix Network & Internet connection problems. Hope something helps you.
0 Comments