So you’re experiencing network connection issues in windows 11. Windows 11 is a newly released operating system from Microsoft so it’s natural that it’s going to take a bit of time to be perfect, heck it took windows 10 ages and even then it wasn’t perfect.
But it is unlikely that your windows 11 is the main culprit, the main culprit is usually the WiFi Driver of your windows.
Here’s What Can Cause Network Connection Problems In Windows
- Corrupt Wifi driver
- Airplane mode
- A running VPN
- Bandwidth control
- Metered connection
These are some of the things that can cause problems with the internet in your windows 11.
How To Fix The Problem
1. Make Sure Airplane Mode Is Turned Off
The first step is to make sure that airplane mode is turned off, many people can unknowingly turn on airplane mode on their laptop and then forget to turn it off, airplane mode restricts certain functions in your laptop , including the Wifi.
How To Turn Off Airplane Mode:
1. Type “Airplane Mode” into your windows search bar
2. Click on “turn airplane mode on or off”
3. Finally, check if airplane mode is enabled and disable it if it’s enabled.
2. Disconnect And Reconnect Your Internet
Sometimes all your laptop requires is a simple disconnect and reconnect and the internet starts working again, disconnecting and reconnecting essentially resets the Wifi signals that your laptop is receiving from the Router, which in turn fixes your internet connection.
Here’s How You Disconnect And Reconnect The Internet:
1. Click on the small Wifi Icon located on the bottom right of your windows.
2. Click on Disconnect then click on forget this network.
3. Enter the password again and your internet should start working again.
3. Try To Use An Ethernet Cable
An ethernet cable is the best solution to Wifi related problems with your windows, the cable directly connects your Wifi router with your laptop and/or desktop PC and as a result of that you get maximum internet speed.
However, I would recommend that you use the ethernet cable to only diagnose the problem because if you have a laptop then you’ll be compromising the portability factor of the laptop.
How To Connect An Ethernet Cable To Your Laptop or PC:
1. Locate the Ethernet cable port on the back of your laptop or PC.
2. Plug one end into your router and the other one into your laptop or PC.
4. Restart Your Wifi Router
Restarting your Wifi router occasionally is a must if you have a lot of devices using the internet and if it’s particularly been running since a while, that’s because your router often stores cache which sometimes disrupts the frequency of the waves emitted by your router.
Restarting the router resets everything and your router becomes as good as new.
5. Check If A VPN Is Running In The Background
Many laptops nowadays come preinstalled with a built in VPN such as nordvpn or Mcaffee. These VPNs are there to protect you from unwanted scams and fraudulent activities on the internet, , however, sometimes they can be a hindrance to your work and need to be disabled.
There Are 2 Ways To Disable The VPN:
- The first way is to simply go into the VPN application and turn it off from the settings.
- The second way is to manually disable the VPN service from the task manager.
Your VPN usually starts as soon as your windows boots up and is hard to notice most of the times so what I Recommend is that you disable the VPN On Startup and only enable it when you need it.
6. Check For Windows Updates
Since Windows 11 is fairly new, the majority of updates it receives is to fix common problems and bugs so make sure that your operating system is up to date, perhaps you missed an update that was supposed to fix the problems with internet connection.
How To Check For Windows Updates:
1. Type “Windows Updates” in your Windows 11 search bar
2. Click on “Check For Updates”
3. Download and install any recent updates
7. Run The Network Adaptor Troubleshooter
The network adaptor troubleshooter in Windows 11 exists to solve problems with the internet connectivity because sometimes hardware is not the problem and the root cause usually lies within windows itself which is why the troubleshooter exists.
This tool automatically identifies and applies the best possible fix to get rid of the problem.
How To Run The Network Adaptor Troubleshooter:
1. Right-Click on your desktop and click on “settings”
2. Select “system” on the right side then scroll down till you see “troubleshoot”.
3. Click on “troubleshoot” then click on “other troubleshooters”
4. Scroll down further and select “Network Adaptor”
The troubleshooter will run and you will need to follow the instructions to fix your problem.
8. Disable The Metered Connection Option
If you’re on a Wifi network then your metered connection option is automatically disabled, however sometimes this option can mistakenly be enabled , the option basically limits the data that is being used by your computer/laptop.
This can lead to very slow speeds or the internet not running at all.
How to Disable The Metered Connection Option In Windows 11:
1. Right-Click on your desktop and select “settings“
2. On the left pane, click on Network & Internet
3. Select the network that you’re connected to and click on it
4. Make sure that the metered connection option is turned off
9. Change Your Wifi Password
This won’t come as a surprise but sometimes your internet might just be slow because many people are using it so just to be on the safe side you should change your Wifi password and only share it with a handful of people.
There are different settings to change the Wifi passwords because every modem has a different interface. To change the password you’ll need to go through the user manual of your Wifi modem and you’ll need to follow those instructions.
10. Update The Wifi Driver
The Wifi Driver on your computer/laptop is the most important thing because it helps your machine catch the signals from the router and as a result, is responsible for the internet connectivity, if the driver malfunctions or stops working then your Wifi will also stop working.
How To Update The Wifi Driver on Windows 11:
1. Go into Device Manager
2. Under “Network Adaptors” , search for and right click on your network adaptor
3. After that click on “Update Driver”
4. Finally, click on “search for updates automatically” and let windows handle the rest
11. Use A Wifi Dongle
If nothing else works then there’s most likely a problem with your hardware, what you can do to fix the problem is that you can buy a USB Wifi Dongle, it acts exactly like the built-in wifi adaptor in your computer.
How Do I Troubleshoot A Network Error In Windows 11?
The best way to troubleshoot a network error in windows 11 would be to rely on the windows network troubleshooter , if that doesn’t work then you should contact Microsoft support or use the forums to get help.
How To Restart A Computer After Reinstalling Drivers?
Restarting your computer is very important in order to ensure that the new drivers of your network adaptor have taken effect.
There’s no special way to follow, all you have to do is simply restart the computer like you normally do, here’s how to do it:
1. Click on your windows icon
2. Click on restart
How to search for device manager?
Device manager handles most of the drivers on your machine and you can control what to do with the drivers through the software.
Here’s how you can access it:
1. Go into control panel
2. Search for “Device Manager”
3. Click on the first result that pops up
Conclusion
This is a complete guide on how to fix network connection issues in Windows 11, I’m pretty sure that if you follow the article properly these fixes will get rid of the problem for you, however, if they don’t then you need to use either a Wifi Dongle to fix the problem in the short term or contact microsoft support.
