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A little background - I have a Lenovo G50 which was running Windows 8.1 up until a few months back. Then came along the free upgrade to Windows 10. Microsoft updated the laptop OS to Windows 10, and all was fine in the first run.

But, as soon as I shut the laptop down, and powered it back up the next time, it just would not connect to the same Wi-Fi hotspot. This situation continues until today. Every time it's the same message - "Can't connect to this network".

The only way I got around this until now, was to manually reboot the Wi-Fi router, and as soon as the router would come back up, Windows 10 would instantly get connected. I have no idea how/why this worked, but while it did work fine up until sometime back, I can't keep doing this anymore. I share my apartment with a few other guys, and having to disrupt their Internet connectivity every single time I turn on my laptop - is not just a minor convenience anymore (not that they haven't voiced their concerns over this, anyway).

I looked at this No Internet connection after upgrade to Windows 10 question, and tried to check my "advanced adapter options", but it all seemed correct (attaching pictures below).

Getting Connected - step 1

The error message - step 2

Adapter settings - step 3

All other devices [MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPhones, iPads, Windows 8.1 (running on a Dell and an HP)] connected to the same Wi-Fi hotspot in this apartment, work just fine.

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  • What security is the router using? Have you updated your network adapter drivers? Can you connect to wireless using other devices? Are you using a static IP? We're going to need more info.
    – Bilfred
    Nov 22, 2015 at 7:21
  • I'm sorry about that! I've added info about other devices, if you could tell me where to look for the rest of the info you asked for - it'll be much faster. Nov 22, 2015 at 7:28
  • I have a similar issue. Pls see superuser.com/questions/1023244/…
    – kp91
    Jan 18, 2016 at 14:39
  • 4
    You can look at some of the logs for wifi by running: logman update wifisession -ets && netsh trace convert \windows\system32\logfiles\wmi\wifi.etl
    – Nick Banks
    Apr 20, 2016 at 20:37
  • I've also issue with wifi, Only one of AP is not connect on windows 10, How could you solved it? Jul 27, 2016 at 8:43

14 Answers 14

16

I had the below Windows 10 Wi-Fi issue: “Can't connect to this network” while every other wireless devices worked, this newly upgraded Windows 10 did not.

The below helped: In Device Manager, right click on DeviceProperties → *Advanced and I disabled 802.11n mode. It may slower on actual wireless N networks, but it resolved the problem for the time being.

Enter image description here

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  • I've same issue, Only one of wifi is not able to connect on w10, How can you solved it? Jul 27, 2016 at 8:46
  • 2
    This solved it for me. Why does this make connecting to certain wireless networks work? (specifically a PEAP authenticated WPA2 Network for me). I didn't have this problem Windows 7. Nov 17, 2016 at 23:41
  • 1
    This worked for me too +1 - but it’s a workaround
    – user115383
    Jan 25, 2019 at 8:20
  • What is an "N network"? May 29, 2020 at 15:06
  • I don't have this option and I switched to a mode only. And now it seems to work...
    – trallnag
    Aug 10, 2020 at 19:54
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Even after a reboot, I found "can't connect to this network" error.

To resolve: open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), locate the wireless network adapter, disable and then re-enable. Wireless connected back up immediately after doing so.

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  • Same here, tried every suggestion from every answer and this worked. Additionally tried connecting to a different network that didn't work so it was an adapter problem, not a network issue. Aug 8, 2017 at 21:05
  • @peter-mortensen I tried to disable and enable the wifi adaptor but that too did not fix the issue on my HP EliteBook 840 G2 with Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7265 WiFi card. Even tried netsh winsock reset command as well.
    – Prabhat
    Dec 17, 2021 at 17:41
7

Log into your router and change the network name. I have fixed this issue on multiple laptops by doing this. It seems to simple, and like this it should have no bearing on connectivity, but it does.

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  • 1
    This was the only thing that worked for me. I had two Windows 10 machines do this inexplicably on the same day. No windows update in history (though it was on a patch Tuesday). I tried restarting router & PC, disabling/enabling the WiFi device, re-installing drivers, forgetting network, etc. All other devices worked fine. The only thing that worked was changing the damned SSID. :/
    – Nick
    Oct 11, 2017 at 19:15
  • 1
    any idea why this works? It worked once for me, but not anymore. Other than the simple "forget network" command which only seems to forget the password, is there another way to delete all details of a network from Windows 10?
    – LShaver
    Jul 1, 2018 at 3:20
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    +1, I can't believe this worked! Same as Nick, I tried everything in the book. I even uninstalled the WiFi adapter, deleted registry entries, disabled or uninstalled all antivirus/firewall/VPN software, mucked around with all the obscure adapter settings. Nothing budged. My adapter always quickly switched to disabled when trying to connect, then re-enabled but failed to connect.
    – adabyron
    Dec 4, 2018 at 10:49
4

netsh winsock reset did the trick for me.

This command is a general reset for network settings.

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  • Requiring administrative privileges? May 29, 2020 at 15:07
  • 1
    Being in a hotel I didn't have access to a router to check the other options. Reboots didn't work, disabling and re-enabling devices didn't work. This command absolutely worked.
    – E. Brown
    Jun 29, 2021 at 3:19
1

I can see your Wi-Fi adapter is a Qualcomm Atheros AR956x card - the drivers for which are here. Download and install the latest drivers. To find if you have a static IP, when looking at "Wi-Fi Properties", as in your screenie above, click on "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", and then click on the "Properties" button for it. If you have a static IP, there'll be a selection of numbers in the format of "##.##.##.##" in the text boxes. If not, then you don't have a static IP and everything should be OK in that department.

Hopefully, the driver update should fix it as I have seen articles of people with the same adapter not being able to connect to wireless, but after updating are able to connect.

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  • Sorry it took a while for me to update this. I can confirm I don't have a static IP. And as for the drivers, I downloaded the latest one. There were 6 files downloaded in total - 3 were athwb and the other 3 were athwbx. Each of the 3 files were - Security Catalog, Setup Information and System File. Only the setup information file had an option to Install on right click. I did the install, but it didn't look like anything happened. The same issue continues today. Dec 4, 2015 at 11:09
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Have you done the upgrade or fresh install?

Try removing the network from your list of saved networks and add again.

If that fails, remove the driver for your network card and reinstall.

If that fails, try adding the network manually.

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I had the below issue.

Windows 10 Wi-Fi issue: “Can't connect to this network”

The below helped:

In Device Manager, right click on DeviceUpdate DriverBrowse My Computer for Driver SoftwareLet me pick from a list of devices → uncheck Show Compatible Hardware → select an appropriate driver.

Retry and it works (no reboot required).

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  • This one worked for me. I didn't uncheck Show Compatible, but selected Microsoft's driver for Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260. This is on a Lenovo P50. Mar 22, 2018 at 20:48
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I had the same problem with my work laptop (not the personal one). In our company we have to connect to Wi-Fi (+ VPN) using the Cisco AnyConnect client. For some reason, I was previously able to connect to new WiFi:s using the Windows 10 Wi-Fi menu but in this case I was getting the can't connect to this network error on that menu.

I solved the problem by using the Cisco AnyConnect client to add the new network to the Cisco AnyConnect client list manually and then connecting to it using the client again.

0

I suddenly started getting this error without having changed anything. I tried everything I could think of on my PC, including forgetting the network, updating the driver, rebooting, etc but nothing worked.

I rebooted the router. That worked.

0

With a similar issue, I disconnected all my peripherals (headset, mouse, keyboard, and monitor) and it magically worked..

This is after trying most of the solutions listed here.

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I tried uninstalling/installing, updating driver and none worked. The only successful solution was to choose Roll Back Driver from device properties.

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I have the same problem with the same network adapter. I don't know how to get any relevant information. Roll back and uninstalling driver didn't help.

The network configuration didn't change as well. The only thing that did change was I've upgraded .. wait for it... Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Bluetooth 4.0 driver to a newer version.

Unfortunately removing this driver didn't resolve my problem.

For me it helped to reset the router (just unplug and plug it again).

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  • I don't see any way out of it, yet. To this day, I have to unplug and replug the router to get the internet working. This is really getting annoying now. Dec 24, 2015 at 23:11
  • I think it might be an issue with router. I've plugged another router (old one I've found when tidying thigs up) and set it up exacly as first one (same network, ssid, security options and password) and it's working since then (two AP's with the same SSID, pass). Also it's in the same room as laptop is right now (previously it was a little further 3 out of 5 bars). Dec 26, 2015 at 0:07
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Similar to the "Rename the network" answer. I found logging into the router managements page and turning the Wi-Fi network off and on again worked for me.

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Just had this with my home WIFI connection. One that my laptop has always been connected to. All of a sudden, the WIFI disconnected and refused to connect with the Can't connect to this network message. Windows troubleshooter was useless.

What fixed it for me was to change the value for the property 802.11n Channel Width for band 2 from 20 MHz Only to Auto.

Go to devmgmt.msc > Network Adapters > locate your Wifi adapter > R-Click Properties > Advanced > 802.11n Channel Width for band 2 > On the drop down menu Auto.

Wifi Adapter Properties

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  • I do not have enough points to answer. For me it helped to change Wireless Mode to 802.11b from 802.11b/g/r. Mar 26, 2021 at 21:27

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