My laptop (Windows 10) always reports an Ethernet connection as having "No Internet Access", despite there actually being internet access (can browse web, etc). WiFi isn't affected.
From this TechNet page it appears that Windows Vista and up check for a functioning internet connection by:
- making a request for http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt and checking the response is "Microsoft NCSI"; and
- requesting name resolution of
dns.msftncsi.comand checking it resolves to 131.107.255.255
As you can see, both these tests pass on my laptop, yet Windows still thinks there is no internet:
This is an annoyance, as it causes Windows to prefer WiFi over Ethernet if both are connected (regardless of metric settings). I know I can turn off NCSI in the registry, but it can be useful (e.g. connecting to WiFi hotspot with login page).
So what else is Windows checking to decide there is no internet connectivity?
