Wi‑Fi says connected but nothing loads

“Windows shows Wi‑Fi connected with full bars, but browsers and Teams just spin.”

Taskbar Wi‑Fi flyout showing Connected, plus a browser tab stuck on “Waiting for…”.

Likely cause

The adapter associated with the AP, but DHCP handed a bad gateway, DNS, or a captive portal never finished. Windows still paints “Connected” while TCP to the public internet fails.

Confidence 82%Windows 11 · Wi‑Fi connected · no yellow bang on icon

1
Test beyond the browser
Open Windows Terminal and run: ping 1.1.1.1 then ping google.com. If the IP works but the name fails, this is DNS. If both fail, stay on gateway / IP.
2
Forget and rejoin the network
Settings → Network & internet → Wi‑Fi → Manage known networks → Forget this network. Reconnect and complete any hotel/captive portal page that appears.
3
Renew the lease
In Terminal: ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew, then ipconfig /flushdns. Confirm Default Gateway is not 0.0.0.0.
4
Override bad DNS if needed
Adapter properties → IPv4 → Use the following DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 (or your org’s). Retry the browser before changing anything else.

Diagnose my screenshot

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