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Windows 10 can’t connect to this network [FIX]

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Most of us can’t imagine a working day on our PC without an internet and not only work but also entertainment with social media and games. Internet access has become crucial over the last 15 years or so. Nowadays you can’t do a thing on a computer if you don’t have an internet access. Therefore, it can be very annoying and frustrating if you can’t connect to wireless network.

There are many reports on the internet and forums about getting a “Windows 10 can’t connect to this network” message while trying to connect to wireless network. So we have created a relatively compact article with many possible solutions that could fix this issue.

Solutions to similar network errors:

Fixing “can’t connect to wireless network” message

 

1. Updating or uninstalling network adapter driver

If you have any problems connection to the wireless network, often the network adapter is the thing to blame. If the Wi-Fi adapter is not working properly, you won’t be able to connect to the internet. One of the simplest solutions is uninstalling network adapters driver or updating it. Follow steps below to manage this:

  1. First, you have to locate and open Device Manager. You can do this by clicking on the Start button and typing in Device Manager. You should see an icon with PC peripherals and lettering “Device Manager“. Click on it. Note: you can also access it by pressing Windows Key + X.
    device manager
  2. When Device Manager is open, look for Network adapters. Find your network adapter, right-click it and press “Update driver“.Update driver
  3. If updating driver didn’t help, choose Uninstall device. If you get asked to “Delete the driver software for this device,” do so and click Ok.
  4. Restart your computer. On the next PC launch, Windows 10 will automatically install the default wireless driver. Check if you can access any wireless network, if not see our next solution.

How to update driver manually

Outdated drivers often cause issues associated with disrupted internet connection. Easiest fix would be updating drivers automatically through Device Manager as shown above. However, if it still doesn’t work, you might want to download drivers directly from the manufacturer’s website. To do so, you will need a computer or a device that can connect to the internet. Now just download latest drivers and transfer them to your PC. Once the installation is complete, check your wireless connection.

2. Changing network adapters channel width

You can also get “Windows 10 can’t connect to this network” message if the network adapter is not set up properly. One of these settings can be channel width. To change it do following steps:

  1. First, you have to open Device Manager. To do so click on the Start button and type in Device Manager. Click on it. (See 1st solution)
  2. Now you will have to find your Network adapter which will is located under Network adapters. Once you have found it, double-click it or right-click and choose Properties.Device Manager network
  3. Next, you will see your routers setting screen. Click on Advanced tab and under Property, find “Wireless Mode“. It will most likely be set to “Auto“, but you can change it to 20 MHz only and see if you can access desired Wi-Fi network.Network adapter device manager

Another possibility is that you are using a wrong Band Preference. Or in other words, you’re trying to connect to a router that transmits signal in 5 GHz frequency when your adapter is set to 2.4 GHz or vice versa. If this is the case, of course, you won’t be able to connect to such kind of Wi-Fi network. So make sure you connect to the right network. Dual band routers usually feature two Wi-Fi networks – one that works with 2.4 GHz and another one that’s set to 5 GHz.

You can manually change the frequency of your Dual-Band adapter also in the Device Manager>Network adapters>Your router>Advanced tab.

3. Disabling IPv6 on router and PC

Another possible solution to “Windows 10 can’t connect to this network” error is disabling IPv6 network protocol. To manage this on Windows 10, follow steps below:

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center. You can find it in Control panel>Network and Internet. Under “View your active networks” find your network connection and click on it.Network and sharing center2. Now you should see a “Wi-Fi Status” window. Locate Properties button and click on it.
    Wifi status3. Look for Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP /IPv6). When you have found it, uncheck it.Wi-Fi properties4. Click OK and close everything. All that’s left to do is restart your PC and see if the issue is fixed. If it’s not and you still face the same “can’t connect to wireless network” message, you can also try to disable IPv6 on your router. However, this is complicated and differs from one router manufacturer to another so make sure you read manual before performing this.

4. Check if your Wi-Fi adapter and router are using the same security type

To keep you and your data safe, wireless connections feature security types. There are numbers of them, but the WPA2-PSK and WPA-PSK are the most popular. Just as you can’t connect to a 5 GHz network through an adapter that runs on 2.4 GHz, you can’t also use different security types on your PC and router. They have to have the same security type for your wireless network to work properly.

As routers are different, changing security type can also differ. Just check the manual for instructions. Changing security type on PC is much easier. Follow these steps to do so:

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center (See previous solutions) and then choose Manage wireless networks.
  2. Locate your wireless network, click on it and then click Wireless Properties.
  3. Go to Security tab and choose the same security type your router is using.Wireless Network Properties
  4. Click Ok and check if the issue is solved.

5. Adding connection manually

This solution is based on creating a new network connection. This might help as it will feature all default settings. Follow steps below:

  1. Once again you will have to open Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Now click Set up a new connection or network.
  3. The following window will appear. Click on Manually connect to a wireless network. Then click Next.Set up new network connection
  4. You will have to enter some information fields like new network name, security type, and security key. Once done, press Next to finish. If the issue is still there try changing security type as explained in 4th solution.

6. Changing wireless network mode

Wireless network mode can be changed for both – router and adapter. In order to get a proper internet connection, router and adapter have to work with the same or similar wireless network mode. Usually, you don’t have to change the wireless network mode on your router, but if you decide to, make sure you follow instructions on manual.

The easiest way of managing this is changing wireless network mode for your adapter through your PC. TO change this mode follow instructions:

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Click Change adapter settings and then find your wireless network adapter, right-click on it and choose Properties(see solution 3).
  3. In the Properties screen, click the Configure button.Wi-Fi configure
  4. Open Advanced tab and from the list select Wireless modeadvanced
  5. Now you’re left to change the value of wireless mode. Make sure you change it to the same value as your router has. For most of the consumers, 802.11b and 802.11g will work just great. However, if it doesn’t, try experimenting with other values or Wi-Fi standards.

7. Forget the wireless connection

Often the “Windows 10 can’t connect to this network” message can be easily fixed by just forgetting the Wi-Fi network. To manage this on Windows 10, do the following:

  1. First open Settings App and look for Network & Internet.
  2. Navigate to Wi-Fi section and choose Manage Wi-Fi settings.
  3. Now you will have to find Manage known networks by scrolling down the list. Find your network and click Forget.
  4. After that’s done, try to reconnect to your network.

8. Disabling and enabling Wi-Fi connection

Another very simple solution that might work is disabling your wireless connection and then enabling it. How to perform this, see below:

  1. Once again you will have to open Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Click Change adapter settings and then right-click on Wi-Fi and choose Disable. Once that’s done right-click Wi-Fi again and choose Enable.Disable Wi-Fi

9. Using ipconfig /release command

The “Windows 10 can’t connect to this network” error can be fixed through Command Prompt. To do so, you will have to enter few commands in correct order.

  1. Press Windows Key + X or in search type “cmd” to open Command Prompt.
  2. In the Command Prompt enter following commands in this order. After each command hit Enter.
  • ipconfig /release
  • ipconfig /renew

Close Command Prompt and check if the issue is solved.

10. Getting a new or changing Wi-Fi adapter

If you have tried many methods and it feels like it’s time to give up, try changing your Wi-Fi adapter or getting a new one. There can be a hardware failure that can not be fixed through Windows 10 settings, and if this is the case, the only solution will be getting a new adapter.

11. Fixing the issue with Command Prompt

You can use Command Prompt to execute few commands and right after that you might be able to access the internet once again.

  1. Open Command Prompt (as administrator). To access command prompt, click start and type cmd. Right click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. You can also access it by pressing Windows key + X. And then in the menu choose Command Prompt (Admin).CMD prompt

2. Next, you will have to type or copy paste the following command and then hit enter:
reg delete HKCR\CLSID\{988248f3-a1ad-49bf-9170-676cbbc36ba3} /va /f

Cmd wifi command

3. Once done, enter the following command:
netcfg -v -u dni_dne

4. Close Command Prompt and restart your computer, check if the problem is solved.

12. Uninstall antivirus software

Often Antivirus software can block certain applications or tasks. It may not let you install particular software or even block wireless network. There are reports about ESET Smart Security being associated with this issue. Your Ethernet card might not be detected, and therefore you have to uninstall ESET Smart Security. To do so, follow steps below:

  1. First, you will have to Open settings and click SystemSystem settings
  2. Now go to Apps & features section
  3. Find ESET Smart Security software and uninstall it. Once done, restart your PC.

If you don’t have ESET Smart Security software, you could try to uninstall Your Antivirus. There are reports about such AV software like BitDefender or Comodo firewall being a cause of this issue.

Note: Windows 10 has an inbuilt Antivirus software called “Windows Defender.” So don’t worry about uninstalling third-party software from your PC as it won’t become much more vulnerable.

13. Make sure that IPv4 and IPv6 protocols are enabled

IPv4 and IPv6 protocols often are the cause of Wi-Fi issues. You have to make sure that they are enabled, and they can cause “can’t connect to this network” error.

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Find Change adapter settings and click on it.
  3. Locate your network adapter, right-click and choose Properties.Make sure that IPv4 and IPv6 are enabled. Once done, click OK and check if the issue is resolved.Wi-Fi properties

14. Creating a connection manually

To connect to a network that uses WEP security, you have to set security type to WEP. To do that you will have to change security type on both router and computer manually. Look at our previous solution on how to do this. However, you should keep in mind that WEP is nowhere the safest security type and we advise switching to WEP2.

“can’t connect to this network” error message after your PC wakes up from sleep mode

Some people tend to get this error message right after their PC wakes up from sleep. You will have to do with Power Management settings for your adapter to fix this. Try one of our next three solutions to fix this.

 1. Change Power Management settings or disable IPv6 

We have previously explained how to enable and disable IPv6. However, to most likely this will be caused by wrong Power Management settings on your adapter. To fix this follow steps below:

  1. Open Device Manager and find Network Adapters section. Under it look for your wireless network adapter. Right-click it and choose Properties.Network adapter Properties
  2. Go to Power Management tab and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power“. Save all changes.Allow changes to save power
  3. If you have a USB network adapter, for example, if you are using a stationary PC, you will have to do this for all USB devices in Device Manager.

2. Changing Power options

Usually, wireless adapters by default are set to work in medium performance and power saving mode for greater efficiency. There are reports that changing power options and modes can affect this issue. One of the ways to go is setting network adapters performance to the maximum. To increase your network adapters performance. To do so follow these steps:

  1. Click Start and type “Edit power plan“. Click on it.edit power plan
  2. An “Edit plan settings” window will appear. Click on “Change advanced power settings“.edit plan settings
  3. Under Advanced settings find “Wireless Adapter Settings“. Then under “Power Saving Mode” click “Maximum Performance“. Click Ok.network adapter max performance

Note: You can choose the High-performance mode in Power Options, and Power Saving Mode will be automatically set to maximum performance. You can experiment between switching from one mode to another to see if anything changes. Just keep in mind that high-performance mode will consume more power. This probably won’t be a trouble to stationary PC users. However, if you are using a laptop, your battery run out faster.

3. Disable some of Wi-Fi settings

If you keep getting the “can’t connect to this network” after your computer wakes up from sleep mode, you might want to change or disable some Wi-Fi settings. To manage this, follow steps below:

  1. Open Settings and go to Network & Internet
  2. Locate Wi-Fi and click Manage Wi-Fi settings.
  3. Now you will have to check that Send information about Wi-Fi connections to help discover nearby Wi-Fi” and “Connect to Wi-Fi hotspots” are turned off or disabled.
  4. That’s it. Once done, give it a try and you might regain access to your wireless connection.

“can’t connect to this network, enter an APN and try again” error message

1. Entering a new Internet APN

Usually, the Internet APN is set on your phone automatically. However, if the mobile data connection isn’t working, you might have to contact your mobile provider and get APN information.

To add APN to the phone, do this:

  1. Tap or press Mobile network + SIM settings on your phone.
  2. Next, tap SIM settings and then Add Internet APN
  3. Enter APN information you mobile provider has named.
  4. When done, save everything.

“can’t connect to this network” error message after you have changed the password

If you have changed the password of your wireless network and now you’re stuck with “can’t connect to this network” message, you will have to Forget this network connection and check if the security type on your computer matches the security type on your router. You have already covered this earlier in this article.

If you want to delete your network from Preferred network list, follow the steps below:

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center and then click Change adapter settings.Network and sharing center
  2. Find your wireless adapter and right click it. Choose Properties.
  3. Now you have to click Configure button and then go to Wireless Networks tab.
  4. Here you can delete your network from Preferred networks list. Once done, save everything.

Other possible solutions

Besides all previously mentioned fixes, you can also try to turn on and off Airplane mode to see if it makes a difference. Turn off Bluetooth if it’s turned on as signals might interfere with one another.

Besides all previously mentioned fixes, you can also try to turn on and off Airplane mode to see if it makes a difference. Turn off Bluetooth if it’s turned on as signals might interfere with one another. Change all network adapters settings to see if it helps. If nothing has helped so far, you might have to get a new Wi-Fi adapter, but before doing so and if you have time, try reinstalling Windows 10. I have had numerous of problems because of an error during Windows 10 installation, for example, you could not install software like MS Office or Adobe products. If it seems like your PC has more than only this one problem, try reinstalling it.


Solving “can’t connect to this network” can be a difficult task to manage as it can be caused by so many things that are hard to find the right one. Unfortunately, the only way how to find what’s wrong is going through possible solutions one by one.We hope that after reading this, at least one of solutions helped and you were able to fix this issue.

If you still could not find the right solution, you might want to check out Reimage repair software. It automatically detects and fixes various of PC problems, so you don’t have to spend your valuable time and nerves.

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