topic Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer in Broadband

No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 16:33:03 GMT

I am experiencing no connection at all (‘You are not connected to the internet’), but only on my Macbook Air. The internet on my iPad and phone seems fine. I am at a bit of a loss to know what I can do to get my connection back. I have switched the network off and back on again, as well as restarting several times. Many thanks for your help.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 16:35:47 GMT

…oh, and I have restarted the router twice.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 17:43:09 GMT

@Ben1 If other kit in your home still has a connection, then logically the issue is with the laptop. Have you tried switching that off and restarting it?

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 17:49:24 GMT

Thank you, yes I have restarted the computer a few times. I think I will ask on the Apple forums, as well as here as I can see that the issue is probably not the internet connection, rather the laptop.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:02:59 GMT

So, the laptop is a Mac?

Does it show as being connected to your router?

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:37:34 GMT

Yes, an Apple Macbook Air. And yes, it is connected (to PLUSNET-Q3C9H7) my network.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:40:01 GMT

In that case, and this is from my experience on iPads/iPhones so may not work - try 'forgetting' the network on that machine and then reconnecting.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:51:21 GMT

I have just tried something and it fixed my problem. It was the VPN! For some reason it was stopping all access to the internet on just the machine with VPN switched on. So thank you for your help and support!

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:56:37 GMT

I find that difficult to believe, to be honest, but if you've resolved it, good.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 07:11:24 GMT

As a matter of interest, why do you find it hard to believe, John? 🙂

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 07:17:33 GMT

Because a VPN routes internet traffic, and should not affect the ability of your machine to actually connect to the internet. Which VPN are you using?

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

RobPN — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 08:23:28 GMT

@jab1 wrote:

Because a VPN routes internet traffic, ...

Not necessarily, it could be just for intranet traffic for example.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 08:36:10 GMT

Agreed, @RobPN .

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Ben1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 14:36:08 GMT

I am using Surfshark, which has been problematic as it keeps asking for my Mac account username and password, and no-one at Surfshark seems to know why.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

plusmouse — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:04:48 GMT

I remember seeing that same on screen message last year when I had no internet connection at home. After some head scratching, I called Plusnet and spoke to the call center. We tried restarting the router, checking this and checking that, to no avail. So an engineer was booked.

Half an hour later, I turned OFF the router at the mains plug for around 30 seconds and turned it back on again. Guess what? My connection came back!! 🙄....so it was a swift recall to the Plusnet call center to cancel the engineer! So the panic was over.

I then wondered why the call center person hadn`t suggested doing that....nor myself! Maybe it seemed like too much of a dimwitted thing to do that neither of us thought of at the time. But it`s the first thing I do now! Obviously....

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Townman — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 11:54:14 GMT

@jab1

"I am experiencing no connection at all (‘You are not connected to the internet’), but only on my Macbook Air."

Yet another mis-direction by a dumbed down systems message, which would have been far more helpful if it said "cannot reach the requested service(s).".

In this case the user is connected to the internet (as in the device has an network address and can send and receive traffic), however, due to the VPN there is a restriction on connecting to the target services, so the service cannot be accessed. Such is reasonably typical of a VPN going into a secure environment ... or indeed a remote service which choses not to respond at all to connection attempts from designate IP ranges ... often used as VPN exit points.

As I posted recently elsewhere, there is very limited merit in using a VPN, the most reasonable being to provide a remote connection into a secure network, as in connecting to an employer's network. In such settings restricting access to non-business external services is very common.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

jab1 — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 12:57:04 GMT

@Townman I totally get what you are saying. The only time I have used a VPN 'in anger'/for its designated purpose over an extended period was when I was WFH, well before the term became popular, and it was on a dedicated works supplied machine.

I have a VPN , but these days it is on maybe a couple of times a month - if that, to access a couple of sites 'offshore' - legitimate ones.

I personally find it a pain if I forget to turn it off and then try to visit UK sites 'sorry you are not in the UK'. Sorry, but if you don't need it, and most of home connections don't, except as you say for accessing secure networks, then I fail to see why anyone needs one.

Re: No connection, but only on laptop computer

Townman — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 13:37:33 GMT

John,

You make the point about the merits of a VPN very succinctly. In most cases the only benefit of using a VPN is to the supplier's revenue stream, in that they make money from those who naively believe that there is legitimate benefit in using one.

VPNs have clear technical merits where they are used as a secure tunnel into a private secure network. All other uses serve only as an attempt to mask one's real location, which in any case is a hit and miss affair dependant on the quality of the IP geo-location data used to infer location. I am very suspicious of the non-private network use of VPNs, the reasons seem dubious from the use to defeat geo-location access limitations, through to much more nefarious reasons - notably conning people into parting with money on the pretext that somehow they add 'security' to being on the internet.

The suggestion that they defeat some forms of tracking is a tad suspect, given that the majority of internet connections are via dynamic IP addresses.