It is very frustrating to have an unstable network connection on your computer. When your network connection is not working, you get a halt in what you are doing. It is an annoying situation. Many times as we use the internet, we encounter so many network connection errors. It is always safe to know a quick fix for such network connections error. Most windows come with a built-in troubleshooter that you can use to repair a broken network connection.
When Do Network Connections Error Happen?
Network connections error come about from many situations and here are some of the cases.
1. A Network Cable Is Unplugged
There are several different conditions that can generate this error. But usually it is due to bad cabling and issues with the device drivers. With a wired connection, you may lose access to the network. However, if you are using wireless, your network will probably function normally but this error message will become an annoyance since it pops up repeatedly until the issue is addressed.
2. An IP Address Conflict
An IP Address conflict occurs when a computer is set up with a static IP address and when it is used by some other device on the network, the computer (and possibly also the other device) will be unable to use the network.
3. The Network Path Cannot Be Found
This happens when you use the incorrect name for a network resource or when the share doesn’t exist. Another instance is when time on the two devices is different or if you don’t have the right permissions to access the resource. This can be resolved by updating the TCP/IP configuration when trying to access another device on the network.
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4. Duplicate name exists on the network
This usually appears as a balloon message after starting up a windows computer connected to a local network and your computer will be unable to access the network. However, you may need to change the name of your computer to resolve this problem. This is a quick fix.
5. Limited Or No Connectivity
Sometimes when I am opening a website or network resource in Window, I receive a pop-up dialog error message that starts with the words “limited or no connectivity.” This means that the network is questionable. The most common solution to solve this error is resetting the TCP/IP stack on your computer.
6. Connected With Limited Access To A Network
Connected with limited access error usually happens when making certain types of wireless connections and can be caused by a technical glitch in many versions of Windows. It can also occur on a home network for other reasons that might require you to reset your router or connect and then disconnect from the wireless connection. A fix for this error was provided by Microsoft in a service pack update for windows vista systems.
7. Unable To Join A Network
This is a bit different from other network connection errors because it appears on the Apple iPhone or iPod touch when it fails to join a wireless network. A quick fix for this is troubleshooting it the same way you would for a PC that cannot connect to a hotspot.
In all windows you can get a fix to restoring network connections error. Here I intend to focus on this guide to have that issue solved in windows 7. However, I will first introduce the several different troubleshooters available in windows 7 since we will be meeting troubleshooting in the fix.
- Internet Connections: This is when you can’t connect to the Internet or to a particular web site on the internet.
- Incoming Connections to This Computer: Here, it’s when you are unable to let other computers in your network communicate with your PC
- Connection to a Shared Folder: This usually happens when you can’t connect to a file or folder that you thought was shared.
- Network Adapter: This is when you are unable to communicate with your router or modem.
- Home Group: In this case, it’s when you are unable to view files or computers in your home group.
FIX
- Choose Start→Control Panel→Network and Internet. Then click the Network and Sharing Center link.
- Click the Fix a Network Problem link.
The link pulls you straight into the Control Panel’s Troubleshooting guide for the network.
- Click the link for the type of network connection that has been lost.
- Work your way through the troubleshooting guide.
Windows 7 will ask you a series of questions. As you respond, you’ll get closer and closer to the answer. If Windows suggests an action you must perform, such as plugging in a cable, do so.
- When the solution is found, close the troubleshooting network program.
However, sometimes the troubleshooter is not able to correct the problem. If it fails, delete the connection and just create it again by clicking the Setup a New Connection or Network link in the Network and Sharing Center window and entering the correct settings.
Network Connections Error Problems – Quick Fix!
- Open the Metro screen or choose start and type “command” which will automatically open the search bar. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator at the bottom of the screen.
- Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each command:
- netsh int ip reset reset.txt
- netsh winsock reset
- netsh advfirewall reset
- Restart the computer.
To Read: Guide: How to Fix IP Address Conflict in Win 7, 8 & 10
With that said, i can imagine writing up this article without a mention on the network and sharing center. Let’s have a quick dig up into this awesome feature provided my all computers running windows.
Network & Sharing Center in Windows
The network and sharing center in Windows 7, 8 and 10 is one of the most crucial Control Panel apps that lets you see information about your network and lets you make changes that can affect how you access resources on the network.
After discovering where network and sharing center is and knowing how to use it, you will be able to fix any issue concerning network connections.
In my discussion, I will take you through the different aspects of the Network and Sharing Center. I will then include certain features you can use most times to ease your work in dealing with certain issues.
Opening Network & Sharing Center
- Click Start and type network. The app list will come up instantly.
- In Windows 7, just click on Start and the Control Panel is listed on the right side of the Start Menu. In Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, just right-click on the Start Menu and choose Control Panel from the list.
- Click on the Network and Internet category
- Click on Network and Sharing Center. If you are in icon view, just click directly on Network and Sharing Center.
Private or Public Network
Basically, your current connection to the network and to the internet is the very first thing you see when you open the Network and sharing center.
- In Windows 7, there is a little bit more information and also a couple of more options than in windows 8 and 10.
- In Windows 8 and Windows 10, interface is cleaned by getting rid of a couple of items while combining other items.
- The active network or networks, the network type, the type of access, Home Group info and the connection info will appear on top.
- Directly below the name of the network you will see the network type. .
Advanced Sharing Settings
The advanced sharing settings dialog is main place for managing how your computer communicates with the rest of the network is the advanced sharing settings dialogue.
- In Windows 7, you have two profiles: Home or Work and Public. Only one profile can be active at a time. All the settings are the same and repeated under each profile.
- In Windows 8 and 10, you have three profiles: Private, Guest or Public and All Networks.
Basically, it’s the same settings as in Windows 7, but just split up more logically.
Here are the various settings:
- Network Discovery
This setting is turned on for private networks by default and it means that your computer can be seen by other computers and vice versa. What this means in practice is that when you open a browser say google chrome, you might see the name of another computer connected to your network under Network Locations.
- File and Printer Sharing
This setting will allow others to access shared folders and printers on your computer. You can always turn it off even on private networks unless you need to use it in a specific situation.
- Home Group connections
Home Group is very good especially if you really need to share files and folders. The Home Group is simple to setup, it is more secure and a lot more to configure.
Here, for expansion of all networks, using Windows 8 or Windows 10. There are more settings that are very useful.
- Public Folder Sharing
You can turn this off, however, if you specifically need to share data with another computer, it could be of a great importance to you. It is also paramount to notice that when you accidentally save files into these publically shared folders without realizing it, it will be accessible by anyone on the network. Therefore, the public folder sharing is a disadvantage in cases of such a scenario where the privacy of the folder is no longer private.
- Media Streaming
Just like the public folder sharing, the media streaming is also a useful only when you need it and you are using it there and then. Otherwise, I recommend that you keep it disabled until you are in need of it. This is because, when you enable it, it will turn your computer into a DLNA server so that you can stream music, movies and pictures to other devices on the network. Therefore, when enabled, it opens up quite a few ports in your firewall also.
- File Sharing Connections
With file sharing connections, you should set it to always use 128-bit encryption unless you need to share files with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows 2000 computers.
- Password Protected Sharing
Just like a strong padlock on your door, password protected sharing secures your files from people who are restricted from getting access to them. This is so because, it will force users to enter a username and password for an account on your computer in order to access any data. This is a great setting that you should enable.
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Setup New Network & Troubleshoot Problems
This part focuses on windows 10 and 8. For setting up a new connection, you only have four options in Windows 8/10:
- Connect to the Internet
- Setup a new network
- Manually connect to a WiFi network or connection to a VPN.
Clicking on Troubleshooting problems will bring you a list of troubleshooting links for the Internet, network adapter, HomeGroup, Shared Folder, Printers and many others.
These programs run and fix issues with various networking related services. The most useful fixes are the internet connections and network adapter troubleshooting fixes. I have found the Internet Connections and Network Adapter troubleshooting fixes to be the most useful.
Change Adapter Settings
Change adapter settings are not used too often but it is very useful when troubleshooting network problems.
In these settings, you will be able to see a list of all the network adapters on your computer.
When you have an Ethernet port and WiFi card, you’ll see both items listed. You might also see other network adapters, but they are usually always virtual, meaning they are created by a software application like a VPN client or virtual machine program.
- For Connection Problems,
Simply right-click on the adapter and choose Diagnose. This will usually fix any problem with a misconfigured network adapter.
Also, if you right-click and choose Properties, you can configure your computer to use a static IP address rather than obtaining one from a DHCP server.
Such a guide on how to fix network connections error brings out the quick fixes that will solve your restoring Network connection issues and other network related issues in a short time. I hope you find a solution to your problem from this article. For the settings, it is very important to know what your computer is capable of doing and how to use it.
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