Most no-internet fixes fail because they start with a guess. Three pings, taking two minutes, separate a WiFi failure from a line failure from a DNS failure — and each one needs a completely different repair.
When a PC shows connected but no internet, three different parts of the chain can be broken, and they all wear the same face. Guessing means flushing caches when the router is dead, or calling the ISP when a stale cache is lying to you. The three ping test asks the network three precise questions in order: can I reach my router, can I reach the internet by number, and can I reach a website by name. The rung where the answers stop is the rung that is broken. Run it before every other fix — it costs two minutes and it is the same first move used throughout this channel's DNS repair video.
Type ipconfig and read the Default Gateway line for your WiFi adapter; that is your router's address on your home network. Ping it: ping 192.168.1.1 using your own gateway value, of course. Replies mean your PC and router are talking normally, and the WiFi link itself is healthy.
If this ping fails with Request timed out or Destination host unreachable, stop here. The fault is between the PC and the router — weak signal, a hung router, a wrong WiFi password on a same-named network. Restart the router, move closer, reconnect. Nothing in the DNS world fixes a broken first rung.
Next, ping a server by its number, not its name: ping 8.8.8.8. Numbers need no translation, so this tests the raw internet path — router, line, ISP — with DNS completely out of the picture.
If rung one passed and this fails, the break is on the internet side: the router has lost its connection, the ISP line is down, or the router's WAN settings are wrong. Look at the router's internet light. A red or off internet light at this point is a line problem, and the honest next step is the ISP — not another hour of Windows settings.
Now ping a name: ping google.com. If the number in rung two answered but this says could not find host, the translation step is the broken one — that is a DNS failure, proven rather than guessed.
Confirm it with one more command. nslookup google.com asks your current DNS server directly. Then nslookup google.com 8.8.8.8 asks a public resolver instead. If the second command answers while the first times out, your assigned DNS server is the culprit, and changing it — on the adapter or the router — is the correct, targeted fix.
The four common patterns, and what each one honestly means:
Write the pattern down if you will ask anyone for help. Saying gateway and IP pass, names fail gets you a useful answer in one message; saying internet is not working starts a twenty-question loop.
See every step on a real Windows PC — the tests, the commands and the DNS change, in order.
▶️ Watch Full VideoRun ipconfig in Command Prompt and look at the Default Gateway line under your WiFi adapter. Common values are 192.168.1.1, 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.1.254, but always use the value your own PC reports — that is the router it is actually talking to.
It means the DNS server your PC is configured to use did not answer at all — it is either unreachable, switched off, or the address is simply wrong. Test with nslookup google.com 8.8.8.8 to ask a public resolver instead. If that works, your assigned DNS server is the problem.
Then the network and DNS basics are healthy, and the problem sits inside the PC's software layer: the browser's own DNS over HTTPS setting, a leftover proxy, a VPN client, or security software filtering traffic. Test a second browser and a non-browser app to narrow it down.