Is your WiFi router not working after resetting it?
This is fairly common and is often caused by interference on your wireless network, especially if the router is located near items such as microwaves or wireless speakers.
Other reasons include bandwidth saturation, damaged hardware, loose connections, service outages, and outdated firmware.
Some of the solutions that you can try to solve this problem are checking your connections to ensure that they are secured, updating the firmware, and reconfiguring your router.
This article explains in detail why you cannot connect to the internet after resetting your router and how you can easily fix it.
Why Is Your WiFi Router Not Working After A Reset
Have you reset your router and now can’t connect to the internet? Below are some of the reasons:
1. Wireless Interference
Although wireless networks are generally reliable, the electromagnetic waves they depend on are more susceptible to interference compared to wired networks.
Your wireless connection can be interfered with by any device that emits a wireless signal.
Common devices that cause interference include wireless speakers, cordless phones, Blu-Ray players, and microwaves.
2. Bad Hardware
The router, cords, modem, and other network components may be damaged and negatively affect your wireless network performance.
3. Bandwidth Saturation
Bandwidth refers to the capacity of a network, and when the usage exceeds the available bandwidth, the performance is affected.
This happens if more devices are connected to the router’s WiFi.
4. Service Outage
Your internet service provider may be experiencing outages because of maintenance or other issues.
If this is the case your internet connection will be poor quality, or even non-existent.
5. Outdated Firmware
If your router is running on outdated firmware, it may not be able to connect to the internet.
How To Fix a WiFi Router Not Working After Reset
The following are the simple solutions that will help you get your WiFi router working after doing a reset:
1. Check Physical Connections
Since you unplug all the cables when resetting your router, it is easy to make wrong connections afterward when reconnecting the cables, and this will prevent your WiFi from working.
Ensure that the cable given by your ISP is connected to the WAN port on your router.
If you have a separate modem and router, ensure that the network cable is connected to the WAN or Internet port on the modem.
Then, connect the WAN port on the router and the Ethernet port on the modem using an Ethernet cable.
Also, if you have an ONU device that changes optical signals to digital signals, you should contact your service provider to remotely set-up the device.
2. Reconfigure Your Router
The following are the preliminary steps for reconfiguring your router:
- The first thing is to check your router’s default IP and login values which are located at the back of the router.
- Open your web browser and type the IP address into the URL bar.
- Enter the username and password.
- The Router Setup Page should appear on the screen. If not, manually open the Quick Setup or similar tab.
- You will be required to specify your connection type as PPPoE, Static IP, or Dynamic IP. If you are not sure which is the correct one, select Auto-Detect.
- Click Next and follow the instructions shown.
Once you have configured your connection type, you will be directed to the wireless configuration page.
If you are not taken to the page, manually open the Wireless tab and follow the steps below to reconfigure your WiFi:
- If your router is dual band, select whether to transmit on 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz, or both.
- Enter the SSID (wireless network name).
- Choose WPA2-PSK and input your password.
- Set the channel settings to default (auto) and configure the SSID broadcast to how you want.
3. Update Router Firmware
Updating your router’s firmware helps solve several minor issues and improve the router’s performance and functionality. The process of updating firmware varies from router to router.
Modern routers either get automatic firmware updates or allow you to check and directly update the firmware using the router’s settings page.
Below are the steps to manually update the firmware:
- Go to the support site of the router’s manufacturer.
- Search your router’s model and go to the firmware section.
- If there is a new firmware update, download the file and extract it.
- On the Router Setup page, go to the Firmware section and click on Choose file.
- Select the firmware file you extracted from step 3 and click OK.
- Ensure that the firmware update is not interrupted. When the process is complete, reboot your router if it does not automatically do it.
4. Troubleshoot With Windows
If there is a WiFi connection in the bottom right corner of your laptop but when you click on it, it says ‘no internet access’, then you can open the automatic troubleshooter to help solve this problem.
Right-click on the connection and choose Troubleshoot Problems. This will automatically check if your network adapter has any issues.
Then it will reset it and probably resolve the internet access problem.
Normally, there is an issue with the access point or wireless adapter which is fixed when the troubleshooter tests if everything is working properly and resets it.
5. Renew IP Address
If the problem is on your device, this solution can fix the problem.
For a Windows laptop, go to Command Prompt by clicking on the Search box, typing ‘run’, and pressing Enter.
A Command Prompt window will pop up where you will type ipconfig/release, then press Enter and your laptop will renew the IP address.
For a Mac laptop, open the Apple menu, then go to the System Preferences, and choose Network.
The network services should appear on the left panel. Select the one that you want to renew the IP address.
To renew your DHCP lease click on Advanced, select TCP/IP, and click on Renew DHCP Lease.
6. Check If the MAC Address is Blocked
This rarely happens but your modem can automatically prevent your MAC address from accessing the internet.
Additionally, a roommate or family member might have blocked the MAC address.
Thankfully, you can easily fix this by going to the Settings page of the modem and turning off MAC filtering.
7. TCP/IP Reset
Resetting your device’s internet protocol can help solve several issues including malware problems, registry issues, and a network driver that is not installed correctly.
Type ‘command prompt’ on your search box and tap on the first result that appears, then click on ‘Run as administrator’.
Next, type ‘netsh winsock reset’ and click Enter. This will recover the internet connectivity configuration of your laptop.
The next thing to do is type ‘netsh int ip reset’ and click Enter. This will return the internet protocol of your laptop to the default configuration.
8. Modem Set Up
Ensuring that your modem is set up properly helps to solve WiFi connectivity issues. When you do a reset, the custom settings are erased, so you need to set up the modem again.
If you do not set up your hardware properly, you will experience a lot of connectivity issues.
You must follow the ISP’s instructions when setting up the modem. If you do not have the instructions with you, follow the steps below:
Depending on your internet connection type, such as cable or DSL, there are different jacks available that you can use to plug your cables into.
The coax cables go into the cable jack while the phone cable goes into the DSL port.
Connect the modem using the cable to the wall outlet, then power on the modem.
9. Check Your Internet Service
If you are having any issues with your WiFi after resetting the router, you should check with your ISP to ensure that there are no internet outages in your area. Ask your neighbors if they are experiencing similar issues to you.
There could be service outages if your internet was sketchy or down before resetting the router, and rebooting doesn’t bring it back.
The issue could be a widespread local service disruption and not your home network.
10. Contact Your ISP
If you have tried all the steps mentioned above and you can’t seem to resolve the problem, you should contact your ISP for assistance.
They will advise you on what to do, especially with the technical stuff concerning your router. Also, if there are any outages, they will let you know.
Final Words
If you still cannot access the internet after resetting your router, it means that there is an issue with your current configuration, ISP, or network adapter. One of the things you can do is to set up your modem all over again.
If that doesn’t solve the issue, try resetting your IP/TCP manually, updating the firmware, or using one of the solutions mentioned above.
If none of the solutions work, contact your ISP for support as they will help resolve the problem or advise on what to do.