Win 10 - Network tray icon shows no internet access but internet is working!

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surfisup1000

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#258513 7-Oct-2019 22:49

I use my routers time blocking function to disable internet access on my kids PC at night time (PC connected via ethernet cable).

The win10 network tray icon changes to show no internet access after the router blocks the internet,.

But when the internet is reconnected, the tray icon still shows that the internet as unavailable . A bunch of apps (eg, outlook) don't work because they say there is no internet, even though the internet is working just fine.

I made a batch command to disable / enable the network interface, but this is manual. Does anyone have a more elegant solution or fix? Driver updates don't work, this seems to be a bug in win10 where the OS doesn't refresh the internet status on wired connections.

Oblivian

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#2332286 7-Oct-2019 23:15

You soon realise when you have customers log jobs to say 'the network isn't working'. And you show up and open google to find it's fine. And ask what wasn't going to alert them to raise the job, And the answer is 'the icon says no internet'

You soon realise how useless the indicator is (and how much people need to test more than an icon for diagnosis) :)

It is a simple periodic ping/connection test to a microsoft server. And if it can't reach it due to a DNS block or similar, it'll say.

issuing a standard DNS query to www.msftncsi.com, followed by a HTTP get request to the http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt file (a plain text file) and, finally, another DNS query to dns.msftncsi.com.

There are some DNS workarounds - https://www.ryadel.com/en/yellow-triangle-over-network-connection-status-how-to-fix-it/

Jase2985

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#2332306 8-Oct-2019 05:14

mine routinely says im connected via a cable, when in fact im always connected via wifi.

Andib

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#2332325 8-Oct-2019 07:25

Have you run any Windows 10 "de bloat" scripts / anything to try block telemetry? I often see symptoms like this when users have run scripts which block services that are needed for Windows to run correctly.

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sonyxperiageek

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#2332335 8-Oct-2019 07:51

Jase2985:
mine routinely says im connected via a cable, when in fact im always connected via wifi.

Are you connected to any VPNs etc.?

Sony

surfisup1000

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#2332577 8-Oct-2019 14:10

Oblivian:

You soon realise when you have customers log jobs to say 'the network isn't working'. And you show up and open google to find it's fine. And ask what wasn't going to alert them to raise the job, And the answer is 'the icon says no internet'

You soon realise how useless the indicator is (and how much people need to test more than an icon for diagnosis) :)

It is a simple periodic ping/connection test to a microsoft server. And if it can't reach it due to a DNS block or similar, it'll say.

issuing a standard DNS query to www.msftncsi.com, followed by a HTTP get request to the http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt file (a plain text file) and, finally, another DNS query to dns.msftncsi.com.

There are some DNS workarounds - https://www.ryadel.com/en/yellow-triangle-over-network-connection-status-how-to-fix-it/

That link contains the best explanation I've seen.Some of the 'microsoft' employee solutions were ridiculous, recommending network resets and machine reboots.

My problem is caused by the PC motherboard having dual ethernet ports. This is alluded to in the link.

After the time block is removed by the router, the DNS query is being directed through the disconnected ethernet port, so the DNS query fails. ... my solution is to disable the unused ethernet adaptor.

All working well now! Thanks

Jase2985

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#2332820 8-Oct-2019 15:59

sonyxperiageek:
Jase2985:

mine routinely says im connected via a cable, when in fact im always connected via wifi.

Are you connected to any VPNs etc.?

yes but its doing it whether connected or not. it also doesnt do it all the time.

ANglEAUT

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#2332878 8-Oct-2019 17:29

Andib: ... when users have run scripts which block services that are needed for Windows to run correctly.

😝 Those users that block these services would say that this blocking is required to run Windows correctly. 😛

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nathan

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#2332908 8-Oct-2019 18:28

ANglEAUT:
Andib: ... when users have run scripts which block services that are needed for Windows to run correctly.

😝 Those users that block these services would say that this blocking is required to run Windows correctly. 😛

There’s an extremely high correlation of those users, who also use an Android handset, a device that knows far far more about you than Windows ever will

But Telemetry is bad mmkay

networkn

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#2332912 8-Oct-2019 18:31

Oblivian:

You soon realise when you have customers log jobs to say 'the network isn't working'. And you show up and open google to find it's fine. And ask what wasn't going to alert them to raise the job, And the answer is 'the icon says no internet'

You soon realise how useless the indicator is (and how much people need to test more than an icon for diagnosis) :)

It is a simple periodic ping/connection test to a microsoft server. And if it can't reach it due to a DNS block or similar, it'll say.

issuing a standard DNS query to www.msftncsi.com, followed by a HTTP get request to the http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt file (a plain text file) and, finally, another DNS query to dns.msftncsi.com.

There are some DNS workarounds - https://www.ryadel.com/en/yellow-triangle-over-network-connection-status-how-to-fix-it/

My question is, why are you "showing up" without qualifying with a couple of basic questions over the phone ?

It seems to be an issue with a recent windows update, we are getting calls about it in the past couple of weeks, and my home PC seems to be affected.

Oblivian

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#2333001 8-Oct-2019 20:16

networkn:

My question is, why are you "showing up" without qualifying with a couple of basic questions over the phone ?

It seems to be an issue with a recent windows update, we are getting calls about it in the past couple of weeks, and my home PC seems to be affected.

Err... onsite engineer fulltime (many sites) that is tasked with personal desk visits. And in the environment, its a whole lot faster than extracting what they're trying to explain vs 'point to it'