[Fixed] Windows 10 Limited Connectivity

and Not Getting IP from DHCP

By Dinesh 13 Comments
If your Windows 10 desktop or laptop suddenly lost the network connectivity and showing
limited connectivity, then this how-to guide will be useful. The below steps show how to fix
Windows 10 limited connectivity issue on wireless or wired network. If it shows as limited
connectivity, mostly the network adapter would not have got an IP from the DHCP. If only one
particular PC is facing this issue on your network/home, then obviously nothing wrong with the
network setup or DHCP server, its the problem on your Windows 10 laptop or desktop. When I
recently faced this similar problem randomly on a Windows 10 and another Windows 8.1
laptop, the following steps helped me to solve the issue.
This problem is specifically not for wireless network adapter, it can happen to your LAN wired
network adapter too. Basically its an issue with the IP stack (IPv4 or IPv6 based on which
protocol you are using). There are few solutions available on the internet, but let me start with
the possible (which worked for me straightaway) solution, then other methods.
If you get DNS Server Not Found error on Windows 10/8.1 while connected through wireless
adapter, you must check this guide to fix it. Updating or re-installing the WiFi adapter driver will
solve it most of the time. But this limited connectivity issue in Windows 10/8.1 could be due to
the IP address issue. The network adapter will not get an IP address hence it will be
getting APIPA address range, something like 169.245.x.x, that means you are in trouble.

Here is the Solution for Windows 10 Limited

Connectivity
As described earlier, this is due to IP address/IP stack problem which can be resolved by
resetting the TCP/IP stack to its default value. TCP/IP is a protocol used in most of the
computers (including Mac, Linux and Windows) and other network devices to make
communication in LAN or WAN.

Use NetShell utility (netsh.exe) command to perform the task.

1) Open the command prompt as Administrator. Search cmd and right click on cmd then
select Run as administrator as below.

2) Type following commands

netsh winsock reset catalog (Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults)
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log (Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults)
Source

3) Reboot the
computer.
The Problem:
One of the above reset command removes all persistent static route entries from your Windows
10 computer. I faced this issue and I had to add those static routes again by route add
command.
This will mostly solve the problem of limited connectivity issue on Windows 10 or 8.1.
4) If you are still facing the issue and your Windows 10 or 8.1 cant connect to internet and other
local network resources, continue below steps.
The following few more netsh commands may fix the problem. Make sure you are entering
below commands in command prompt which was opened as Administrator.
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
We have used similar commands to make Windows 7 network faster earlier. Im sure one of the
above command may fix the issue or at least make your Windows 10 network faster.

More information about these commands and further steps to fix the WiFi limited connectivity
issue on Windows 10/8.1 is available here.
5) If your wired network is fine, but you are having trouble in wireless network only, then you
can change the power options and wake up the WiFi Adapter.
Right click on the WiFi adapter and select Properties.

Click on Configure.

On the Power Management tab, uncheck the

below option.
This will prevent Windows 10 to turn off the WiFi adapter when it goes to sleep or hibernation
mode. Because when the laptop resumes from sleep, the WiFi adapter may not wake up and work
properly. So, avoiding this feature may help in having proper wireless network connectivity in
Windows 10.

6) A discussion here mentioned that having a 3rd party antivirus and personal firewall software
such as BitDefender also can disturb the network connectivity in Windows 10/8.1. So, if none of
the above solutions work for you and you have an dedicated Antivirus software with firewall
enabled, you can uninstall it or find a way to allow internet connectivity and IP requests in the
firewall settings. It might help.
I hope one of the above method will solve the limited connectivity or not getting IP address issue
on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. Also, keep updating the Windows OS and drivers (especially
LAN and WiFi network adapters) from Windows update. They will fix the issue permanently.