Windows 10 says I have no internet connection, but I have.

Anonymous
2020-05-21T19:20:56+00:00

I am running on Windows 10 Enterprise, Version 2004, OS Build 19041.264.

I recently changed to the Windows Insider Program and updated Windows. In the taskbar, the Wi-Fi icon shows No Internet Access, but I have a stable internet connection wirelessly (Ex: I can browse the internet, ping IP Addresses, etc.). Another problem is when I try to open Cortana it also says that I have no internet connection (By the way, I can also open Microsoft's website).

As I know Windows checks internet connectivity with this URL: http://msftconnecttest.com/connecttest.txt. But this gives Error 404, File Not Found. Maybe it is because of this?

If you know the problem or an answer, please help. Thanks!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2020-06-18T19:27:38+00:00

Hello, use Registry Editor, go to: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet

and modify: EnableActiveProbing

then change "Value data" from "0" to "1"

and restart your computer

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Anonymous
2021-06-07T17:45:06+00:00

The proper one is

"HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkConnectivityStatusIndicator\” -Name UseGlobalDNS -PropertyType DWORD -Value 1 -Force

But the more appropriate way to do this is not through registry directly, but through group policy config:

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-03-08T16:33:29+00:00

    I work for Microsoft and am a SME for the NCSI component.

    NCSI pings it's own server on the internet because that is a trusted server and a response from it is trustable proof that the client machine can reach the Internet.

    If you are locking down your own systems to only connect to certain sites then unless you are unwilling to open up your proxy for NCSI probe server contact then you have the option of hosting your own NCSI server internally.

    The reason this connectivity logic of NCSI is necessary is so application developers don't have to reinvent the wheel and create their own homegrown network testing functions to avoid sending out network packets that would timeout otherwise. NCSI is a provision of the OS to do this work for them. But if a customer is locking down their enterprise against reaching the public Microsoft internet probe server than they are configuring against best practices.

    And these best practices have been publicly documented for a long time

    Connection endpoints for Windows 10 Enterprise, version 1903 - Windows Privacy | Microsoft Docs

    This is also documented here for Teams:

    Prepare your organization's network for Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs which cites the infamous 13.107.4.52 address which must be reachable,

    NCSI cannot give a simple answer for why the internet probe server is not reachable due to the many possiblities including:

    • Split tunnel VPNs misconfigured to force the NCSI probe to the corporate network instead of out to the internet
    • Misconfigured DNS servers or DNS clients resulting in not correctly resolving msftconnecttest.com or dns.msftncsi.com.
    • Misconfigured proxies
    • Firewall blocks
    • Misrouted probes to get to the enterprise edge router
    • Third party software that intercepts DNS queries on the loopback interface (which we have a GPO to get around).
    • And many other things.

    "And that the fix is to use google should tell you something."

    It tells me that whatever DNS server was not allowing the probe through before they changed to Google is misconfigured.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-03T07:56:21+00:00

    The simple answer to your question is enable the GlobalDNS policy, which can be found at

    Admin Templates->Network->Network Connectivity Status Indicator->Specify global DNS.

    Set enabled and reboot client.

    This is what solves those pesky loopback problems.

    And yes, that's the McAfee product I couldn't remember.

    Saving this, if the problem still persists, then it's not the same scenario I'm referring to and yes, open a Premier ticket with us.

    https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/category/network-connectivity-status-indicator/

    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Network+Connectivity+Status+Indicator+global+dns+&atb=v249-1&ia=web

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-02-02T22:35:38+00:00

    Hi Tom,

    I think you are referring to McAfee Client Proxy in your list, along with Zscaler, Cisco Umbrella and others.

    This is what my organization uses, and we do have more and more 'No internet' issues worldwide. This is the first time I'm able to see that someone from Microsoft seems to really understand what the issue is.

    How should we fix this?

    Can you contact me directly or should I go through our Customer Success Account Manager for support on this case that is really getting out of control?

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