What does limited or no connectivity mean? And how to fix?

Update: If you are a Windows 7 or a Windows 8 user, the message you get may show that your Internet connection says limited access.

If you're using Windows XP, and you can't connect to the internet or anything else on your network, there is a good chance you've got this error. You may have a box with words similar to the image below appear on your screen.

What's happened? Well, when your computer connects to your modem or wireless router, it is asking for an address that is can use to communicate with other computers. If for whatever reason your modem/router is unable to give this address you get this error.

There are a couple of ways this can happen. Usually you've plugged the cables in, or your computer's wifi connection is up, but it's not getting any data flow.

As a result, there are a few different ways to fix it.

• Start by turning everything off for at least 1 minute. This includes the modem, the router, the computer and anything else you use on your network. This is also known as a power cycle.
• When everything is back up and powered on, if you're still getting the same error, you can try repairing the connection by hitting the repair button (as shown above)
• If this doesn't fix it, there is a command you can run through the command line program in windows which should help resolve the issue.
• Open the command line by clicking Start, then choosing Run
• At the prompt, type "cmd" (without the quotes) and hit enter
• You should have a black screen up with a prompt waiting for you to enter some text
• At this point, type in "netsh winsock reset" (again without the quotes)
• You will get a message saying successfully reset the winsock catalog, and it will say you need to reboot the machine.
• Reboot your computer.

• Lastly, if you're still reading and it's still not working, you can try factory resetting your modem/router that your computer is connecting to, which usually involves pressing the reset button on the back of the modem where all the plugs go or you can try with another modem/router.

These steps also apply to Windows Vista, and Windows 7. The error message is slightly different, saying "Connected with limited access" however, the steps taken to fix the issue are the same.