How to fix WiFi doesn’t have a valid IP configuration on windows 10

Connecting to a WiFi network is one of the easiest things to do on Windows 10 if you have the password for the network you want to connect to. You don’t even need proprietary network drivers to do the job. A fresh Windows 10 installation can connect you to a WiFi network while you’re still setting it up. That said, problems with connecting to a WiFi network aren’t unheard of. If you’re getting the ‘WiFi doesn’t have a valid IP configuration’ error on Windows 10, here’s how you can fix it.

Basic checks

Try a few basic things before you try the fixes below;

1. Reboot your system. It fixes more things than we can list and it is always worth a try.
2. Reset your router.
3.  If you’re running an app that changes your internet settings, or that reroutes your network traffic e.g., a VPN, disable it and then try connecting to your system.

If the above does nothing for you, move on to the following fixes.

Forget WiFi network

Open the Settings app and go to the Network and Internet group of settings. Select the Wi-Fi tab and click on the Manage known networks option. Select the network you’re trying to connect to and click the Forget button. Try connecting to it again.

Reset TCP/IP

In order to reset TCP/IP you need to run a few commands in Command Prompt. Open Command Prompt with admin rights and run the following commands, one by one.

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset

Restart your computer and then try connecting to your WiFi network.

Check for driver updates

Check if your WiFi driver has recently been updated. If it has, try rolling it back to an older version. The new version may be the cause of the problem. If the driver has not been updated, check if there might be an update available. It’s possible that you installed an OS update that requires a new driver which hasn’t been installed yet.

If neither of the above works, or is applicable, you should uninstall and reinstall the driver for your network adapter. Open Device Manager and look for your network adapter. Right-click it and select the Uninstall device option. Restart your system and the drivers will be installed again automatically.

Renew IP address

Try renewing your IP address. Open Command Prompt and run the following two commands, one by one.

ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew

For good measure, restart your system.

Flush DNS cache

This is a bit of a long shot but flushing the DNS cache might help. Open Command Prompt with admin rights and run the following command.

ipconfig /flushdns

If all else fails

It is possible that the problem isn’t with your system. Your router might have problems and they need to be investigated. Check if other systems are able to connect to the network. Your router’s firmware might need to be updated, or perhaps its settings  have been changed. One thing you can try is changing the number of DHCP users. This is a router setting and the admin panel for routers differ so look up how to do it for your router.