I'm making this post on a Windows 10 machine, which is certainly connected to the Internet (otherwise I wouldn't be able to make the post in the first place!).

But as the above figure shows, Windows doesn't understand that I'm connected to the Internet. For that reason, it does not download anything from Microsoft Store or Windows Update. (It waits for the Internet connection.)

More info:

1. I'm not using a VPN/Proxy.
2. ping google.com works just fine from the command line.
3. I tried sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, to no avail.
4. Deleting WiFi driver, or restarting the Windows didn't help.
5. Network Reset didn't help.
6. Using other access points wasn't useful either.

I've tried pretty much anything I found on the web, and as a last resort will reinstall Windows. But before that, could you recommend some other solutions?

7

2 Answers

I found the answer, so I'm posting it for future reference.

Windows uses Active Probing to detect whether internet connectivity is OK (details).

It basically probes some servers using DNS, HTTP, UDP, IPv6, etc. queries to detect the connectivity mode.

WindowsSpyBlocker is a tool which checks the issues with this. I ran it, and selected option 1 (Telemetry) and then option 2 (NCSI = Network Connectivity Status Indicator):

Choosing option 5 (Test the internet connection) shows the error:

It seems that there are IPv6 and UDP problems between my network and Microsoft's default server (msftconnecttest.com).

So, I picked option 3 (Apply Firefox NCSI), and then checked again with option 5. It now works like a charm:

The network indicator is now OK, and Windows Update / Microsoft Store work as expected.

The relevant Registry Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet, after applying FireFox NCSI, looks like this:

4

Based on my understanding, now your issue is that NCSI reports no internet.

The Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) is a mechanism that controls the internet connectivity display in the Taskbar, among various other functionalities. This mechanism is considered to be a smart notification system for users to know about their current internet status. If the NCSI is unable to perform its function, it will indicate that there is no internet availability, even though the computer is able to access the internet through the browser and ping other IP addresses.

As a workaround, you could try the following methods:

Make sure this registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet] EnableActiveProbing was set to 1.

Make sure passive probing be enabled as well. In case active probing fails, passive probing can also detect internet unless it’s disabled by GPO. Check below to make sure you didn’t disable passive probing.

Make sure this registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkConnectivityStatusIndicator] NoActiveProbe was set to 0 (should either not present or value must be 0).

Then please restart the machine and see if NCSI still reports no internet.

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