Erroneous "no internet" indication

[skippergeoff]

This is a problem that appears intermittently. I used to get it with my previous phone (Nexus 5) and had hoped that when I upgraded to a Pixel 3a it would be a thing of the past - but no!
What happens (from time to time) is that the wifi icon indicates strong wifi but no internet. As a result the phone starts using 4g data for internet connections. However, if I turn off 4g data I can access all internet sites over wifi without any trouble, so the wifi does, in fact have internet access although the phone says it doesn't.
This is annoying because if I don't spot it and turn off 4g data it starts to waste my 4g data allowance.
After some variable amount of time (usually up to an hour) it suddenly reverts to normal.
I haven't been able to find any answer to this (or indeed anyone reporting the same problem) even though I've been searching off and on for several years.

 

[codesplice]

Does this happen with every Wi-Fi network or only certain one(s)? This generally indicates that the phone is (at least temporarily) unable to access certain Google services over the Wi-Fi network. That could happen if there is any sort of filtering happening on the network or also if you're using a VPN on the phone.

Testing against different networks will help to determine the proper troubleshooting steps.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I've gotten that message then 1.2 seconds later Wi-Fi internet was available.
Patience.

 

[skippergeoff]

Does this happen with every Wi-Fi network or only certain one(s)? This generally indicates that the phone is (at least temporarily) unable to access certain Google services over the Wi-Fi network. That could happen if there is any sort of filtering happening on the network or also if you're using a VPN on the phone.

Testing against different networks will help to determine the proper troubleshooting steps.

Well I've only experienced it on my home network as far as I remember - but that's the network I almost always use. I don't have a VPN and no special filtering set.
Do you know the addresses of the relevant google servers that are used - I could possibly do a trace-route on them.
Thanks for your time

 

[codesplice]

I'm afraid I don't know the specific servers. How is your router's DNS configured? Setting the router to use Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) can sometimes help improve the reliability of connections to Google services.

 

[Dannydet]

Reboot your router

 

[ocnbrze]

i second on rebooting the router. does not hurt to do it, takes only a few seconds to do it.

 

[skippergeoff]

An update on the above: last night I had my Pixel 3 (mobile data OFF) connected to the internet and able to access all content although the wifi icon showed "no internet access". Right next to it I had my Nexus 5, with the wifi icon showing internet available.
Also, my wife's Honor 9 never shows a "no internet" notification on our home network!
Very strange!

 

[skippergeoff]

With regard to rebooting the router: when the "no internet" indication shows on the phone it is a false indication: the phone can access the internet through the router perfectly fine. Also as mentioned above another device at the same time on the same router does not indicate any error.
After some time (usually several hours) the fault indication will disappear WITHOUT rebooting anything...

 

[mikedt]

An update on the above: last night I had my Pixel 3 (mobile data OFF) connected to the internet and able to access all content although the wifi icon showed "no internet access". Right next to it I had my Nexus 5, with the wifi icon showing internet available.
Also, my wife's Honor 9 never shows a "no internet" notification on our home network!
Very strange!

Could be some Google server the Nexus device is trying to ping is having outages, that it uses to determine Internet connectivity? Which the Huawei phone probably wouldn't do.

 

[skippergeoff]

Could be some Google server the Nexus device is trying to ping is having outages, that it uses to determine Internet connectivity? Which the Huawei phone probably wouldn't do.

Yes sounds likely - but what really throws me here is that as above: Nexus 5 reports good at the same time and on the same router as Pixel 3a reports bad! Do you think Google might use more than one IP for the check with a random choice as to which one the phone goes for?
Whatever it is, it's very annoying because I could easily be accidentally using my 4g data allowance without realising. To be on the safe side I have taken to keeping 4g data turned off whenever I believe I'm connected to wifi.

 

[Dannydet]

4g and your wireless data is automatically off when connected to wifi.

 

[skippergeoff]

4g and your wireless data is automatically off when connected to wifi.

Actually, no - if it thinks there is no internet connection it turns on 4g data (4g symbol appears in notification bar beside the GSM signal indicator) even if wifi is on and active. When the x symbol by the wifi icon is not present (i.e. the internet detection is working properly) the 4g disappears from the GSM signal indicator.

 

[skippergeoff]

Summary of problem with latest tests:
1. Phone indicates strong wifi but no internet (on wifi)
2. Turned off mobile data to ensure phone only uses wifi data connection
3. Indicator still shows 'no internet' symbol on wifi but internet is actually working and all sites accessible.
4. Ping 8.8.8.8 works fine
5. Bafflement and frustration!
The fault occurs at random times and then for no apparent reason corrects itself after a random period.

 

[codesplice]

How is your router's DNS configured? Setting the router to use Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) can sometimes help improve the reliability of connections to Google services.

I don't think I saw a response to this yet, but please forgive me if I missed it.

 

[skippergeoff]

I don't think I saw a response to this yet, but please forgive me if I missed it.

Sorry - yes my router is currently configured to use the ISP default DNS. I haven't yet tried configuring to the Google DNS, but logically if the problem occurs when Google is accessing it's own services one would think that it would directly access any Google server addresses. Incidentally, this must be specifically a Google access problem because I have noticed that when the fault is present Google search and Google News both fail with "you are offline" error despite all other sites working perfectly (Telegraph newspaper, BBC news, Facebook, Amazon etc etc).
I am prepared to change the DNS server addresses in the router however, and will report back!
Thanks

 

[codesplice]

but logically if the problem occurs when Google is accessing it's own services one would think that it would directly access any Google server addresses.

Google uses a Content Delivery Network behind a single fully-qualified domain name (often something like connectivitycheck.gstatic.com) rather than a hard-coded set of IPs (which would be in the hundreds, if not thousands) so that you always connect to a nearby server for faster speeds. If that CDN isn't being correctly resolved then certain lookups (like the connectivity check) might fail, regardless of the ability to ping Google's servers by IP.

 

[skippergeoff]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions and advice.
This problem seems to have gone away now on my Pixel 3a, possibly since the last firmware update, so fingers crossed it is now fixed!
Thanks again!