Website works on mobile data but not on Wi-Fi: device or network?

The short answer

If a website opens on mobile data but not on your Wi-Fi, the website itself is very likely working. Something about the Wi-Fi path is different: the router, the DNS service it hands out, a filter, a sign-in page, or a setting on your device that only applies to that network. One exception: when you are abroad and roaming, the two connections may not appear to be in the same country, so a country block by the website can also explain the difference. Our guide "Website blocked in your country or just down?" covers that case.

You can usually find the cause in a few minutes without paying for anything. The trick is to answer one question first: is it this device, or is it this network? The rest of this guide follows that order and stops as soon as you have your answer.

Step 1: your device or the Wi-Fi network?

Take a second device, such as a laptop, a tablet or a family member's phone, and connect it to the same Wi-Fi. Open the same address. Then compare.

• The site fails on every device on this Wi-Fi: the network is the cause. Continue with the router, DNS, sign-in pages, filters and provider blocks below.
• The site fails only on your device: something on that device treats the Wi-Fi differently. Look at its saved settings for that network, its private address, a VPN or proxy, and its DNS setting.
• The site fails on several Wi-Fi networks but works on mobile data: look at the device first, because a VPN, proxy or security app may only be active on Wi-Fi.
• You only have one device: forget the network on it, connect again and retest. Microsoft gives the same advice for Windows, and Apple suggests restarting the router and modem when an iPhone cannot get online over Wi-Fi.

Step 2: restart the router and reconnect cleanly

Unplug the router and, if you have a separate one, the modem. Microsoft recommends waiting at least 30 seconds before you plug them back in. Many one-off faults disappear at this point.

Then let the device forget the network and join it again with the password. On a Windows PC, open Command Prompt as administrator and run `ipconfig /release`, `ipconfig /renew` and `ipconfig /flushdns`; this gives the connection and the stored addresses a fresh start.

On an iPhone, Apple treats Reset Network Settings (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset) as a last resort: it removes all saved Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular settings and VPN and APN settings. Use it only if the other steps in this guide did not help, and on a work or school iPhone ask IT first.

Step 3: rule out the network's DNS service

DNS is the internet's address book: it turns a name such as example.com into the number of a server. Your Wi-Fi router usually hands out the DNS service of your internet provider, while mobile data uses the DNS service of your mobile operator. If only the Wi-Fi one fails or filters, the site breaks on Wi-Fi alone, typically with ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED or DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN.

To test, set a public DNS service on the one device for a while. Google Public DNS uses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4; Cloudflare runs 1.1.1.1. Google advises writing down your current settings before you change them and testing afterwards by opening a normal web address. Its troubleshooting guide also notes that a Wi-Fi sign-in page, malware on the router or the internet provider can tamper with DNS answers. On a work, school or public network, ask the network owner before you change DNS.

• Windows 11: Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi, open the properties of your network, select Edit next to DNS server assignment (not IP assignment, which would also change your device's own address), switch to Manual, turn on IPv4 and enter the DNS addresses. To undo it, set it back to Automatic (DHCP).
• Mac: Apple menu > System Settings > Network, select the network service, then Details > DNS, and add the servers with the Add button.
• Android: Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS. Android describes Private DNS as on by default; it protects only DNS questions and answers. Choosing a provider hostname such as dns.google applies to every network.
• iPhone: Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the info button next to the network, then Configure DNS > Manual.

Step 4: a sign-in page or a network with house rules

Hotels, trains, airports, cafés and some offices run what the IETF (the body that writes internet standards) calls a captive portal: a network where access stays limited until you meet its requirements, such as accepting a usage policy or entering a code. Until then, some pages fail and secure pages can show certificate warnings. Chrome may say "Connect to Wi-Fi" and offer the login page.

Open the sign-in page, accept the terms and retry. If the network blocks certain kinds of sites by its own rules, for example at school or work, the block is intended. Ask the network owner rather than trying to get around it.

Step 5: parental controls and content filters

Many routers and home security services include parental controls, and some households use a filtering DNS service. Cloudflare, for example, offers 1.1.1.1 for Families on 1.1.1.2 and 1.1.1.3; for a blocked name it answers with the address 0.0.0.0 instead of the real one. In the browser, that usually looks like a connection error, not like a block page.

Filters often recognise devices by their hardware address. Android and Apple devices can use a private, random address per network, and Android advises including both addresses when you set up parental controls. If a rule seems to hit the wrong device, check the device list in the router.

Step 6: IPv6 that only half works

Many websites can be reached over two kinds of addresses, the older IPv4 and the newer IPv6. Your Wi-Fi and your mobile network can differ in which of the two they offer. When IPv6 is switched on but broken somewhere along the way, some sites become slow or fail on that network only.

Browsers soften this with a method the IETF calls Happy Eyeballs: they start with one kind of address and, if no answer comes quickly, start a second attempt with the other kind. The IETF suggests 250 milliseconds as one possible delay; Chrome currently waits 300 milliseconds. A router restart or a firmware update (new software for the router) can help; if one site keeps failing on the same Wi-Fi, tell your provider that IPv6 may be the issue.

Step 7: VPN, proxy and security apps on the device

A VPN or proxy that switches on only for Wi-Fi is one possible reason for a site that works on mobile data. So is a security app with a web shield, or a proxy setting saved for one Wi-Fi network. Pause the VPN or the web protection for one test and reload.

If Chrome shows ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED, a proxy is set but does not answer. Our page on that error lists where to switch the proxy off on Windows, Mac, Android and Chromebook.

Step 8: blocks by your provider or the network owner

Internet providers run DNS services, and some of them block certain sites on purpose. The measurement project OONI groups such blocks into three patterns: DNS answers that differ from the real ones, connections that never open, and web answers that fail or differ from the real page, such as a block page. Your mobile operator may block differently or not at all.

Changing DNS can get past a DNS-based block, but it may break the terms of your contract or of the network you use, and in some countries such blocks may be required by law. If a block is lawful to get around where you are and the network owner allows it, a VPN can carry your traffic past a network filter. Our comparison at /vpn starts with the free options and rates providers only on documented facts.

What CheckWebsiteNow can and cannot tell you

CheckWebsiteNow tests a site from one server location, outside your home and outside your mobile network. If our check reaches the site, the website answers, and a failure on your Wi-Fi points to the path between you and the internet.

Our check cannot see your router, your device settings or the DNS service of your provider. It also cannot prove that a site works in every country. Use it as one step in this guide, together with the second device and the second network.

When to contact your provider or the network owner

Contact your internet provider when the site fails on every device on your home Wi-Fi, still fails after a router restart and a DNS test, and works on mobile data and in our check. Give them the exact error code, the time and the steps you already tried.

On a work, school, hotel or public network, ask whoever runs it. Apple gives the same advice for networks you do not manage: if you cannot change the settings yourself, the provider or administrator can.

More guides

• Website blocked in your country or just down? How to tell the difference The signs of a country block (HTTP 451, Cloudflare 1009, region messages) versus an outage, a five-minute self-test, and when a VPN helps or does not.
• Is using a VPN legal and safe? What it fixes and what it doesn't Where VPNs are legal or restricted, why legal is not the same as allowed by a service, what a VPN hides, how to judge a provider and when to switch it off.