Windows 10 won't connect to Wi-Fi

Hey everyone... so I've got this Windows 10 laptop that worked perfectly fine on my Wi-Fi back home in the States, but now that I'm traveling abroad, things are getting weird. Every time I try to connect to my home modem, it just says "Secured, not connected" and shows that little warning icon ⚠️. Anyone know how to fix this?
My phone connects to the modem without any issues, though... I already tried the whole routine—restarting the modem, rebooting the laptop, even messing around with the password—but nothing's working. Any ideas? Thanks...

Kind of hard to follow...
- You can't just connect to your home modem from abroad because the Wi-Fi range is only about 100 meters, not like 311 miles.
- If you're using a router while you're out of the country, there's a chance it doesn't support certain channels. If that happens, just log into the router settings and manually switch the channel (CH) from "auto" to something fixed like 6CH. Also, double-check that the encryption is set to WPA2 or AES.

brightbadger57 said:Hey everyone... so I've got this Windows 10 laptop that worked perfectly fine on my Wi-Fi back home in the States, but now that I'm traveling abroad, things are getting weird. Every time I try to connect to my home modem, it just says "Secured, not connected" and shows that little warning icon ⚠️. Anyone know how to fix this?
My phone connects to the modem without any issues, though... I already tried the whole routine—restarting the modem, rebooting the laptop, even messing around with the password—but nothing's working. Any ideas? Thanks...

If you aren't even attempting to connect to the modem here in the States (take a look at what wearymason4 is saying), then just "log in" or enter the password.
Secured, but no connection. It means that the Wi-Fi is secured with a password, and you aren't currently connected to it.

Mobile phone. It connects to the modem just fine. I already tried restarting both the modem and the router. No luck. Laptop. I'm trying to change my password. Nothing is working.

If you know how to change a password, you clearly have enough technical sense to handle this. Go ahead and check your laptop just to be safe. You might have accidentally tapped the Wi-Fi icon off—especially if you’re using one of those touch-sensitive taskbars on your desktop.

So, I'm trying to get connected to the modem at my place here in the States... obviously. My laptop doesn't have those dedicated internet buttons on the keyboard, so I'll just drop some links to a few screenshots of all my options since it won't let me upload images directly here. Hope that's cool. If you guys could maybe walk me through what I actually need to tweak... I already tried setting the Country/Region option in the first picture, but it's still refusing to connect. Thanks for the help!

https://prnt.sc/o3y887

https://prnt.sc/o3y91d

https://prnt.sc/o3y96i

https://prnt.sc/o3yale

brightbadger57 said:So, I'm trying to get connected to the modem at my place here in the States... obviously. My laptop doesn't have those dedicated internet buttons on the keyboard, so I'll just drop some links to a few screenshots of all my options since it won't let me upload images directly here. Hope that's cool. If you guys could maybe walk me through what I actually need to tweak... I already tried setting the Country/Region option in the first picture, but it's still refusing to connect. Thanks for the help!

https://prnt.sc/o3y887

https://prnt.sc/o3y91d

https://prnt.sc/o3y96i

https://prnt.sc/o3yale

Did you try entering the password for that "house abroad" into your laptop settings, specifically for the second Wi-Fi network?🙂

How did you move those photos over?
Double-click on EasyBox (or just right-click) and select "Connect."
It should prompt you for a password at some point.

So I click on the network, punch in my password, hit connect... and then it just sits there saying Secured, not connected. There's this little ⚠️ icon hanging out on the Wi-Fi symbol and nothing works. Can't even get a webpage to load. It's basically dead...

brightbadger57 said:So I click on the network, punch in my password, hit connect... and then it just sits there saying Secured, not connected. There's this little ⚠️ icon hanging out on the Wi-Fi symbol and nothing works. Can't even get a webpage to load. It's basically dead...

Well, look, we really need to know who actually made the laptop and which specific version you're running, and also if it works okay with other Wi-Fi networks. Honestly, without more details, trying to guess what's going wrong is probably about as effective as trying to read a crystal ball.

Anyway, those Ralink cards tend to have some real headaches when it comes to drivers for Windows 10, and looking at this screenshot, it seems like...

https://prnt.sc/o3y96i

your drivers are likely the culprit here.

I'd suggest completely uninstalling whatever drivers you currently have installed, and then downloading some fresh ones—but maybe don't just rely on Windows Update or the card manufacturer's site. Instead, try finding the exact laptop model and the specific card model, then grab the official drivers directly from the laptop manufacturer's website and install those.

If you can actually see all those WiFi SSIDs popping up in the range like in the screenshot, then the drivers themselves should be doing their job just fine.
Honestly, looking at the other shots, it feels like someone went overboard tweaking settings that didn't even need touching.
Once the drivers are actually installed, that little WiFi icon should show up right there in the taskbar. You just click it, pick your network, hit connect, punch in your password, and if it's right, you're good to go—it'll say "connected."
Maybe try checking things out here to get everything back in order: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-m...mpt-windows-10
Like brightbadger57 was saying, we're basically flying blind here since we don't even know what kind of laptop or wireless card we're dealing with.

Give this a shot for Windows network troubleshooting:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...nection-issues

Here’s some more advice, though honestly, the best move seems to be just nuking the drivers and reinstalling them from scratch:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...nection-issues

brightbadger57 said:So I click on the network, punch in my password, hit connect... and then it just sits there saying Secured, not connected. There's this little ⚠️ icon hanging out on the Wi-Fi symbol and nothing works. Can't even get a webpage to load. It's basically dead...

Just thought I'd share, but I’ve run into this exact headache a few times before, and usually, one of these quick fixes does the trick.

1. Try the classic unplug and replug method with your modem—just pull the power cord, let it sit for a few minutes while it resets, and then plug it back in.

Or

2. Give your Windows 10 machine a quick restart.

Or even

3. Go into your settings, forget the Wi-Fi network entirely, and then try reconnecting from scratch by entering the password again.

Honestly, option 3 is probably your best bet.

If none of those work, then I'm officially out of ideas!

Thanks everyone!! Turns out that second option on this page actually did the trick... finally...

So, I was digging through some old files earlier and stumbled onto this guide about fixing those annoying driver issues on Windows 10... you know the ones where everything just decides to stop working for no reason? It’s actually pretty useful if you're stuck in that loop of "everything is fine" one minute and then total chaos the next. Basically, if your hardware is acting up, the whole thing usually boils down to drivers being outdated or just completely bugged out. The article walks through how to check Device Manager—which, let's be honest, is a bit of a nightmare to navigate sometimes—and how to hunt down the right updates. They suggest using a tool like DriverEasy to just automate the whole headache, which sounds alright if you aren't the type to enjoy spending three hours scouring manufacturer websites at midnight... I remember back when I was trying to get my old rig running after a crash, and nothing seemed to stick... just endless reboots and error messages... anyway, if your PC is throwing a tantrum, might be worth a look. Just don't go clicking random things without knowing what they do... trust me on that one.