Connected but no Internet - only Chromebook!

[Tigsteroonie]

I feel sure that this has to be something to do with Chromebooks, as it has now happened with two different (brands of) chromebook devices and with nothing else on our network.

Randomly and quite frequently, my Chromebook loses the ability to talk to the VM network - either "connected but no internet" or "captive portal". Sometimes switching wifi off/on will work, other times I have to restart; and sometimes if I just give up and put it aside, the chromebook reconnects with no intervention at all.

This doesn't happen to ANY other device in the house - we have different brands of mobile, a Windows laptop, a Mac laptop, CCTV and wifi cameras. We also have TP-Link booster devices with identical SSID to the main hub. I am very reluctant to change any settings on the VM Router (Hub4) because everything else is working just fine - it's only Chromebooks that seem to have the issue. I have rebooted the Router at least twice. 

I have no adblock, and although NordVPN is installed, it remains disconnected 99.9% of the time. Both the former and the current Chromebooks have been powerwashed, with no improvement. I had thought it was the adblock extension as i saw a minor improvement for a short while but the problem returned after a couple of days.

Does anybody have suggestions as to what else I can try?

[Ilyas_Y]

Hey @Tigsteroonie Thanks for reaching out to us on here. 👋🏽

I'm sorry to hear about the issues with the Chromebook connecting, 😢
If all other devices are connecting and not experiencing this issue, it would indicate possibly a device issue itself.

Does this happen on any other network?
How is it when wired in?

Let us know.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[Tigsteroonie]

(1) It happened with the Chromebook before this one - a different make. I actually replaced that Chromebook because I thought its Wifi was on the fritz. Nope, turns out that it's an issue with the Chrome OS and VM Hub interface.

(2) I don't have access to another network, unless I use my mobile phone and its limited data package.

(3) I don't have a long ethernet cable to run from the Hub to the Chromebook, which itself doesn't have a network port so I'd need some kind of adapter too.

I stress again that nothing else in the house has this problem - not Android phones, not the iPhone, not Windows laptops, not the wifi cameras, not the Roku box ... Only the Chromebook(s). 

When it fails (as it just did, I had to reboot again), it tells me that it "can't find Gateway". 

Looks as though my choices are either to test with the mobile phone as a hub (and it could take hours for a failure to manifest, or it could be immediate, who knows!) or ditch using Chromebooks, which would be a shame. Oh and I've tried rebooting the VM Hub, that didn't help.

I am amazed that nobody else seems to be reporting this problem, given that I've had it with two different Chromebooks now.

Thank you for responding, btw.

[svmiddleton]

My wife has a Lenovo ChromeBook, and we have recently been experiencing the same issue. As it is the wife's, there is some pressure and frustration on her behalf, and now mine, as we are experiencing the same issue.

Investigation wise, this is ONLY happening to the ChromeBook. I can see that it initially connects to the Wifi / Router, and after about 7 seconds drops out with the "cant connect to Gateway". The setup is with the VM router setup in MODEM Mode, with WiFi provided by a Draytek Router. this happens whether in Auto Channel Negotiation, or whether fixed on channels 2, 6 or 11 as suggested above. This issue is reproducible 100%.

In testing, I can connect it via Mobile Hotspot on mobile phone to Vodafone and O2 with NO issues, browsing all sites, etc., NO fixing of WiFi channels.

To confirm whether it is the router and its Auto Negotiation of Channels, I have also taken the ChromeBook into the office where I have an identical Draytek router. To confirm this operates in Auto Channel mode, and is connected to BT as the ISP through the BT router also operating in Modem modem. The Chromebook connects and functions perfectly with NO issues.

On a separate thread on Reddit, "asus_chromebook_flip_cant_connect...", the final post was "Turned out not to be the Chromebook or the router but the internet service provider". "Solution was to ask the ISP to switch from Dual Stack Lite to Dual Stack. This solved the problem completely".

As to whether that is possible I'm not aware, but presently the ChromeBook is useless at home.

The Chromebook is up to date, and ALL other devices in the house connect OK. It's not possible to connect it via LAN cable as no port.

As BT / OpenReach have just supplied Broadband to the area I'm investigating price and options. 

[Vikki_M]

Hi svmiddleton,

We're very sorry to hear about the service issues you're having.

For us to run checks on our side and pull accurate data from the hub, we'd require the hub to be in router mode with no third party routers connection, for at least 24 hours.

If you're happy to do so, please let us know and we can take from there.

Please pop back to us when you can.