I don’t own my Internet, I have an agreement with a neighbour who isn’t around much.
Suddenly the Internet is being oddthis week.
The laptop shows the WiFi as connected and functioning but no Web pages load.
I have done various things, restarted the computer and checked that the drivers and adapters are okay, the computer says they are, but no Internet.
Computer is kind of old but I can’t afford a new one. WiFi always insisting its connected and has a signal but absolutely no Internet.
Thd phone connects intermittently to the same WiFi but always has done. The signal varies one to three bars laptop and one or two bars phone.
I can’t set up my own Internet yet for the same reason I can’t buy a new computer, the covid restrictions emptied the bank.
Just so I’m clear - your phone connects to your neighbour’s WiFi and thence to the internet, and is working, or not working, via this connection?
Or is your phone working on it’s own 3/4G connection?
Maybe the neighbours router needs a reset 
If your neighbour is absent and you know his router psw… you could log in to it and reset it by loading 192.168 1.1 in your browser but it’s risky if you are not sure of what you are doing.
Sounds like it - I’d probably do that first but it sounds as though it’s not a solution open to Annajayne in the short term.
and if @anon88169868 is correct, if your phone is connecting to a local cell rather than your neighbours router, you could you could use mobile hotspot and tethering to connect your laptop but be aware that will quickly use up any data allowance you have as part of your abonnement (whereas at the moment you probably connect to his).
The router needing reset sounds most likely. tbh I would do that. But first if you’ve got a smartphone, test if you can connect the smartphone without a laptop to wifi (switch off mobile data or go into aeroplane mode then switch on wifi on the phone). Connect the phone via wifi, use a browser that’s not chrome and not what your pc uses, then try to load a new webpage on phone.
If phone doesn’t work like this either then it will be the wifi.connection to the internet not working or the router needing a reset.
Be aware it’s possible the network decided to take it down for maintenance for part of the Easter weekend. Orange used to love doing this on a Sunday with no warning.
Install the Speedtest app on your phone and give it a go.
WiFi signal indication is the same as cellular network service indication in that having bars doesn’t mean that you have any ongoing connection to the network beyond.
Wow. A lot of advice in a short time. Thank you.
I can connect to the neighbour’s internet on the mobile but for some reason it has never got as good a signal as the laptop - usually that would be the other way round. So the phone wifi cuts out constantly. There aren’t any other networks up here, we are isolated, and the phone isn’t connecting via data.
The laptop shows a connected 3 bar wifi signal and says it’s connected, but internet pages refuse to load at all.
It’s difficult to download anything onto the phone with the intermittent wifi.
Sounds like the router definitely needs rebooted, we get the same symptoms every couple of weeks here.
Today the computer said that the audio was out of order when it wasn’t, sound was perfect. Would that be related to its refusal to Internet?
It does sound as though there might be an issue but somewhat hard to diagnose remotely.
Probably because phones have to get one antenna to do 3/4G, WiFi and probably Bluetooth as well and will be “tuneed” for best performance on the cellular network frequencies, not the WiFi ones.
Oh, and you can’t compare the number of bars on different devices, there are no standards - so all you can really say is that if the phone shows 3 bars in one spot and 4 in another the signal is a bit better in the 4-bar location, but it will be quite possible for your phone to show 4 bars for WiFi at the same spot your laptop shows three.
ISTR it’s quite an old machine - remind us what operating system it has.
Thanks.
The computer is on Windows 7.
But guess what! Just now it has connected to the wifi.
I hope it lasts! But I think the computer is getting elderly and I can’t replace it.
just like going to the Doctors surgery… the pain goes away as you go through through the door 
Well. it depends if it stays connected. And what it does next, seeing as it lied about the audio being disabled today. Fingers crossed.
We always used to say suspect a virus if things are “just acting strange”, though hardware problems can also cause odd and intermittent faults.
But, if your laptop has enough RAM (4G should do it for light tasks) I would recommend upgrading to Windows 10. This is still free, if you know where to look on Microsoft’s web site.
Okay, I hate Windows 10 and like Windows 7 though.
I did run a virus scan as I thought of that, and everything is virus free and generally safe and sound.
You’re not alone but W7 is not getting any updates to things like virus signatures unless you have a separate anti-virus package which is being kept current, although I don’t generally recommend that people bother unless there is a real need. Windows Defender is actually pretty good these days and doesn’t eat as many system resources as the commercial offerings.
I use Avast. Which always makes me think of ‘Avast Behind!’ and the answer ‘Don’t be cheeky!’
It seems okay.
I would be tempted to now embrace Windows 10 and just go with it - Windows 7 was finished may years ago. Yes 10 is different but so what.