How to fix an unauthenticated network?
If you are connected to a network and get an error message asking if Windows is allowed to join the network, then you might have an unauthenticated network. This guide will show you how fix an unauthenticated network in Windows.
A common example of this problem would be when you try connecting to the internet via public WiFi hotspot or a guest’s computer that has no admin password set.
Unauthenticated means that your computer doesn’t have access to other computers on the same local area connection, which usually happens when there is no password given or when the wrong password is given.
Although it’s not recommended to use an unauthenticated network if a user is unintentionally connected to such kind of network and due to that he/she gets all the required information from another host on the network or can access the internet freely without giving any password then we need some solution so I am writing this trick so it may be useful for readers and users who face such problem accidentally.
How do I know if I have authenticated or not?
If your computer connects successfully to the internet and you can surf the successfully for at least 5 minutes, then it’s authenticated.
If your computer doesn’t connect to the internet or takes a long time to load websites, then it might be unauthenticated.
For Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, ports UDP/TCP 1434, 137; TCP 139; TCP 445 ; and UDP 138 need to be open for successful connection. You can find all of these except for 445 by going into Start menu > Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Network and Sharing Center. Under the “Change advanced sharing settings” click on “All Networks.” Then scroll down to the bottom of this window and make sure the following option is checked: “Turn on file and printer sharing”.
How to fix an unauthenticated network?
Solution 1:
This is how you would go about fixing the problem of having an unauthenticated network. The steps are listed in order from easiest to hardest. Before starting, make sure that your router/modem is turned on and working properly.
1) Unplug everything including wires from the modem except for the power cord which powers the modem itself. Go to your computer, turn off the wifi connection if it’s on so that only ethernet wire is showing up. Power on your modem and give it about 5 minutes to establish a connection with the ISP (Internet Service Provider). While doing this, you might want to double-check that your router is properly plugged into the modem and that there’s internet access coming from somewhere like a mobile device or another computer.
2) If step 1 doesn’t work then try resetting everything including wires, router, and modem. Turn off the router by unplugging it entirely. Wait for at least 10 seconds before turning it back on again.
Wait until all your devices are connected to wifi/ethernet and connect your computer as well. If no connection comes out of this, move on to the next step where we will make some changes in the network settings of your computer.
How do I know if I have authenticated or not?
If your computer connects successfully, then is authenticated under UDP/TCP protocols. This means that you have successfully connected to the internet and all traffic from your computer should go through normally now
Now, for those who are still having problems with authentication or just want a fresh start, click Start and enter Network and Sharing Center. Then press Enter.
This should open up a screen that shows information about every connection available to your computer (wifi, Ethernet etc). Click on your active connection (the one with a light green arrow next to it) and then click the Properties button at the bottom of the window. A new window will open up; this is where we will make necessary changes in the network settings of your computer
Click Configure button under the Networking tab and another new window should pop out like below:
If you are on a home network or office, then most likely your ISP gave you IP with DHCP. If that is the case, then select Obtain an IP address automatically and also select Obtain DNS server address automatically.
Now press OK button to save all changes made. This should solve authentication-related problems
Restart your computer if required
Restore wireless connections settings to default by clicking Change adapter settings in the Networking tab of network connection properties mentioned above
Your problems with unauthenticated networks should be now fixed for good!
Solution 2:
Instructions:
1) First of all connect your computer using a cable with any router or AP which is used in the unauthenticated network by someone else.
2) Install any virtual private network (VPN) tool like LogMeIn Hamachi.
3) A new virtual local area network (VLAN) will appear just below the LAN connection.
Solution 3:
First things first – try rebooting your router or AP (access point) as this will frequently fix authentication issues. If that doesn’t work, double-check your router or AP to make sure your firewall software isn’t blocking access for Windows networking (port 445). Also, if you’re trying to connect to a VPN and the “network key” prompt is coming up, try changing the type of VPN connection from PPTP/L2TP/SSTP to just using IKEv2 – this change should allow you to authenticate successfully.
If these don’t work there’s another thing you can try: disabling IPv6. This will not cause any problems except with applications such as Remote Assistance which requires it so unless both IPv4 and IPv6 are disabled on your system it shouldn’t be a problem.
If these steps fail you can also try completely reinstalling Windows. If your hard drive is failing you might get the “unable to connect” message just because of that if it’s bad enough, or some other hardware issue. It happens sometimes, anyways it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle with all the knowledge you’ve attained today, right?
Further background information related to this task:
– To check what type of VPN connection I have on my computer I would go to the network icon in the taskbar and click on it to show all networks currently available. Then right-click on “VPN connection” and select properties – then click on “Security” tab. This will give me two options “Type of VPN” and “Authentication”. If the Type is set to Automatic then it automatically sets itself according to what type of connection I am on, for example, if I am connected to my home wifi then it sets itself as L2TP/IPSec. But if on the other hand it is set to PPTP only – this means that not all encryption types are available; therefore the problem stated above arises (unauthenticated network).
To solve this problem, update your Connection’s VPN settings by choosing a new security protocol like IPsec or L2tp/IPSec. Do note that you might have to get a network setup technician if you can’t fix this issue yourself.
– Note: Unauthenticated network can also be a problem if your ISP or company’s firewall is blocking PPTP. In this case, I suggest you change the VPN protocol to L2tp/IPSec as it works for most configurations.
– Note: Unauthenticated network occurs when you try connecting through a VPN and the Authenticating server keeps on timing out or doesn’t even respond. This issue is mainly faced by those who dial into their corporate networks via a dial-up connection that uses one of these protocols – PPTP, L2TP, Cisco IPSEC.
– Note: If you still suffer from an unauthenticated network then chances are that something else has gone wrong which means you will need help from another source like your computer shop guy.
The VPN protocol that your corporate network uses is either PPTP, L2TP/IPSec or Cisco IPSEC. You can use any of these protocols but there is a catch with the L2TP/IPSec protocol. It works only on the Windows 2000/XP platform, not on Vista or Windows 7 unless you install the update KB948277 from Microsoft.
– Note: Unauthenticated network occurs when something has gone wrong on your computer which means it could be anything from having an incorrect UDP port number to not having VPN Client installed at all on your computer.
The best way to solve this problem is by changing the VPN protocol to L2tp/IPSec because it works for most configurations and also if you are trying to set up a server you could simply use this type of VPN instead.
– Note: If the VPN is not installed properly on your computer it can sometimes cause an unauthenticated network error, in order to fix this issue install the Cisco IPSec VPN client from Microsoft Update or directly from Microsoft’s website by clicking here.
– Note: Windows 8 and 10 do not have a native VPN client built into their operating system, however, if you do connect via L2tp/IPSec then there should be no problems connecting. However other protocols such as SSTP will not work on Windows 8 and 10 so I recommend using the Cisco AnyConnect client which you can download from here for free.
In conclusion, always remember to install the Cisco IPSec VPN client from Microsoft Update or directly from Microsoft’s website by clicking here. Additionally, Windows 8 and 10 do not have a native VPN client built into their operating system, so if you wish to connect via L2tp/IPSec then there should be no problems connecting. However other protocols such as SSTP will not work on Windows 8 and 10 so I recommend using the Cisco AnyConnect client which you can download from here for free.
