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Windows Client: Unexpected Windows Notification - No Internet Access

Aaron
  • Updated
In this article:
    Applicable to:
    • Twingate Component: Client
    • Platform: Windows 10, Windows 11

    Overview

    Windows leverages Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) to examine network connectivity by attempting to connect to a handful of Microsoft-hosted IPv6/AAAA and IPv6/A endpoints. If native IPv6 is present, Windows will default to preferring IPv6 over IPv4, and if resolving the designated Microsoft AAAA DNS endpoints fails, NCSI indicates no Internet access (even if resolving the A DNS record succeeds).

    The Twingate Windows Client does not currently provide native support for IPv6. As such, in certain environments where the ISP provides IPv6 connectivity, NCSI might return the Internet as being down as it doesn’t check for both IPv6 and IPv4 connectivity. This is usually reported in the OS to the user via notification, and some applications (like Outlook) make a prerequisite check with the NCSI API prior to attempting a connection.

    Symptoms

    • When the Windows Client is connected, both Twingate and the network adapter are reported to have No Internet access in the Windows Notification Tray.
    • Windows applications which utilize the NCSI API such as the Office 365 Suite (Outlook) return an error that no internet access is available.
    • Internet use outside of such applications works as expected.
    • When the Windows Client is disconnected the No Internet access error goes away.

    Resolution

    To alleviate the No Internet access notifications and Windows applications leveraging NCSI failing to load, IPv4 can be set to be preferred over IPv6. Microsoft explicitly advises to not disable IPv6 or NCSI.

    ⚠️ Note: in order to run this script you must run PowerShell as an Administrator.

    1. Press WindowsKey+R on your keyboard to open Run.

    2. Type powershell and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter on your keyboard to open PowerShell as an Administrator.

    3. Accept the UAC prompt to continue as applicable.

    4. Copy the below command and paste it into the PowerShell terminal.

      $preferIPv4 = Invoke-WebRequest https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Twingate-Labs/tg-scripts/main/Client/Windows/preferIPv4.ps1; Invoke-Expression $($preferIPv4.Content)

    5. Press enter on your keyboard to issue the command.

    6. You should either have a response of the below. If any errors are returned beyond an error to run as administrator, please engage Twingate Support as needed.

      IPv4 is already preferred over IPv6. No further actions necessary.

      Setting IPv4 preference over IPv6.
Reboot required for changes to take effect.

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    7. After rebooting (if prompted), confirm the symptoms are resolved.

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