If your Windows 11 laptop slows down or freezes when connected to the internet, this article will help you fix this issue. According to the reports, when users try to connect to the internet, their laptop either slows down or freezes. This issue prevents users from working on their laptops because of the lagging performance after connecting to the Internet.
Laptop slows down when connected to internet in Windows 11
The following solutions will help you if your Windows 11/10 laptop slows down or freezes when connected to the internet. But before you proceed, we suggest you check for Windows Update manually. If an update is available download and install it.
- Run Network and Internet troubleshooter
- Switch to the High Performance power plan
- Roll back your Network card driver
- Update and reinstall your Network card driver
- Check in the Clean Boot state
- Update your Router firmware (if applicable)
- Reset TCP/IP, flush DNS cache, reset Windows sockets
- Update BIOS
Let’s start.
1] Run Network and Internet troubleshooter
The Network and Internet troubleshooter can help fix issues related to internet connectivity. Run the Network and Internet Troubleshooter via the Get Help app and see if it fixes this issue.
2] Switch to the High Performance power plan
If you experience performance issues, switching to the High Performance power plan can help. You can do so through the Control Panel. Open the Power Options page in the Control Panel and select the High Performance Power Plan.
If the High Performance power plan is not there, you can restore it via the elevated Command Prompt.
3] Roll Back your Network card driver
You can install the previous version of your Network card driver by using the Roll Back option. Check if the Roll Back Driver option is available for your Network driver. Go through the following instructions:
- Open the Device Manager.
- Expand the Network adapters branch.
- Double-click on your network card driver to open its properties.
- Go to the Driver tab and click on the Roll Back button (if it is clickable).
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install its previous version.
4] Update and reinstall your Network card driver
A corrupt Network card driver is the main cause of this issue. We suggest you update or reinstall your Network card driver. To reinstall the driver, right-click on the Network card driver in the Device Manager and select Uninstall device. After doing that, restart your laptop or scan for hardware changes.
You can update your Network card driver to the latest version by downloading its most recent version from the official website of your computer manufacturer. After downloading the driver, install it manually.
5] Check in the Clean Boot state
A third-party application or service might be causing this issue on your system. We suggest you start your laptop in a Clean Boot state and then connect it to the internet. See what happens this time.
If your laptop does not lag in performance or freezes in the Clean Boot state, you need to identify the problematic third-party application or service.
6] Update your Router firmware (if applicable)
You can also check for updates for your router firmware. If an update is available, install it. This fix is not applicable to all routers because the firmware update option is not available in some routers. You have to log in to your administrator account of your router and then check if the firmware update option is available there. If yes, install the firmware update. Alternatively, you can also contact your router support to get more information about firmware updates.
You can also try power cycling your WiFi router and see if it helps. The following steps will help you:
- Turn off your router and disconnect its adapter from the wall socket.
- Wait for a few minutes.
- Connect the adapter to the wall socket and turn on the router.
7] Reset TCP/IP, flush DNS cache, reset Windows sockets
Corrupted TCP/IP or Internet Protocol, corrupt DNS cache, and corrupt Windows Sockets can also cause this problem. We suggest you perform the following actions:
You have to execute the required commands in the elevated Command Prompt window. However, if you do not want to execute the commands, you can also use our FixWin11 utility for the same.
Alternatively, you can create a batch file to perform all the above-mentioned actions with a single click.
8] Update BIOS
At last, update your BIOS (if an update is available). You can download the latest BIOS update from the official website of your computer manufacturer.
Connect your charger to the laptop while installing the BIOS update even if it is fully charged. Interrupting the power supply during the BIOS update will cause your motherboard to malfunction.
That’s it, I hope this helps.
How to fix slow internet speeds in Windows 11?
If the internet is slow on your Windows 11 computer, you can try some fixes like power cycling your WiFi router, running the Network and Internet Troubleshooter, disconnecting from VPN (if applicable), resetting your network, etc.
How to make a laptop faster in Windows 11?
You can improve Windows 11 performance by making some tweaks, like deleting junk and unnecessary files, disabling unnecessary background applications, pausing OneDrive syncing, selecting the High Performance power plan, etc.
Read next: Internet connection drops when downloading large files on a PC.
