A broken Internet connection with error 678 is a fairly common phenomenon and occurs mainly in situations where a PPPoE-based connection is used to establish a connection, in which the so-called WAN Miniport is used. A typical message appears on the screen stating that the remote computer or server is not responding. It is definitely impossible to say immediately what exactly caused the failure, therefore it is proposed to consider several of the most common situations and possible techniques that will help to fix them.
Causes of Error 678 When Connecting to the Internet
As for the main causes of communication disruption, there can be a lot of them. We will not consider problems related to equipment inoperability or damage to network cables, but we will dwell more on typical software failures, which are eliminated by reconfiguring some parameters of communication devices and the options for the connections used in the Windows operating system environment.
Among the most common causes that cause the appearance of error 678 when connecting to the Internet, the following are called:
- deactivated connection;
- Incorrect network settings on both the computer and the router (router or modem);
- absence or incorrect installation of hardware drivers;
- "Gathering" of Winsock settings;
- blocking the connection with protective programs or viruses.
Activate connection and change access protocol settings
Based on the above reasons, you can begin to resolve the failures that have occurred. First of all, you need to make sure that the Internet connection created on the computer or laptop is currently in the active state. For quick access to these parameters, in the Run menu, enter the abbreviation ncpa.cpl, then press the enter key, and in the window that appears, look at the icon of the connection used to access the Internet.
If it is inactive, through the PCM menu, you just need to enable it using the corresponding item.
Often the impossibility of establishing a connection can be due to the fact that the wrong options are set in the settings of the connection itself. In the window described above, through the properties item, you need to proceed to setting the IPv4 protocol parameters, and then check the correctness of entering all the addresses provided by the provider when concluding the contract. It may well be that error 678 when connecting to the Internet is connected specifically with the provider (for example, setting non-working DNS addresses), so you should contact support. However, there is a simpler solution.
In the default protocol settings, simply change the DNS server addresses using free public combinations from Google, as shown in the image above.
Note: Pay special attention to the proxy server activation point. If its use by the provider is not provided, disable this setting by unchecking the corresponding item.
Error 678 when connecting to the Internet through a router
For router failures, check the settings for them. In the case of ordinary routers, go to the device’s web interface through any browser available on the system and look at the options set in the WAN parameters (they are also provided by the provider).
Alternatively, as one of the solutions, write the DNS addresses yourself, and in the protocol settings on the computer or laptop, set the automatic receipt of all addresses (this is a prerequisite when using a wireless connection).
But in the case of modems that are supplied by a certain operator (for example, Intertelecom), error 678 when connecting to the Internet may also occur due to the lack of drivers installed for them. Try updating them through the standard “Device Manager”, indicating to the system either a search on this computer, or choosing their location on the media with drivers, which should be included with the device. If there is no such disk, from another computer, download them from the operator’s official website, and then install them manually. If the driver you are looking for cannot be found, use the information of the hardware ID in the “Device Manager” and use the longest line with two identifiers to search for the driver on the Internet, and then install.
At the same time, it does not hurt to check the status of the WAN Miniport drivers. There may be several devices, so do not be surprised.
Note: if everything is ok with the drivers, reset the modem or router by turning off the power supply for 10-15 seconds.
Restore Winsock and create a new connection
Finally, if none of the above suggested desired results have been obtained, try resetting Winsock.
To do this, on Windows systems of the seventh version and higher, call the command line on behalf of the administrator and run the netsh winsock reset command in it, and then perform a complete reboot of the system.
If this does not help, create a new high-speed connection and set the required parameters for it.
What could be more?
If we talk about the probable causes of error 678 when connecting to the Internet, which may not be connected with the settings of the connection itself, they can be provoked by all sorts of viruses and even security software. In the first case, it is recommended to perform a full system scan using portable anti-virus applications, and in the second, temporarily disable both the anti-virus and the Windows firewall, which can block the connection. If the connection works, the antivirus module will have to be changed or set up in exceptions such that the ports of incoming and outgoing connections, as well as the programs used to access the Internet, are not blocked. But such situations are very rare, so the above solutions will suffice.