You should start by trying to localize the problem to either your TV or your router and then you can follow the appropriate troubleshooting steps for each, which are detailed below.
An important point to check is if other devices can connect to the Internet through your router, even if your TV cannot.
You can jump to the relevant steps in this guide, but I would recommend running through the steps in order to cover every base.
Is The Problem With Your TV or Router?
To help localize the problem to either your TV or your router, try setting up a hotspot on your phone and then connecting your TV to it.
Hotspots can be set up on iPhones from Personal Hotspot, and on Android from Settings -> Network and Internet -> Hotspot and Tethering.
- If your TV connects to your phone hotspot and can access the Internet through your phone, then you can assume that you have a problem with your router.
- If your TV will not connect to your hotspot, you have either a software issue with your TV or a hardware problem with the Wi-Fi card in your TV.
Depending on the results of the above test, you can then follow the router troubleshooting steps or TV troubleshooting steps as below. Check out the overview and then the detailed steps follow this.
Router Troubleshooting Steps Overview
| Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Incorrect Password | Double-check that the password for your router has been entered correctly on your TV and/or it hasn’t recently been changed by other members of your household. |
| MAC Address Filtering | Every router can filter which devices are allowed to connect to the Internet through their MAC addresses. If you have MAC address filtering on, your TV will connect to your router but will not get an active Internet connection. |
| Poor Signal | RF interference or too many devices on your WiFi network can prevent a solid connection. |
| Router Software Glitch | Try soft resetting your router and if that doesn’t help, then hard reset it. |
TV Troubleshooting Steps Overview
| Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Software Glitch | If you have a newer model of TV, then WiFi connection problems can potentially be resolved by power cycling, or by changing your LG TV’s location in the settings. |
| IP/DNS Conflict | If your TV is set to pull a manual IP/DNS, it can fail to be assigned an IP depending if the address range is outside one that your router provides. In this case, your TV may or may not connect to your phone’s hotspot. |
| Old Firmware | Constant disconnection problems might be resolved by updating firmware, if available. |
| 2.4GHz/5GHz Bandwidth Issues | Even relatively recent TVs (2018 models) might not be able to connect to 5GHz WiFi and/or the bandwidth you are broadcasting on might have high levels of interference. |
| Incorrect Time/Date | IP addresses acquired by DHCP typically expire 24 hours – 1 week after assigning. If your TV’s date is outside this range, it can cause it to reject the IP address offered by your router/your router allow the connection. |
| WiFi Module Failure | If you have ruled out all software issues and potential router problems, then you are left with a WiFi module failure. Open up your TV and checks its connections are firmly seated first, then replace if necessary. |
What To Do If Your LG TV Won’t Connect to WiFi
For a quick overview of the steps needed to fix your TV/router, you can take a look at my video below, with the full details for each step following this.
How to Fix Router WiFi Problems
1. Make Sure Your WiFi Password is Correct
If your WiFi will not connect at all on your TV, this could be a sign that the password you are entering is incorrect, or the WPS setup failed.
2. Check Your Router is Not Set for MAC Address Filtering
MAC address filtering allows you to specify which devices are allowed to connect to the Internet using their unique MAC addresses, which every Internet-capable device has.
So if you do have a connection to your router from your TV, but your TV has no Internet connection, then login to your router by typing the Admin IP address into your phone’s or computer’s browser. This is listed on a label on your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or similar), along with the admin login info.
Go to Advanced or Expert Settings and find MAC Filtering. Make sure this is turned off.
3. Change Router Authentication to WPA
If your LG TV is around ten years old, then it may not support the latest protection algorithms that your router uses to secure its WiFi connection.
Log in to your router through its admin page (on the label beneath your router, and usually something similar to 192.168.0.1), and go to General WiFi Settings or similar.
Look for the Protection Mode, which will most likely show WPA2. Change this to WPA or WPA + WPA2 and try to reconnect your TV to your WiFi.
4. Possible WiFi Interference / Too Many Devices
If your LG TV is not detecting your home WiFi signal at all, then you need to make sure that your router is switched on and working properly, and that there is no interference or blocking of the WiFi signal between your router and TV.
5. LG TV Not Picking Up 5GHz WiFi
Check the user manual for your specific TV to see which bandwidths it supports, but as an example, even some TVs from as late as 2018 only support 2.4GHz, meaning that if your router is only broadcasting a 5GHz signal, your TV cannot connect to it.
Login to your router’s landing page, usually found by typing 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.0 into a browser on your phone or computer (the exact IP will be on a label on your router).
Find the login info on your router’s label, and take a look at the overview page to see whether your TV is connecting on 2.4GHz or 5GHz.
If it is connecting on the 5GHz channel, try changing the settings in your TV’s Network Status page to connect only on 2.4GHz.
You can also update the channel frequencies in the router itself, usually found under Expert Settings or Advanced Settings, changing these values and retesting your TV’s Wi-Fi connection to see if they make any difference.
6. Reset Your Router
You can first try a soft reset of your router – unplugging it for 30 seconds – to see if that fixes your issue.
If not, try a hard reset of your router by pressing a paperclip or similar into the small reset hole usually found on the back of your router.
You will need to hold the paperclip on the reset button for at least ten seconds to be sure your router is fully reset.
How to Fix LG TV WiFi Problems
1. Power Cycle Your LG TV
Although this might seem a basic step, power cycling your TV is often the best way to fix your LG TV not connecting to the Internet.
To soft reset an LG TV:
- Unplug your LG TV and hold down the physical power button beneath the IR receiver on the TV for at least 15 seconds.
- Wait for at least 30 minutes for any residual power to drain.
- Plug your TV back in and try switching it on. You should see a red light if you have been successful.
- It’s a good idea to try this a couple more times if it doesn’t work at first, as this can sometimes take a few goes to kick in.
2. LG TV Not Connecting to WiFi Automatically
In most cases, your TV should be set up to automatically select an IP address from your router, and usually also automatically pulls a DNS address, which is used to resolve IP addresses that your TV connects to, creating the URL that you see in the address bar.
But it’s possible that IP address lookup might have been set to Manual, and your DNS settings might be conflicting between your TV and WiFi router.
To fix this, press Settings on your remote, then go to Network -> WiFi Connection -> Advanced Settings -> Edit.
If Set Automatically is set to Off, then change it to On and restart your TV. This will make your TV select an IP address automatically from your router.
If Set Automatically is On, then try switching it Off, and change the DNS Server to 8.8.8.8, which is one of Google’s DNS servers that we know definitely works.
Sometimes, just toggling DHCP from ON to OFF and back again can fix the WiFi connection.
Restart your TV and try your apps again.
3. Change Your TV’s Location
To change location:
- Press Settings on your remote.
- Go to All Settings.
- Then General.
- And Location.
- Click on the LG Services Country option.
- And change this from Set Automatically to a specific country that is different from its current setting. So if you are in the US, choose Canada.
- Your TV will then ask you to confirm your choice.
- After that, your TV will restart.
- Go back to General -> Location.
- Change your location back to the country you are in, such as the USA. Do NOT choose Set Automatically.
- Your TV will restart again.
- Go into your Network settings and refresh your WiFi connections. Your home network should pop up and your TV should connect without issues.
This seems to work as a partial reset of your TV and is the most common solution if your WiFi says that it is turned off.
4. Turn Off Quickstart
Some LG TVs have a Quickstart feature which can interfere with establishing a WiFi connection.
If your LG TV WiFi is not working at all, then press Settings on your remote, go to All Settings -> General -> Quickstart -> Off, and restart your TV to see if that has fixed the problem.
5. Update Your TV’s Firmware
To check that auto-updating is on for firmware/software on your smart LG TV:
- Press the Settings button on your remote and go to All Settings.
- Click Support.
- Then Software Update.
- Agree to any terms and conditions that may popup, then switch on Auto Update if off.
- You can also manually check for updates here.
For older LG TVs:
- Press the Settings button on your remote and go to All Settings.
- Go to General.
- Then About This TV.
- Check Auto Updates are on, and use the Check for Updates button to manually see if you are running the most recent firmware version.
For some LG TVs, you’ll need to update the firmware by USB. To do this:
- Go to the LG Software Drivers site.
- Enter your TV’s model number and find it on the site.
- Put a USB stick into your computer and create a folder on it called LG_DTV.
- Right-click the firmware ZIP file on LG’s site and Extract All to the folder on your USB stick.
- Once complete, eject your USB stick.
- Insert the USB stick into your TV’s USB port and switch it on.
- The TV will automatically search for the folder you created and should display USB UPDATE READY.
- Select Install.
- Follow the on-screen instructions, then switch off your TV for 10 seconds and power back on to complete the update.
6. Check Your TV’s Time and Date
IP addresses assigned automatically over DHCP have a lease expiration time attached, and this is the most common cause if your LG TV shows a “Not connected to Internet” error message.
This time is typically 24 hours – 1 week, and after this time is up, the router reclaims the IP address and either assigns a new one to your TV or re-leases the old one.
Go into the Settings for your TV and manually update the date and time to today if it is not already showing this.
7. Factory Reset Your LG TV
To factory reset an LG Smart TV:
- Press the Home button on your remote and go to All Settings.
- Then General.
- And System (or skip to the next step on older models).
- Choose Reset to initial settings.
- Follow the on-screen instructions and hit Confirm.
- Enter your PIN, which by default is 1234 for LG.
- Then select Restart in the popup.
If you don’t have your remote, then to reset an LG TV:
- Hold down the TV’s Power Button for 10 seconds, which will be underneath the screen on the side.
- Use the Vol + or – or Channel + or – to scroll to Menu.
- Go to All Settings.
- Then General.
- And Reset.
- Follow the on-screen instructions and hit Confirm.
- Enter your PIN, which by default is 0000 (four zeroes) or 1234 for LG.
- Then select Restart in the popup.
If you have changed your LG TV’s PIN and can’t remember what it is:
- Press the Home button on your remote and go to All Settings.
- Then Support.
- Go to Advanced Settings.
- Then Safety.
- And Reset Password.
- On your remote, press Channel Up twice, then Channel Down once, followed by Channel Up once.
- Put 0313 in the box.
- Then 0000.
- Then choose a new PIN that you can remember.
8. Use an Ethernet Cable
Finally, if you are still unable to get the WiFi working on your TV, you might have to resort to using an Ethernet cable.
9. Replace the WiFi Module
Take a look at the video below for a step-by-step guide to do this. You will need to open up your TV which will invalidate its warranty, so this is really only a solution for TVs that are over one year old.
LG TV WiFi Issues Troubleshooting
For more specific LG TV Internet issues, take a look at the troubleshooting steps below.
How to Connect an Old LG TV to WiFi
Old LG TVs that do not have native WiFi capabilities cannot be directly connected to WiFi without an adapter. The most common adapters to use are Firesticks, Chromecast, or Roku streaming sticks.
How to Connect an LG TV to WiFi Without Remote
If you’ve lost your remote or it doesn’t work, then you can connect to LG Smart TVs without a remote by the LG TV Plus app.
If your TV can’t connect to WiFi at all, then apps that use the infrared capabilities of your phone can work, like the Remote for LG TV.
Alternatively, try plugging a USB keyboard into your TV’s USB port and use the direction keys in combination with any Menu buttons or similar on the TV case to navigate the internal menus and connect to your home network.
LG TV Support and Warranty
You can check your warranty information directly with LG.
Unfortunately, warranties typically only last a year unless you have already paid to extend it.
Because WiFi issues can occur at any time, if your TV is under one year old, return your TV under warranty and get it fixed.
You can use the LG support site to help diagnose your problem, but if you are at this stage, then you are better off calling them directly at:
- 850-999-4934 or 843-243-0000 (Mon. – Sun., 8am – 9pm EST)
You can also email them directly, or even email the president of LG customer care!
Even if LG won’t fix your TV, they might still offer you a discount on a future model if you pester them hard enough! This is always worth a try in my experience.
LG WiFi Troubleshooting Quick Tips
- Use your phone’s hotspot to localize the WiFi connection problem to either your TV or router.
- If your LG TV won’t connect to WiFi, then check the DHCP IP address is set to obtain automatically and that your TV’s date and time are correct.
- If the problem is with your router, check MAC address filtering is off and that it is broadcasting an appropriate 2.4GHz/5GHz signal.
- The most common cause of WiFi connection problems on LG TVs are software-related, or failures of the WiFi module.
Hopefully, you’ve now got your TV’s WiFi back up and running. If not, leave me a comment and I’ll see what more I can do to help.
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