Panasonic TV Not Connecting to the Internet (10-Min Fixes)

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WHY WON’T MY TV CONNECT TO WIFI?
Most WiFi connection issues are caused by software issues within your TV, but often the cause is with the 2.4GHz/5GHz WiFi frequencies, IP lease expiration, or MAC address filtering.

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, which apply to all models of Panasonic Viera TVs.

An important point to check is if other devices can connect to the Internet through your router, even if your TV cannot.


troubleshooting flowchart if your TV won't connect to Wifi

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.

setting up an android hotspot
  • 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.
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 Panasonic 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.

If you used WPS, try entering your password manually, and vice versa.

tv wifi connect with wps

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.

If you, or someone in your family, has switched on MAC filtering at the router level, your TV will not connect to the Internet but it will still connect to your router.

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.

router switch off mac filtering

3. Change Router Authentication to WPA

If your Panasonic 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 WPA or WPA + WPA2 and try to reconnect your TV to your WiFi.

wifi router password protection

4. Possible WiFi Interference / Too Many Devices

If your Panasonic 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.

If your TV won’t connect to the Internet but other devices will from the SAME location, then you can assume your router’s WiFi signal is good, and the problem is likely within your TV.


5. Panasonic 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.

Older TVs might only accept 2.4GHz WiFi frequencies.

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.

router wifi 2.4ghz setting

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.

router wifi settings

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.

Make sure you still have your WiFi default password before hard resetting.

reset router

How to Fix Panasonic TV WiFi Problems


1. Power Cycle Your Panasonic TV

Although this might seem a basic step, power cycling your TV is often the best way to fix your Panasonic TV not connecting to the Internet.

About 30% of people who contact me either through email, YouTube, or who leave comments here, fix their problem with a power cycle.

To soft reset a Panasonic TV:

  1. Unplug your Panasonic TV and hold down the physical power button beneath the IR receiver on the TV for at least 15 seconds.
  2. Wait for at least 30 minutes for any residual power to drain.
  3. Plug your TV back in and try switching it on. You should see a red light if you have been successful.
  4. 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.
panasonic tv power button

2. Panasonic TV Not Connecting to WiFi Automatically

If your TV WiFi is not working, but it is working on other devices, then check for an issue with your TV’s IP and DNS addresses.

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, on the Panasonic Viera TV, press Menu on your remote, then go to Network -> Network Connection -> Custom -> Press OK on the Wireless Tab -> Yes.

panasonic tv network settings menu

If Acquire IP Address is set to Manual, then change it to Auto and restart your TV. This will make your TV select an IP address automatically from your router.

If Acquire DNS Address is on Auto, then try switching it to Manual, and change the DNS Address to 8.8.8.8, which is one of Google’s DNS servers that we know definitely works.

panasonic tv change dns settings

3. Update Your TV’s Firmware

If your Panasonic TV keeps disconnecting from WiFi, then updating the firmware is your best option.

For older Panasonic TVs, to update firmware:

  1. Press Menu on your remote.
  2. Go to Setup.
  3. Click System Menu.
  4. Then System Update.

If you are using a Smart Panasonic TV, then there is no option to manually update firmware – this is done automatically as long as your TV has an Internet connection, in which case you might want to connect an Ethernet cable to your router at least temporarily.


4. 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 Panasonic 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.

If your TV’s time and date are wrong, it can cause the IP address to “expire” at the moment of assigning and prevent connection to the router.

Go into the Settings for your TV and manually update the date and time to today if it is not already showing this.


5. Factory Reset Your Panasonic TV

If the problem is with your TV and no other fix has worked, try factory resetting as a final step before looking at hardware fixes.

To factory reset a Panasonic TV:

  1. Press Menu on your remote.
  2. Go to Setup.
  3. Click System Menu.
  4. Select Shipping Condition.
  5. Confirm a factory reset by pressing Yes.
  6. Your TV will perform a factory reset.

6. 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.

A temporary Ethernet connection can help to ensure that firmware is up to date.


7. Replace the WiFi Module

If none of the previous steps have worked, then you are most likely suffering from a failed WiFi module which is pretty easy to replace yourself.

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.


Panasonic TV Support and Warranty

It goes without saying that if your TV is under one year old, then you should contact Panasonic customer support to get it replaced under warranty.

You can email Panasonic directly, or use their live chat service.

Even if Panasonic 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.


Panasonic WiFi Troubleshooting Quick Tips

  • Use your phone’s hotspot to localize the WiFi connection problem to either your TV or router.
  • If your Panasonic 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 Panasonic 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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Follow Tim Daniels:

Hi, I'm Tim Daniels, photographer and photo trainer, founder of Lapse of the Shutter and creator of the totally free Lightroom Develop System. I've travelled to (probably) 30 countries over the last few years, taking photos and licensing them around the world, and creating lots of free photography learning resources. Read More ...

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