Why do I only connect locally, and not to the internet?

Question

I'm on a laptop with a USB wireless adapter connected to a router in my living room. Just until recently, I was always connected to 'local and internet' but now I am always only connected to local. I turn the adapter off and back on and it automatically connects to local and internet but it always just goes back to local in a few minutes. I believe that my internet would be faster if I am connected to both local and internet.. So could anyone tell me why it's like this?

Answer 1

If you're connected to the internet when it says local only, it's an error in the indication, not in your connection.  (Connected locally only means that you can't get to the internet - period.)  Probably a bug in the adapter's driver - but only as far as the message, not the connection.  I'd be amazed if you could access the internet if you were really only connected locally.  (If you  use Wireless Zero Configuration, not the adapter manufacturer's software, you probably wouldn't get that message.)