If the "Warn if local help is not installed" option is disabled in the general LibreOffice options and the help is not installed, then it is not invoked at all, despite an active Internet connection.
This is due to commit c48952eb6b6f65affcda75ee74c292008be9c455 in 24.8. tdf#142926 Add button to Download page in Help dialog box
Ilmari Lauhakangas committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/624f01b02569f0a514b357a4d591b8526c3f73f2 tdf#163580 Open online Help, if warn option is not checked It will be available in 25.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Ilmari Lauhakangas committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "libreoffice-24-8": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/bd826f8acfd8856a0db8485612bf834a8e500881 tdf#163580 Open online Help, if warn option is not checked It will be available in 24.8.3. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.