Related
I gotta know if anyone else is having the same problems connecting to wifi as I am. Whenever I try to connect to my wireless network with any of my devices, it's sporadic. Sometimes it'll connect right away. Most of the time, it takes two or three minutes (!) and sometimes it'll puke on itself and say it doesn't see the network.
In the latter two cases, I can delete the profile for the network and power-cycle the device and it'll connect to the network almost immediately. As you might guess, this is an annoying process to go through.
It never really bothered me until my wife got an iPhone and it connected immediately to the network and does so EVERY TIME SHE USES IT!
Can anyone help me out? Why do these devices take so darn long to connect?
This is the second router I've used (first was a Linksys, currently I'm using a Trendnet), the Raphael (Fuze) and Tornado (SDA) are running their stock ROMs. The Wizard (MDA), I've gone a little flash-happy on, but I've encountered the same problem with all ROMs I've tried.
I'll admit I haven't checked what channels neighboring wifi networks are using (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on my channel), but when I first got my Tornado and Wizard, mine was the only network (visible) and I was still having problems. And regardless, is the wifi radio in the iPhone that much better than my HTC devices?
(Just a side note, I have three wireless laptops that are all able to connect to the router without a hitch, adding to my belief that my network is on its own channel.)
Just wanted to update everyone that, last night, I checked the wireless networks I could see from my house and none share the same channel as mine, however I didn't take overlap into consideration. The lack of response to this thread would suggest to me I'm the only one encountering this type of problem, so I'll do some experimenting in an area with no other wireless activity and see if connecting is still slow.
O.K. I tested the Wizard and Raphael with a router in an area with no other wireless activity and discovered the following:
If the devices are set for DHCP, it takes a long time to connect. However, they did connect and remain connected without any problems.
If the devices have static IP addresses, they connect immediately and remain connected without any problems.
Conclusion:
The DHCP discovery on these devices takes too darn long to acquire addresses. That, and the slightest bit of EM noise can cause them to crap out. Since I don't have problems with other wireless devices (laptops, iPhone), I'm left with the assumption that either the radio is poor quality (unlikely) or the driver needs some serious fixing (most likely).
When and if the noble developers of this board get linux up and running on the Raphael, I'll be more than happy to test it out.
Since this thread was self-answering and would seem to be of little value, please feel free to delete it, moderators.
Have any of you guys had any problems with Wi-Fi on the Galaxy Tab?
I've been trying to connect this device with a wide range of routers and keep ending up with no or a very poor signal.
Just upgraded to firmware P1000XWJJ3 and the problem persists.
bernard black said:
Have any of you guys had any problems with Wi-Fi on the Galaxy Tab?
I've been trying to connect this device with a wide range of routers and keep ending up with no or a very poor signal.
Just upgraded to firmware P1000XWJJ3 and the problem persists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, i don't have such problem on JID firmware
BTW how did you update it to JJ3?
chowdarygm said:
no, i don't have such problem on JID firmware
BTW how did you update it to JJ3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to know how you installed JJ3 as well.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Mine JJ2 also is not so good with receiving signal where my laptop or phone easily do.
Khisha said:
Mine JJ2 also is not so good with receiving signal where my laptop or phone easily do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How far away from the router? Any walls between?
My Tab works pretty well if i'm close to the router, but with some distance between - oh say 5-6 meters - it rapidly decreases and soon enough drop the connection all together. Very strange, been trying different routers and different settings and it's the same all over the board.
Regarding the firmware (JJ3), just go to http://www.samfirmware.com/ click "Tablets" and select firmware and then install with Odin. Easy as one, two, three.
MIne works fine with through thick walls on the balcony. What wireless security/ preamble type have you got? Is the router set to 20/40? Is it transmitting at 100% or auto?
The router doesn't matter. If i sit on my balcony smoking a cigarette, I either have a weak signal or the tab switches to 3G. My phone or laptop hold the signal easily.
The distance is like 5 meters and 3 wals between us. One of them concrete. But my phone holds the signal there, while my tab doesn't. On the other hand my wife's SE Xperia X10 barely holds inside the living room. So I guess android in general is not that good with wireless.
Khisha said:
The router doesn't matter. If i sit on my balcony smoking a cigarette, I either have a weak signal or the tab switches to 3G. My phone or laptop hold the signal easily.
The distance is like 5 meters and 3 wals between us. One of them concrete. But my phone holds the signal there, while my tab doesn't. On the other hand my wife's SE Xperia X10 barely holds inside the living room. So I guess android in general is not that good with wireless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course the router matters mate. Instead of guessing why dont you try to troubleshoot... surely logic alone will tell you that its not your tab as a)noone else is having this problem b)your xperia is.
If it ain't broken - don't fix it. This router serves half a dosen of devices. Only android ones are having issues.
My laptop, my wife and my daughter's laptops, my htpc and my son's desktops as well as my phone are OK with it. It is on 100% and no encryption. I have it for years now and it never disappointed me. Why should I blame the router?
For one thing, if youve had it for years it is possible there are firmware updates that will immediately improve the connection of both your working devices and the newer, less backwards compatible android devices.
There are also security frames and CTS overhead to consider. Your router may just be too old to communicate with the newer radios in the android devices. These things happen all the time. Just google wifi problem and add any device you can think of to the end of that... there will be people conplaining about weak signal everywhere, and its usually the routers that are at fault.
EDIT: If it aint broke dont fix it is not an acceptable philosophy for a gadget lover
bernard black said:
Regarding the firmware (JJ3), just go to http://www.samfirmware.com/ click "Tablets" and select firmware and then install with Odin. Easy as one, two, three.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well we have several people tried flashing this firmware and it is failing.
Can you be more specific on how you flashed it?
Which PIT file did you use?
Did you select repartition in ODIN?
How is the browser in JJ3? is it smoother than shipped stock?
Thanks.
ftgg99 said:
MIne works fine with through thick walls on the balcony. What wireless security/ preamble type have you got? Is the router set to 20/40? Is it transmitting at 100% or auto?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried a multitude of different settings and it can't even compare to my Nexus One or Galaxy S. Keeps dropping the connection and report a signal strength of about 10%, it's driving me nuts! My current configuration is as follows:
Router: Netgear WNR3500v2
Firmware: DD-WRT v24-sp2 (08/07/10) min
Network:NG-Mixed
Channel:2 (2.417 GHz)
Channel width: 20 MHz
TX Power:71 mW (Default setting)
Security: TKIP+AES
clubtech said:
Well we have several people tried flashing this firmware and it is failing.
Can you be more specific on how you flashed it?
Which PIT file did you use?
Did you select repartition in ODIN?
How is the browser in JJ3? is it smoother than shipped stock?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply flashed with default ODIN settings and both EUR firmware and EUR PIT-file ( Galaxy Tab / .PIT File: DOWNLOAD. (EUR). I didn't do a wipe before nor did I clear dalvik cache or any such thing.
Can't really tell about the browser, from my point of view it feels pretty much the same.
Sunspider with JID: 7 757,8 +/- 1.8%
Sunspider with JJ3: 7 208 ms +/- 2%
explanation
The problem is almost certainly your old wifi router having bugs with PSP (power save mode). Android relies on the PSP standard to reduce the power usage on Wifi, your laptop and other old devices probably don't. I've seen old routers disconnecting almost immediately with android devices...
You can try setting "Wifi Sleep Policy" set to "Never" (will impact battery live, obviously). Though there was a bug fixed in ~July where Android would still use PSP, and the tab might not have the fix yet.
But the best fix is to buy a new router. It is broken, standards-wise, and needs to be fixed. Also, newer wifi routers are a lot faster and generally hold the connection better, so its really a no-brainer...
Ditto my brother!
Volker1 said:
The problem is almost certainly your old wifi router having bugs with PSP (power save mode). Android relies on the PSP standard to reduce the power usage on Wifi, your laptop and other old devices probably don't. I've seen old routers disconnecting almost immediately with android devices...
You can try setting "Wifi Sleep Policy" set to "Never" (will impact battery live, obviously). Though there was a bug fixed in ~July where Android would still use PSP, and the tab might not have the fix yet.
But the best fix is to buy a new router. It is broken, standards-wise, and needs to be fixed. Also, newer wifi routers are a lot faster and generally hold the connection better, so its really a no-brainer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree... I have two instances of WiFi use with my new Tab:
1) At home, older Netgear router (not that old mind you) - DG834PN - Does 802.11b/g/Super G
2) At work, brand new Netgear router (brand spankin' new) - Wireless N etc
At work, my connection on the tab is consistent without a drop out, fault less and constantly fast. Even the signal strength is good across the other side of the building.
At home however on my older router (no Wireless N) it's slow, signal strength is poor and constant drop outs are present. I need to hit "Retry" on the network connection box so often at home.
So yeah I feel that should be fairly conclusive. The Tab seems to like brand new wireless hardware.
No wonder. 802.11N is much stronger WRT to power since it has 2 antennas. But it is still the tab to blame that it doesn't hold a signal of standard equipment.
Actually, the problem you're having at home is super g. Its not a wireless standard. If it is working in 20/40 auto mode, just switch it to 20 only. This should improve your network connection in general.
Also gonsider using g only - b is pretty redundant by now.
ftgg99 said:
Actually, the problem you're having at home is super g. Its not a wireless standard. If it is working in 20/40 auto mode, just switch it to 20 only. This should improve your network connection in general.
Also gonsider using g only - b is pretty redundant by now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My router lists b and g, g only or Auto 108mbps.
I have had it selected on g only for a while now.
What settings does it have for the super g... does it give you the option of disbling pairing or something like that? It could be the bonding that causes your disconnects.
I finally tossed my old wifi router and got a shiny "new" Linksys E2000 and have it set up pretty much as stock. B/G/N, a few ports open, WPA2 Personal security, etc. Nothing special except that, of course, the Focus won't connect to it. I had to ask a neighbor if I could use his wifi so it would stop whining about email. How many more months until this "phone" can do something useful? Tell you what, how about if I mail a piece of it to Microsoft every month they don't have an update for it and attached to each mangled piece I attach a note that reads "You"? Think they'd get the point then instead of combing their hair around it? I'd just sell it on ebay except what do you get for a Focus these days? $30 if you throw in the sim card? Still might be worth not having to look at the thing every day, tho. Never again, Microsoft. WP7 is as dead a WM....well, no, I can connect my Fuze to the damn wifi.
Linksys routers, especially the new E series, are notoriously buggy. My Focus connects to two of my 11n routers just fine (one TrendNet, one NetGear). So, it looks like it is the problem with your shiny new router.
I concur. I've connected my Focus to dozens of hotspots without issue.
On the other hand, I've had problems and complaints about 100% of Linksys routers that are owned by clients (granted, they call me when they have problems) and two Linksys routers that I managed myself.
I would never recommend Linksys, and will never own another. I have and will recommend the Samsung Focus, however, and will own another Windows Phone.
(For the record, I own a Buffalo router running http://www.dd-wrt.com)
Ever since Cisco takes over Linksys, its Linksys brand getting worse and worse. Not only the initial release firmwares are always buggy, Cisco also deliberately remove features that are common on other brands of consumer routers so that it does not eat into its Cisco commerical grade router business. Most common compliants I read is that WOL packets do not work on Linksys routers and switches after a device entering sleep for a while.
I have a Linksys E2000 and mine works great. I was loyal to the D-Link brand, but their recent routers have had too much trouble. I was resetting my router at least once a week.
I will admit, it seems to be hit or miss with any brand of router. Just go to Newegg.com and you'll see hundreds of reviews both positive and negative for any brand router. Why can't they just make something that works?
foxbat121 said:
Linksys routers, especially the new E series, are notoriously buggy. My Focus connects to two of my 11n routers just fine (one TrendNet, one NetGear). So, it looks like it is the problem with your shiny new router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kind of doubt that. Every other device I own works just fine. Bridges, iPhone, iPad, Galaxy Tab, 3 laptops, 2 netbooks, other people's equipment....everything that anyone has tried to connect does so and very quickly. Just like at work where there are literally dozens and dozens of devices connected and what won't connect? Why the Focus, of course! Actually, the E2000 is an excellent router and it gets very good reviews nor have I ever had a problem with a Linksys in a whole lot of years of using them. No, I tend to think the Focus is the junk here.
I am sorry my friend but it is not the Focus phone in "general" You must have a faulty device and should take it back to the store to return it or get fixed. There are so few complaints about Focus devices connecting to routers. I have never had a single problem and I have connected to dozens of routers all of different brands and models.
I would definitely take the focus back to the store, if you bought it from an ATT store, at least I hope you did and didnt get it from some other source as you are probably screwed.
I have been so pleased with my Focus, granted all of the setbacks with updates and short comings.
OP:
I have found people with issues connecting their Android & iOS devices to this router as well. The Android post I read suggested using WPA2 (AES) on the router. A iOS person suggested taking wireless settings off auto and actually selecting a channel such as 11 as well as selecting B & G or G & N instead of auto to fix connection issues.
My personal experience with Cisco Linksys routers in the past has been mixed mode can be flaky. When I set the router to G only or N only (use only if all your devices support N) everything runs smoothly.
yup it must be the router, back home my Focus failed to lock onto my Linksys WAG200 gateway if my Laptop was already connected to it. So I had to turn off the wifi on my laptop and let Focus connect to it first and then let my Laptop also connect. Strange
Set your router to g only
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
I have had my phone for over a month and for the last 5 days I have experienced really poor wifi performance. I've read that there has been a lot of problems with D-Link routers and such but my wifi was working OK up until the last week and I do not use D-Link (although the chips maybe the same from what I have read). I have tried to see whether it can be related to an app update but I can't systematically test that. Dropped the phone a couple of times on the floor from my sofa, can this be it?
I get full signal when standing next to the router but the signal drop dramatically when moving away. Mobile signal and transfer speeds are all OK. I will try and test other routers when I get the chance.
Any thoughts?
----------------------
Stock GT-I9505
Kaspersky Mobile Security installed (I've read somewhere that this might be a problem?)
Home router TP-Link (TD-W8961ND v1.1)
Work router TP-Link (TD-W8901G 3.2)
Strange...
Couple of questions?
1) Are you on 802.11G or 802.11N at home? (I know the TD-W8901G is 802.11G only)
2) If on 802.11N at home are you running the antenna at 2.4 or 5Ghz?
3) Have you checked your router's antenna (assuming you have an external antenna) for damage or disconnection?
4) Do you have a case on your phone? Does the signal get better without the case on it?
5) Is there anything else in the house that could be interfering with the 2.4Ghz wireless signal (wireless cameras, cordless phones, etc.)?
-Mike
mcapozzi said:
1) Are you on 802.11G or 802.11N at home? (I know the TD-W8901G is 802.11G only)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is set to 802.11N only
mcapozzi said:
2) If on 802.11N at home are you running the antenna at 2.4 or 5Ghz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.4Ghz
mcapozzi said:
3) Have you checked your router's antenna (assuming you have an external antenna) for damage or disconnection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
mcapozzi said:
4) Do you have a case on your phone? Does the signal get better without the case on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the Samsung flip case. I have also tested by removing the case completely.
mcapozzi said:
5) Is there anything else in the house that could be interfering with the 2.4Ghz wireless signal (wireless cameras, cordless phones, etc.)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TV uses our wlan and of course a couple of other phones too.
The router at home is a TD-W8961ND v1.1. If I stand in an adjacent room at home (4-5m), door open, I can see the router then I have -70dBm according to the Wifi Analyzer app. Is that what can be expected? Thing is that I use the phone from upstairs, concrete floor and it has been ok, no problem streaming Netflix and such but that doesn't work now. No problems from my desktop computer which also use the wlan.
This is so fuzzy that I am going to start recording the signal strength to get some references. I tested my laptop at work today at a specific location from where I normally use the phone and the signal was worse on the laptop too (Windows 8 Pro and signal showed 1 bar, then full signal strengh, 1 bar and so on). Damn. I am slowly getting cross eyed here.
I have deactivated all bloatware on the phone, removed apps I do not use and one app I have been suspicious of is Wordfeud but of course I have no concrete information on that. Remember from my old HTC DZ that it seemed to be hard on the network on the phone.
Gotta sleep and thanks for your reply!
I have had the same problem with my galaxy s4. wi-fi had appeared connected on the phone but web pages were not loading. got a replacement s4 thinking it was the phone. had the second phone for a week and was working fine and then installed kaspersky mobile and wi-fi was very intermittent again. Did not occur to me initially and a lot of research got me my result. Had tinkered with TKIP and AES settings on modem as some people had luck with that but that was due to D-link routers as well known. uninstalled kaspersky mobile and wi-fi has worked perfectly ever since! There may be certain older kaspersky mobile software versions still compatible but dont know which one as yet.
faztak said:
I have had the same problem with my galaxy s4. wi-fi had appeared connected on the phone but web pages were not loading. got a replacement s4 thinking it was the phone. had the second phone for a week and was working fine and then installed kaspersky mobile and wi-fi was very intermittent again. Did not occur to me initially and a lot of research got me my result. Had tinkered with TKIP and AES settings on modem as some people had luck with that but that was due to D-link routers as well known. uninstalled kaspersky mobile and wi-fi has worked perfectly ever since! There may be certain older kaspersky mobile software versions still compatible but dont know which one as yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. I have removed Kaspersky meanwhile to see whether it helps. I've done so many changes at home to my WIFI router and a connected TP_Link AP(TL-WA901N).
Yesterday I could connect to my TL-WA901N upstairs for the first time (its been used for the TV only so far), Kaspersky removed, changes made in the TL-WA901N and TD-W8961ND and after fidgeting back and forth I cannot pinpoint what exactly made me connect via the AP. So I cannot blame Kaspersky but I will reinstall it later and if I get problems again then I know. I will update the results here. Network issues isn't my cup of tea.
Signal strength is the same, will test the bandwidth when I get home.
OK so I have now solved the problem. Bought a new router which supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It seems like the two frequencies complement each other in our apartment. Re-installed Kaspersky and I have not had any problems.
I have had my new Galaxy Note 3 for about 3 weeks now, and have had an issue with certain apps not connecting to the internet over wifi. All of the google apps (youtube, play store, hangouts, gmail, etc) are not able to connect to the internet over any wifi hotspot, or if they do, they're painfully slow.
I have changed MTU settings on my home router, DNS settings, wifi auto switch is off on the phone.
Here's the kicker. If I enable airplane mode first, then turn wifi on, everything works great. I suspect this to somehow be related to the SIM card? Really should have nothing to do with wifi, but who knows...
I should add that I've owned a couple other android phones that have had this issue, but it seemed to have just "worked itself out" after a day or so. (Droid 4, Stratosphere II)
Have you tried a 30/30/30 hard reset on the router yet?
Does a laptop connected via Wi-Fi also have similar issues?
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I have hard reset and factory reset the router a few times, even went so far as to buy a brand new router and use it. No difference.
I get 26/8 speeds on two different laptops, and one desktop, all with ping times down to about 18ms (as shown on speedtest.net)
spoke with a helpful rep at verizon today, who supposedly called samsung regarding this fix while I was on hold. My replacement should be here tomorrow. This issue is exactly the same as when older android phones would not connect to google (signal indicators would be white instead of blue). It seems like something to do with ssl traffic.
Anyhow, will post back after i've played with the replacement for a bit.
syntheticexctasy said:
I have hard reset and factory reset the router a few times, even went so far as to buy a brand new router and use it. No difference.
I get 26/8 speeds on two different laptops, and one desktop, all with ping times down to about 18ms (as shown on speedtest.net)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
syntheticexctasy said:
spoke with a helpful rep at verizon today, who supposedly called samsung regarding this fix while I was on hold. My replacement should be here tomorrow. This issue is exactly the same as when older android phones would not connect to google (signal indicators would be white instead of blue). It seems like something to do with ssl traffic.
Anyhow, will post back after i've played with the replacement for a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The next most common thing that it would be is the channel that your router is set to. You want to use a frequency that has little interference and there is an app called WiFi Analyzer to help figure it out for your surroundings.
The reason that the laptops might work ok is because the channel can be set within Windows and are most likely set to a different random number between 1-11 than your phone is.
I have found open channels and used those, which made no difference. I believe this may be a google issue as evidenced here (granted these guys are talking about the nexus 5, the issue is very much the same)
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/SN03aclu7B8[1-25-false]
I received my replacement today, no dice. I also bought a new router today, no dice. I've tried every channel 1-12, no dice.
The only thing that works is to enable airplane mode, then turn wifi on. I then see full speeds on play store, youtube, gmail, and hangouts. Interestingly enough, the facebook app is affected by this, as well as all push notifications.
It should be noted that the replacement note 3 exhibits the exact same behavior. This leads me to believe there is a modem issue causing the phone to switch back and forth between LTE and wifi, or something along those lines (if the cell radio is off, wifi works great)
syntheticexctasy said:
I received my replacement today, no dice. I also bought a new router today, no dice. I've tried every channel 1-12, no dice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
syntheticexctasy said:
The only thing that works is to enable airplane mode, then turn wifi on. I then see full speeds on play store, youtube, gmail, and hangouts. Interestingly enough, the facebook app is affected by this, as well as all push notifications.
It should be noted that the replacement note 3 exhibits the exact same behavior. This leads me to believe there is a modem issue causing the phone to switch back and forth between LTE and wifi, or something along those lines (if the cell radio is off, wifi works great)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is truly odd. I suppose it could be believable that an ISP throttled traffic to specific blocks (net neutrality anyone?), but I don't know why that would cause an interface change on the handset.
There are some apps which are network interface aware - e.g. as an example carriers will use split DNS and inbound IP firewalling so only people on their own network can resolve the IPs of MMS (APN) servers or *send* data to them. That prevents them from being DDOS'ed and I suppose other attacks from anything but their own network - which they have well instrumented. But that means that the MMS apps can not use whatever IP interface happens to be up - either for DNS service or for IP routing - so they need to be able to bring up a specific IP interface, use DNS that is bound through that interface, and route through that interface as well.
I was going through the apps on my phone the other night with a package browser (Package Explorer (Ribo), btw) and I was stunned at how many apps have "CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE" privileges.
What I'm wondering is if you have an app installed that has gone nuts and is toggling on/off your cell I/F. Something like that would be consistent with your observations.
Is there anything relevant happening in your device logcat when this is going on?
.
bftb0 said:
That is truly odd. I suppose it could be believable that an ISP throttled traffic to specific blocks (net neutrality anyone?), but I don't know why that would cause an interface change on the handset.
There are some apps which are network interface aware - e.g. as an example carriers will use split DNS and inbound IP firewalling so only people on their own network can resolve the IPs of MMS (APN) servers or *send* data to them. That prevents them from being DDOS'ed and I suppose other attacks from anything but their own network - which they have well instrumented. But that means that the MMS apps can not use whatever IP interface happens to be up - either for DNS service or for IP routing - so they need to be able to bring up a specific IP interface, use DNS that is bound through that interface, and route through that interface as well.
I was going through the apps on my phone the other night with a package browser (Package Explorer (Ribo), btw) and I was stunned at how many apps have "CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE" privileges.
What I'm wondering is if you have an app installed that has gone nuts and is toggling on/off your cell I/F. Something like that would be consistent with your observations.
Is there anything relevant happening in your device logcat when this is going on?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no apps installed other than the stock verizon/samsung apps. I have reset to factory in preparation for sending this unit back to vz, however it appears i'll be keeping it since the replacement didn't work any better.
Nothing interesting from logcat. Just a lot of IRListener messages, and DalvikVM occasionally clearing ram.
I can see why you would be pulling your hair out.
And the fact that you observe the same behavior with two different units (completely different hardware) and two different routers means one of two things:
- the problem is the handset/software
- the problem is not the handset/software.
Not trying to be funny there. What I mean by the above is that for you to pull two devices out of Samsung's production line at random (unless you happened to get two devices from a single batch of defective units), then the problem couldn't possibly be a low-probability defect thing: either it happens on a very large fraction of all N3 handsets, or the problem actually has nothing to do with the handset at all.
e.g. suppose Sammy shipped handsets where 1 out of 100 had the problem you observe. For you to end up with two of them in a row, the odds of that happening would be 1 in 10,000. If affected half of all handsets, then your odds would be more reasonable - 1 out of 4.
But it sure seems like if it affected half of all owners... or even 10% of all owners, people would be piling in in droves to complain.
I haven't noticed it on my N3, but I have other devices so I'm not sure how much I have used it for e.g. Youtube streaming. I do leave both WiFi and the cell on, and haven't noticed what is happening to you, but I am on MJ7 instead of MJE, and my WiFi is older (802.11g), so maybe if it is a bug it that wouldn't even show up with my setup even if it were the N3's fault.
(BTW, that offers a suggestion - because the N3 is so new it has 802.11ac capabilities - and I suppose your new router does too - if you turn off some capabilities, does the problem disappear? For instance turn off 802.11ac or 802.11n or 5Ghz band usage on the router, does that change anything?)
The other alternatives? Some kind of burst RF noise in your local environment? You earlier said
are not able to connect to the internet over any wifi hotspot, or if they do, they're painfully slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
were the "any wifi hotspot" APs that were all relatively close to a single location, or were they widely dispersed (miles apart)? If they were miles apart, then the problem isn't ISM-band interference. Even if it were, interference from non 802.11 devices (bluetooth devices, baby monitors, microwaves, some wireless cameras, etc) isn't going to show up using a scanning app. Relatively sophisticated equipment would be needed to make that determination. Or a search and destroy mission.
I will say that I had a similar problem a few weeks back (using completely different gear) - I was tethering to a different Android phone (USB tether), and Web browsing on the client device (N7 tab) was fine except the Google Play store app - data would only come dribbling out of it. I couldn't even complete a single app listing, much less begin an app download. At the time I just chalked it up to a temporary problem with Google's Play store. But now it makes me wonder if it isn't something more subtle - as you noted, Google servers seem to be a commonality you are observing. Maybe some ridiculous bug involving Google's single credential efforts?
Well, now I'm rambling and I really haven't given you a suggestion. Maybe something I said will jog you in a different direction and you'll figure it out. If it really is something generic to the current Note 3, it seems like Google would want to know about it. I wonder if it is even possible to get telephone support from Google - they don't really have a reputation as being a consumer-oriented business.
good luck
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Thank you for all of your help. I am sort of an amateur RF "enthusiast" myself. This happens in more than one location, literally every wifi location i've connected to.
I do believe on past handsets a new sim card sorted this out for some reason, however the vz rep that I spoke with activated a new one that I had gotten with the note 3, but not activated at the time, since my droid 4's sim card was "current enough".
I am lead to believe that this is a modem firmware issue, due to the fact that when the cell radio is off (doesn't matter if mobile data is on or off) the wifi works great. I am running MJE, and would be willing to try and downgrade to the previous radio to see if it makes a difference, but I don't know if that's even possible without causing some damage.
edit: I just realized that the replacement phone is running MJ7...so not sure it would matter.
Resolved
Ok guys, I figured this out, sort of.
I went into an angry router swapping/resetting frenzy when I figured out that the replacement acted the same.
My original setup consisted of: (I have a lot of wired devices in my house)
Comcast Gateway (set up as a normal cable modem, wifi/firewall/dhcp disabled) ----> Linksys WRT54G w/ DD-WRT (wifi off, using for firewall/routing) -----> Zonet N router (no dhcp, using as a switch, wifi off) --------> Linksys BEFW11S4 (used as a switch) ------> Netgear WNR1000V2 (used as a switch and second wifi access point occasionally)
During this frenzy, I eliminated the Zonet unit, and the BEFW11s4. My network now looks like this:
Comcast Gateway ----> Netgear WNR1000V2 (router/firewall/dhcp/wifi access point) -----> WRT54G (as a switch)
This seems to have solved my problem. I noticed while troubleshooting that if I disconnected the segment between the Zonet and the BEFW11S4, my phone would work perfectly fine. I believe that taking the BEFW11S4 out of the picture solved my problem, even though my data was not riding on that segment of the network.
Still, I am perplexed as to why the airplane mode trick fixed the issue.
LOL. I have a pile of Cisco routers if you want to buy them - and I'll throw in some token ring gear and another BEFW11S4 for free.
But seriously - you did the right thing by (experimentally) simplifying; the more complex an environment is, the more opportunities there are for bug expression.
Glad everything worked out - and I await your PM inquiring about my Cisco pile
I never wanted to upgrade from my WRT54G V1! What an awesome, rock solid router! However, need faster wireless speeds nowadays.
I was trying to keep that as my firewall, since the dd-wrt firewall is so much more robust than that of the netgear, also the netgear does not support nat loopback (something I really would like to have)