Database Users

Weak wifi signal?

My wifi has been working great up until today. For some reason it's really weak. The only way I can get a signal is to literally put my phone inches away from my router. It won't see any hotspot more than a feet away. Anyone know what's wrong?

wassup said:
My wifi has been working great up until today. For some reason it's really weak. The only way I can get a signal is to literally put my phone inches away from my router. It won't see any hotspot more than a feet away. Anyone know what's wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a setting for the wifi power, I would check that first to see if it's gotten moved:
settings -> all settings -> connections -> wifi -> Advanced -> Power Mode Tab
"Best Battery" end of the slider uses the least power, but can make it darn near impossible to get or maintain a connection.

I've got the same problem, and did the Best Performance, but no change. Any one has a clue?

same thing here. My school has wifi everywhere and when im in class i get like 1 bar of connection compared to everyone else who gets way better connection then i do

seems like everyone is having this problem recently. i had it and had to send it it to HTC, from what i understand its because the bluetooth/wifi antenna is loose. some guy in another thread opened his up and pushed down the antenna connections and was fine.

chopped said:
seems like everyone is having this problem recently. i had it and had to send it it to HTC, from what i understand its because the bluetooth/wifi antenna is loose. some guy in another thread opened his up and pushed down the antenna connections and was fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea im not comfortable with opening this phone up.
not worth it
at home its fine but at school it sucks
oh well

This is my only gripe with the new ROM.
WIFI is TERRIBLE!
As for the Coax being loose, I would consider that an anomoly.
I had perfect WIFI access before the new ROM and I kind of doubt flashing to a new ROM zapped my cables out of place!

Camusa said:
This is my only gripe with the new ROM.
WIFI is TERRIBLE!
As for the Coax being loose, I would consider that an anomoly.
I had perfect WIFI access before the new ROM and I kind of doubt flashing to a new ROM zapped my cables out of place!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connector do come loose. My wifi was fine and I started to have very low stength. Did everything but nothing worked. See my ordeals:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=828036
Finally opened up the unit and snapped connectors to their places. It is fine now. See my post #4 in the above thread.
Yes, you will void your warranty, so do this at your own risk.

So is the wifi issue hardware or software?

I am wondering if the wifi issue is software or hardware problem? I am hoping its a software issue and will be fixed in an update because my 14 days have passed for best buy return policy. If its hardware could i just send it into acer? Just sucks I can barley go outside my room with the router to keep signal.

I have no problem what so ever with my wifi, i can even connect to my wifi when i visit my parents across the street.
Its not some high grade wifi either, just a small d-link access point.

I've had no issues with wifi connections either. I've even sat in the parking lot at McD's and accessed their wifi. It see's several of my neighbors networks too.

what wifi issue??

What they said. I've had no problems with either if my tablets

wifi great for me as well
I can see several neighbors router sitting anywhere in my home.our router is in the basement.I can go out in the far back yard and and still connected.with that said I never have more then 2 bars I do not think it reports correctly.

newtonfb said:
I am wondering if the wifi issue is software or hardware problem? I am hoping its a software issue and will be fixed in an update because my 14 days have passed for best buy return policy. If its hardware could i just send it into acer? Just sucks I can barley go outside my room with the router to keep signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My first unit would drop from 5 to 2 bars walking out of the bedroom my new dual band n1 was was sittin. Within 25 feet when I checked to update my tablet, I gotta 'signal too poor' message.
I called acer support, gal I spoke with was green with the device but put on hold and consulted with a senior support tech. They took my info and directed me to exchange the device.
I did the next day and the new unit has no issues with connectivity any longer.
Yes there is a few units out in the wild that they deem to have a defective wifi device on-board....
I would suggest exchanging if you still can asap, although I'm sure you would have no issue gettin a replacement from acer 'america' if you gave them a shout.
Give them a call, I'm sure they will help you out and post your response from them.

Really ??
You exchanged through Acer support ?? I thought most people would just take it to where they bought it .. I would never have thought of that ... only if my return timeline with the store were expired and then we would contact support based on the 1 year warranty ..etc
good to know -)

UnicornKaz said:
Really ??
You exchanged through Acer support ?? I thought most people would just take it to where they bought it .. I would never have thought of that ... only if my return timeline with the store were expired and then we would contact support based on the 1 year warranty ..etc
good to know -)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took it back to staples where I purchased....

ya but i waited past my 14 days to return to best buy....so now id have to send it in which i dont want to at all. To clarify...it has got better the last few days..dunno how. But i downloaded wifi analyzer on both my nook color and this and kept comparing the 2. The nook does occasionally about 10 dmb stronger but for the most part its pretty close to the same.

Maybe It's Something Else...
For the past couple of hours I've been playing with FTP servers on my Iconia (and found two apps in the Market that make it easy to set up - FTP Server and Wireless File Transfer - both free). See this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1094289
Now I was thinking, on some of my earlier mobile devices, there was a setting that was called "WiFi Powersave" or something like that and it was always recommended to turn that off because it screwed up the WiFi by cycling it when the thing thought you needed to conserve battery life.
Sort of like the f.....ng useless confirmations that Windoze likes to throw in every app. Anyway, does anyone know of a kind of "hidden setting" that Acer might of thrown in 'cause sometimes WiFi file transfer works great and sometimes my PC cannot find the Iconia?

Acer iconia a500 Updated radio?

I just bought my Iconia A500 and rooted it (of course ), but i am really disappointed in the Wifi signal strength.
I cant walk more than 50' away from my router at home or at work before I lose signal.
My DInc2, and Aria can pick up signal from the same routers at almost twice that distance.
My laptop picks that signal up at almost 10 times that distance!
I am currently running Byakhee lite 1.0 rom with the 2.6.36.3HoneyVillain-3.4+ kernel

I just bought an A500 two weeks ago and am hugely disappointed in the Wi-Fi performance.
I have a Linksys E4200 router in my home office and that provides adequate signals to the Linksys access point in the living room one floor below and about 70 feet away. I can also rest in bed surfing the web on my laptop and my Droid X, both of which receive a decent signal about 30 feet away from the router.
The A500, on the other hand, received a signal for a minute or two but lost it and never recovered it in both locations.
The laptop has dual antennas in it so I can see it having a better signal capture performance but the Droid X is tiny and doesn't have a huge length of wire in it but it works fine and the Speedtest app will show a download rate as high as my connection allows. So the signal to the two locations is definitely adequate for high speed web surfing.
The A500, on the other hand, can't receive squat. Even in my office 4 feet from the router the signal strength indicator is only on 2 or 3 bars. Only if I put the tablet right next to the router do I get a full signal strength indicated.
I saw a post where the guy said he felt the A500 was acting like the antenna was not actually connected and I've seen people post they are just fine 75 or 100 feet away and outside! So there's clearly some major variability between units. I wonder if I shouldn't just return it and try again.

Yeah, sitting 4 feet from my router with my new A500 last night had me
at 3/4 bars. Something must not be quite right.

Same problem here. I'm six feet away from the router and being told the wi-fi reception is bad.

To those of your with the radio issues, when you are not connected to the network, does it show that it has good reception until you try to connect? I used to have this problem. If the wifi isn't connected, it would show 5 bars for my router. As soon as I try to connect it would go down to 1 bar and give me issues connecting. It seemed to fix it when I forgot the network, rebooting my tablet and then add the network again. Other than that being a problem, my wifi is perfectly fine.
I would also suggest downloading "wifi analyzer" from the market. It will give you a graphical representation of the strength of the wifi networks that are near you.

I definitely have a lower signal in the same location of my house/office on the a500 when compared to my netbook or Android phone. I think most believe it to be due to the metal casing on the Acer.
Setting a static IP is what fixed the signal dropping to zero when it show strong before I connected.

I want to see some one take the back plate off and check the signal to see if it does anything. It must be the case.
Sent from my A500 using xda premium

Im curious to see if you all are using thenlittle wifi icon on the tablet to measure "good" signal or if yiure using an actual dbi measurement.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

hardslog said:
To those of your with the radio issues, when you are not connected to the network, does it show that it has good reception until you try to connect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm not connected to a network, I don't believe the Wi-Fi signal strength icon shows up. Doesn't it only show when you are already connected? I guess I could have waited until I got home to confirm before posting.... Oh well.
I will try dumping the remembered connection and adding it back but I doubt that will help. If it does, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
I also already have WiFi Analyzer as I use that on my Droid X and there's one major issue I've already noticed. On the Droid, it picks up all the signals in the neighborhood near me. There are about 8 or 10 in the area and I've used it to set my router to a channel other than what the neighbors have set. Of course I only connect to mine but I'm using what amounts to a private channel!
On the A500 though, WiFi Analyzer doesn't show ANY other signals but mine. Even if I stand at the window and hold the tablet up high. Nothing. It really is as if the A500 had no antennas inside it or they are not connected.
I don't think it's receiving much at all.
---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 PM ----------
hatefuel19 said:
Im curious to see if you all are using thenlittle wifi icon on the tablet to measure "good" signal or if yiure using an actual dbi measurement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The icon is surely just a quick indicator of signal strength but it's as good an indicator as it needs to be and it corresponds to the signal data in WiFi Analyzer so it's definitely not a false indicator of what the tablet believes it's receiving. WiFi Analyzer will plot the strength in db and it's all below -90.
So I see it as providing a reasonably accurate representation of what the tablet is receiving. Couple that with no network access by any app be it Weather Bug, any of the browsers I have, or even the ads in free apps, nothing is getting through so, when the icon shows no bars, that definitely corresponds to no network.
Sure the icon is not a $2000 oscilloscope but it definitely works.
By the way, there's a thread at androidtablets.net showing a minor tear down of the A500 (search for "whats under the hood") but I can't tell where the radio antenna(s) are.

qhorque said:
When I'm not connected to a network, I don't believe the Wi-Fi signal strength icon shows up. Doesn't it only show when you are already connected? I guess I could have waited until I got home to confirm before posting.... Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also showed the strength in the listed available networks ( before you'd connected )
---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------
I have a wireless N router and find that I get better signal strength if I only set it to a/b/g .... and NOT N

UnicornKaz said:
It also showed the strength in the listed available networks ( before you'd connected )
I have a wireless N router and find that I get better signal strength if I only set it to a/b/g .... and NOT N
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I just checked. Forgetting any networks, turning radio off, rebooting, turning radio on and checking, the notification icon is dark.
Going to the Wi-Fi settings, I see my network listed but NO others. When clicking Connect, the only indication of signal strength is the dialog box stating "Fair" and I'm THREE FEET from my router. That's the only indicator of signal I see. If that's what you're talking about, OK. Otherwise, there is no other indication of signal strength before I connect.
Now I also checked my phone and it shows all the other APs in the area. The A500 only sees my router and the signal is only "fair". Clearly this unit is either defective or the A500 is flawed by design. I can use my puny Droid X all over the house but can only use the A500 in my office!
My router is a Linksys E4200 with dual radios and I'm connecting to the 2.4Ghz radio in mixed b/g/n mode.

when you clicked on wifi settings... there should be a list of available networks and their security...etc.. along with that, to the right side are the icons ( open & locks..etc)... those icons also showed the strength of the networks signal
My A500 see ALL the available networks that my phone sees... ( just 1 bar less)
in your case... your network is the only available one... nevertheless... the icon to the right of the name ( before you even connected )- will indicates the signal of the network ( 1-4 bars...etc )

Icon?
Regardless of what some "signal strength" icon claims - has the op performed speed/ping tests from multiple souces?

Oh, I see what you are saying. Those indicators are about as accurate as the main notification icon and I didn't even pay attention to it since I only saw my network anyway.
Well, in any event, the Acer tech who replied to my detailed explanation of my problem (no other networks but mine with very low signal strength and all the other devices seeing all the other networks, etc., resetting the tablet, forgetting the remembered networks, etc.) said the tablet was clearly defective and needed to be repaired since I had already gone through the standard troubleshooting process with no changes in outcome.
I suggest to anyone with poor signal strength to contact Acer to see if they want to repair the tablet. I don't like buying an item for full price only to have it fixed in the first two weeks so that's why I'm not going that route. Might as well just buy another one and see what happens.
So, I'll be bringing it back for an exchange or, if they don't want to exchange, a refund and I'll buy another one later.
Until I get another one.....
Later!

qhorque said:
Oh, I see what you are saying. Those indicators are about as accurate as the main notification icon and I didn't even pay attention to it since I only saw my network anyway.
Well, in any event, the Acer tech who replied to my detailed explanation of my problem (no other networks but mine with very low signal strength and all the other devices seeing all the other networks, etc., resetting the tablet, forgetting the remembered networks, etc.) said the tablet was clearly defective and needed to be repaired since I had already gone through the standard troubleshooting process with no changes in outcome.
I suggest to anyone with poor signal strength to contact Acer to see if they want to repair the tablet. I don't like buying an item for full price only to have it fixed in the first two weeks so that's why I'm not going that route. Might as well just buy another one and see what happens.
So, I'll be bringing it back for an exchange or, if they don't want to exchange, a refund and I'll buy another one later.
Until I get another one.....
Later!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best of luck! Probably dealing with a defective unit - been using my a500 for months on many random wifi spots and have not seen any poor reception issues.
Let us know how it works out!

I as well have great wifi signal. Not as strong as my laptop but close.

No problem for me on my A500 and A501. Using stock 3.2 rom version. Router is E2000.

Success!
Well, I was able to simply exchange the bad unit for a new one and checked them both side by side in the store and the original one was clearly receiving only the top 2 APs in the store while my phone was picking up about 12 from the entire store and mall.
I opened up the exchange unit, started it up and checked it before I left and, while it did not pick up all 12 APs, it picked up almost all of them clearly showing the original unit was indeed defective.
So, I'm a happy camper now. Works great around the house now.
I suggest to the OP to contact Acer and get a warranty replacement of their unit if they can determine it's a faulty radio.

Nexus 4: radios behaving badly

The one thing that's keeping me from fully enjoying my new Nexus 4---hassles with radios, both wifi & cellular.
1) On my home wifi network on all devices except the Nexus 4 I see solid, constant download speeds of 25Mbps. My Nexus 4 consistently only gives me 4-6Mbps. If I disconnect/reconnect sometimes I can see speeds slightly higher than that, but only temporarily. This isn't generally a huge deal because 4-6Mbps is fast enough for most things on a phone, it just bugs me that every other device in the house gets 25Mbps.
2) Of bigger annoyance is my cellular data connection, it drops off multiple times per day. The cellular signal strength indicates full bars, along with the 'H' icon indicating I'm connected to T-Mobiles HSPA+ network. Voice still works fine but the data connection is dead--nothing will connect--Speedtest, maps, Google Search, Facebook, etc. This forces me to either turn on/off Airplane mode or reboot the phone completely to regain my cellular data connection. On my previous SGS2 I never experienced this issue. It drives me nuts to not be able to pull up a phone number, directions etc at the times I need it most.
Does anybody have any similar experiences or suggestions on how to remedy these issues?
Edit---FYI I'm fully stock but rooted. 4.2.1 update not yet applied.

1) Check APN settings and make sure your account is properly provisioned by calling T-Mo CSRs. I had a similar issue with my Nexus One back in the day that was fixed with a reboot after they reprovisioned my account.
2) Flash factory image, in case it was a bad flash of the radio. It happens.
3) If 1 & 2 fails, or you don't want to try #2, call the Nexus hotline and get yourself a replacement.

ATnTdude said:
1) Check APN settings and make sure your account is properly provisioned by calling T-Mo CSRs. I had a similar issue with my Nexus One back in the day that was fixed with a reboot after they reprovisioned my account.
2) Flash factory image, in case it was a bad flash of the radio. It happens.
3) If 1 & 2 fails, or you don't want to try #2, call the Nexus hotline and get yourself a replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Called TMobile and had them reset my account, I'll keep an eye on it the next couple of days.
Right now I'm downloading a cached Google map via WiFi and it is slooooow.

I also notice on edge the signal is inconsistent.

Hi
The Wi-Fi issue is something happening to others, seems to be a driver bug.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40306
Regards
Phil

Wifi connectivity is my biggest gripe. I'll step 6 feet away from my router and I lose a bar. A couple rooms away I fluctuate between 1 and 0 bars.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Did you ever find a cure for this? I am having the exact same issues on my O2UK Nexus 4, anytime I want to use the data connection its almost guaranteed not to work and involve reboots, Airplane mode on and off etc

Im having the same issues. My data just drops wifi and cellular. I dont get full signal wifi or cellular. I live in india and flashed the latest .54 which was released in india recently. I managed to at least get cellular data going but my strength still low and data drops still on both wifi and cellular. Its super frustrating. Any ideas?

try reflashing the OS on your phone and try changing the wifi channel on your router.
changing the channel on my wireless router really helped signal to all of my devices. there may be lots of interference on the channel you're on.

SeraldoBabalu said:
try reflashing the OS on your phone and try changing the wifi channel on your router.
changing the channel on my wireless router really helped signal to all of my devices. there may be lots of interference on the channel you're on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may reflash OS but i just got the phone today so ill slow down a bit. I flashed the radio one would think that would be enough? Anyway I have many other devices on my wifi without an issue and i used wifi analyser and theres no overlap with other routers and i experience this on 2g 3g and wifi so it looks like some modem problem. Unfortunately the phone was bought 3 months ago in the States and im here in india so im kind of stuck

There are known issues with the Nexus 4 wifi speeds slowing for no apparent reason. Also, known issues with the LOS (loss of signal). You can find information and bug reports on both of these issues.

ingenious247 said:
There are known issues with the Nexus 4 wifi speeds slowing for no apparent reason. Also, known issues with the LOS (loss of signal). You can find information and bug reports on both of these issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dad see some threads reporting this issue. Unfortunately i dont see any solutions or resolved threads. Additionally people either have it they dont as i see it i cant see people witching sides. Its just a little frustrating. Any opinions on whether kernel swapping will help?

Did a full flash from scratch. No progress. Also i went to my friends place and signal was perfect for like 4 hrs straight but every other place ive been since has seen choppy signal.

nvillamob said:
Wifi connectivity is my biggest gripe. I'll step 6 feet away from my router and I lose a bar. A couple rooms away I fluctuate between 1 and 0 bars.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty bad. I ran a test a few weeks ago and I can go up to 450 feet from my router (old Linksys) without a problem, and after that it gets iffy, and finally disconnects at 500 feet. I am seeing an average of 20 Mbps on wifi. Now if I can only get my cellular connection (non-wifi) to go faster than 1 Mpbs max I would have a usable phone.

I have a slightly diff issue.
If I reboot my phone, I connect to my router no problem. If I turn wifi off (to save battery) and then turn it back on.... it shows my AP's as out of range.... but I do see my neighbours AP's. I also have an N10 with has no issues at all with wifi (and none of my other divises have issues either).
When I bought the N4 they seemed to be having an issue with it when setting it up.... but I was not paying close attention. I am wondering if I have a bad phone on top of the "normal" wifi issues that other are experiencing.
Think I will revert back to stock and swap it for another phone to see if I can at least just turn off / on the wifi rather then reboot to connect (how sad is that?)

OldGaf said:
I have a slightly diff issue.
If I reboot my phone, I connect to my router no problem. If I turn wifi off (to save battery) and then turn it back on.... it shows my AP's as out of range.... but I do see my neighbours AP's. I also have an N10 with has no issues at all with wifi (and none of my other divises have issues either).
When I bought the N4 they seemed to be having an issue with it when setting it up.... but I was not paying close attention. I am wondering if I have a bad phone on top of the "normal" wifi issues that other are experiencing.
Think I will revert back to stock and swap it for another phone to see if I can at least just turn off / on the wifi rather then reboot to connect (how sad is that?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
**** UPDATE ****
I picked up a cheap belkin router and set it to AP mode.
My N4 has no issues at all with it. Connects when I want it to right away and is fast / solid connection.

G2 Very Weak WiFi

HI. I had this WiFi problem since I bought the phone like 6-7 months ago.
My previous phone was a Nexus 4. It had good wifi reception. From my apartment I could find like 6-7 routers with +2 signal bars.
My Lg G2 sees only 3 routers, mine and 2 others that are at 1 signal bar or sometimes no signal. I tried to flash other basebands but no improvment. I tried flashing other ROMs.
I now tried to lift the little conectors on the back cover and put a little piece of paper under so i'm sure they connect (i don't know if that's how wifi works because it's working the same with or without the back cover).
What else should I try? Is there something to do or every G2 has signal problems?

I might have a solution for you...
dj_monkeyyy said:
HI. I had this WiFi problem since I bought the phone like 6-7 months ago.
My previous phone was a Nexus 4. It had good wifi reception. From my apartment I could find like 6-7 routers with +2 signal bars.
My Lg G2 sees only 3 routers, mine and 2 others that are at 1 signal bar or sometimes no signal. I tried to flash other basebands but no improvment. I tried flashing other ROMs.
I now tried to lift the little conectors on the back cover and put a little piece of paper under so i'm sure they connect (i don't know if that's how wifi works because it's working the same with or without the back cover).
What else should I try? Is there something to do or every G2 has signal problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar problem with my G2. The old phone (Optimus 3D) had good and strong wifi signal. With this one, from the first day to connect to home network, I had connection problems and all I had to do was to set to one network mode (and only one - I use G), on a single channel (give it a low one - 1 to 6) and a 20 Mhz band channel. And guess what: I can have a clear and strong enough (plus stable) from down the street, while my flat is at the third floor.
Please try to modify your modem/router settings as stated before and let me know the results.

BigBadSheep said:
I had a similar problem with my G2. The old phone (Optimus 3D) had good and strong wifi signal. With this one, from the first day to connect to home network, I had connection problems and all I had to do was to set to one network mode (and only one - I use G), on a single channel (give it a low one - 1 to 6) and a 20 Mhz band channel. And guess what: I can have a clear and strong enough (plus stable) from down the street, while my flat is at the third floor.
Please try to modify your modem/router settings as stated before and let me know the results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My router works fine. I have it on G/N 20Mhz Channel 5. I work installing internet antennas on top of buildings so I would like to access the routers from far away.
Another question. What's the purpose of the gold connectors on the back cover?I have like 3-4 pairs. My wifi, network and gps work with or without the cover. No difference.

dj_monkeyyy said:
My router works fine. I have it on G/N 20Mhz Channel 5. I work installing internet antennas on top of buildings so I would like to access the routers from far away.
Another question. What's the purpose of the gold connectors on the back cover?I have like 3-4 pairs. My wifi, network and gps work with or without the cover. No difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have only one type of connection. Or at least in my case is so. I have only G, not mixed one. As for back cover connectors...I have none. Stock back cover, gold edition of D802.

BigBadSheep said:
You must have only one type of connection. Or at least in my case is so. I have only G, not mixed one. As for back cover connectors...I have none. Stock back cover, gold edition of D802.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking about these gold "things" I don't know what are they called - http://tinyurl.com/k4r2ykc (not my picture)
My brother sees 8 wifi routers with 3+ signal bars with an old Sony xperia tipo. I see only 3