will android switch to a better wifi if available? - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Heyho, i currently have access to my wifi as well as to my neighbors network as my wifi gets weak while i am in the garden. I feel like android isnt awitching to my neighbors wifi automatically. Only when my wifi is completely gone, android will look for a new one.
I thought about making a task with tasker which looks for another wifi as soon as the current wifi strength goes below 25%.
Or is/should android do that aleady on its own?
Thanks

In wifi -> Advanced settings there's an option to avoid poor connection. I have no idea what it actually does, but give it a try.

I did the test with my router, which supports 2 frequencies.
Assuming both networks are saved in the phone, it connect automatically to the one with better signal or look for an alternative if signal is lost.

Thats what I mean, it will connect to the other WiFi if the connection is lost. But if the connection is crippled (bad) enough to not handle a music stream, but still "availabe" it will not switch to the other WiFi eventhough that other WiFi has 100% signal strength ?
I activated the "use wlan only if good strength available".. lets see how this works

I have multiple APs in my house and the only way I've ever got it to switch is by toggling wifi off and on (or loosing the first signal completely). This is an Android issue IINM, my GS2 and my N4 both have this issue.

I tried the "do not use weak WiFi".. didnt work.

zakazak said:
I tried the "do not use weak WiFi".. didnt work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has never worked for me either. Didn't work on my GSM GNex or with the N4.

I think it's how most WiFi clients work, otherwise if you were in the middle of 2 equal signals, it would spend more time disconnecting and reconnecting creating a DOS attack on the 2 AP's and leaving you with no data.
As for 2 home wireless routers, use the same SSID and authentication settings for both, and put one on channel 1 and the other on channel 11.
Make one a AP only (no router, no firewall, no dhcp server) and connect it to a client wired port on the first one. You can roam between them like people in large offices do.

or I try to make a tasker profile
if wifi strenght below 20% and another wifi is available with more than 30%, connect to that one.. then wait 5 minutes ?

Related

Looking for a way to block specific WiFi signals.

I live very close to a hotel which has multiple SSID's that keep interfering with my ability to stay connected to my router.
I've tried hard coding a static ip on the phone, adding the mac address to router, even went as far as creating a separate unhidden network just for the phone. So far, nothing has worked.
So i was thinking that maybe there's a way to have the phone ignore certain signals, lock on to a preferred one or use WiFi but turn off the scanning feature. The only problem is that I haven't been able to find any settings or Apps that will allow me to do it.
So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions as how, or if, I can make this work, I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm using a Droid 2 Rooted with 2.3.3 and have a Netgear N750 router.
BTW - none of the computers in the house are having this issue.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
So, are you saying the phone constantly tries to leave your home wifi in favor of attempting to connect to the hotel's?
Yes, unless I'm within about 5 feet of my router, the hotel's signal makes the phone keep dropping and reconnecting over and over again.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Are the hotel's hotspots not WEP secured? That is so odd. If they're unsecured hotspots go over to the hotel and tell them to get their sh*t in order. Otherwise I'm out of ideas, sorry.
No, they are secure. WPA2 as is mine. I don't connect to them. My phone just detects them, drops my connection and tries to connect to them. So that leaves me with no connection and having to use 3G.
But there may be an easier solution to this. After spending a few hours on the Netgear site, it turns out that there is a bug in their firmware that causes signal strength fluctuations. They said a new release should be available in a few weeks.
In the meantime I've changed the channel on the router to auto select which seems to be helping.
I do appreciate you taking the time to assist.
Thanks!
Scott
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Glad there's at least some kind of work around, wish I was of more assistance.
Having a similar problem with a samsung galaxy sii - current internet configuration is through AT&T U-Verse with built in Wireless G router in there Gateway. tried adding a Netgear dual band N router to my network and with the netgear's 2 wifi signals on then my phone just constantly goes into scanning mode and keeps trying to connect between the 3 - things work fine with the wifi turned off in the new netgear kind of defeating the purpose of me installing it - was hoping to have the phone use one of the N signals..
Block bt openzone connection pleaseee!
Desperately need an app for this? Is it not going to be possible for a way to block certain wifi signals because I'm actually going to rip next doors BT openzone router out of the wall and get a hammer to it! My HTC desire hd is insistent on connecting to its poor signal over our excellent one and the worst part is that you can't actually access the network unless you pay BT for a user account! Grrrr.... Please help
Try to connect the network you dont want, then go to wifi management in settings. Long press on the network you dont want and hit forget network. Then your phone shouldnt automatically connect to it unless you tell it to.

Constantly receiving WiFi traffic - unstoppable

This is driving me insane!
When I have WiFi enabled at the office, my Samsung Galaxy Note (stock ICS, rooted) constantly receives incoming data and I haven't got a clue which setting, app or service is causing this.
SystemPanel registers a nonstop stream of incoming traffic at 8 to 10 Kbps.
TrafficStats shows an accumulation of Received data under Total WiFi, but can't seem to link it a particular app or service: after resetting the data, no processes appear but the incoming data keeps on growing.
All sync options are off, I've tried to kill every running app or service (one by one, all at once), I've tried to block all traffic using Droidwall. As soon as WiFi is enabled, the incoming stream is unstoppable. When switching to 3G, there's no incoming traffic.
But to make matters even more mysterious, I do not have this problem with my WiFi connection at home.
It only occurs at the office, only on WiFi and (as far as I know) only on my phone.
Any ideas?
This is simply because your wifi antenna still "hears" the data going trough the wireless network on wich you are connecter. Event if your phone doesn't asks for any data at the moment the traffic there is on the network will still be counted by the wifi chip on your phone.
It will be the same on any public network or if you have another phone or a computer connecter on the same wireless router and generating traffic.
Thanks for replying, John!
That sounds very plausible, but then I still have to figure out why only my phone is registering this traffic - maybe it's an ICS thing or brand specific?
And I'll try to 'reproduce' it at home by connecting a laptop at the same time.
I think that the above is correct. That may be default behavior.
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app
Well, I've tried to connect several devices at once on my home WiFi network, but it did not reproduce the incoming traffic problem I experience at work.
There were a few incoming bytes registered, not nearly as much as the constant stream of 10 Kbps at the office network...
Your works wifi may be set up like that. Who Knows?
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app
MrObvious said:
Your works wifi may be set up like that. Who Knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, our it-department certainly does not.
You're probably right that this is normal behavior. I'll just have to figure out which drains less battery under these circumstances, WiFi or 3G. Thanks anyway for replying.
I'm on the mobile app, but if you have GSM then just switch to 2g until you use it.
Sent from my xt862 using xda app-developers app
Djezpur said:
Well, I've tried to connect several devices at once on my home WiFi network, but it did not reproduce the incoming traffic problem I experience at work.
There were a few incoming bytes registered, not nearly as much as the constant stream of 10 Kbps at the office network...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About this, it is simply that at your office there is traffic on the network (download/upload) while at home simply having devices connected doesn't generate traffic or almost none. Start several dl on several devices (phone laptop) (guess 2-3 is enough, maybe even one but not sure, not en expert after all ) then you should notice signifficant traffic on your phone, I guess!
So interesting I find this thread because I have the exact same problem!!!!
How I noticed it...when I am at home I drop 1% battery on Wifi per hour. 10hours = 10% (sometimes less).
I go to work on the Wifi, I DONT USE ANYTHING ON THE PHONE and the battery is DRAINING LIKE CRAZY!!! 5%/h or more!!!
( I am in airplane mode in both place)
So I was thinking, WTF with this work wifi, i am not doing anything at all on it. Then I look at my wifi icon I have a constant RECEIVE icon. And I bet my phone does not go to sleep or something.
So why in the world my work wifi is draining my battery and the one at home is not. I will check tonight but I dont think I have traffic like this. I am registering 5-6kbytes/s for nothing. The explanation given above is hands-waving. I do not agree with it fully. YEs sure there are several pings and beacon emitted back and forth but i do not think it is enough to cause 5-6kbytes/sec . The wifi is not in Monitor mode and it only receives the packets destined to my phone.
This is madness!!!! BTW When I had a different kernel on back on ICS this behavior stopped. I will try to monitor again.
kalinusa said:
So interesting I find this thread because I have the exact same problem!!!!
(...)
This is madness!!!! BTW When I had a different kernel on back on ICS this behavior stopped. I will try to monitor again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey kalinusa, did you find a solution to this problem?
I'm currently on the SpeedMod kernel, but that does not seem to make a difference to the 'office WiFi behavior' (so I keep my phone on mobile data).
I don't want to speak out of my ass, because I haven't a clue how the app works.
As far as I can guess SSH tunnel may help you. I would hope someone else could tell me I'm right, but I'm probably wrong.
I have had this same problem with two of my devices. The first is a Samsung Captivate with the last AOKP ICS build. The second is a Google Nexus 7 with AOKP's first Jelly Bean build (it happened when I had stock as well).
This only happens when I'm connected to WiFi at my university. The down arrow on the WiFi icon is ALWAYS on and it drains the battery. At home, I don't have these problems.
I emailed my university's IT department but I'm not sure if there's anything they can do. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
I have exactly the same problem, but I think I found the reason which is causing it. I think that some of the routers are capable of the multicast over the wifi and then we can get a constant wifi traffic. I tested it at home, where I have enabled multicast over wifi and my phone wifi receiving the data all the time, even if it is in sleep. Now I'm in the office where we do not have such capable router with multicast over wifi and my phone wifi behavior is as expected. When I will be at home I will test it again with my router and with disabled multicast over wifi and hopefully it will solve this issue.
danielo said:
I have exactly the same problem, but I think I found the reason which is causing it. I think that some of the routers are capable of the multicast over the wifi and then we can get a constant wifi traffic. I tested it at home, where I have enabled multicast over wifi and my phone wifi receiving the data all the time, even if it is in sleep. Now I'm in the office where we do not have such capable router with multicast over wifi and my phone wifi behavior is as expected. When I will be at home I will test it again with my router and with disabled multicast over wifi and hopefully it will solve this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than multicasts it could be broadcasts, what are you reaceiving. For example if you don't use WINS server in Windows domain, all computers use broadcast to get IP address for a computer name (if you dont use DNS name, but that's another story). At home, where aren't many computers, there are very few broadcasts. But somewhere, where a large amount of computers is on the same network (not splitted to broadcast domais), number of broadcasts would dramatically increase
btw. if you connect a PC to the same network as your phone and stop ALL running applications (mainly instant messangers, web browsers, e-mail clients) you should see the same network bandwidth in use as on your cell phone.
More than multicasts it could be broadcasts, what are you reaceiving. For example if you don't use WINS server in Windows domain, all computers use broadcast to get IP address for a computer name (if you dont use DNS name, but that's another story). At home, where aren't many computers, there are very few broadcasts. But somewhere, where a large amount of computers is on the same network (not splitted to broadcast domais), number of broadcasts would dramatically increase
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Roughly how many devices would need to be on the same network, to see that kind of traffic load?
-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities
post-mortem said:
Interesting. Roughly how many devices would need to be on the same network, to see that kind of traffic load?
-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you consier as network load. If you start a network monitor like Wireshark or MS Network monitor and even if there is one computer on the network, you wil see "some" traffic (from time to time a few network packets). To generate constant network load, you'll need a few dozens of computers. And it always depends on how the network is designed and what applications the computers run. If all computers connect to a server, the network load will be a lot lower than if the computers share resources among them.
Or you can design your network in such way, that you divide computers into segments, where computers can communicate only with computers in its segment (or with some distant servers). This way the network load will dramatically decrease, as computers from different segments would not interfere.
I currently only have one computer connected to my home network atm via wifi, and it keeps a constant broadcast going to my phone for some unknown reason. I thought it was my dlna server, so I shut that off, and it is still broadcasting _something_... Its causing quite a battery drain, and unfortunately I cant seem to find the root of the issue. I've trolled through my router settings -- multicasting isnt on -- so Im at a loss. =\
Spz0 said:
I currently only have one computer connected to my home network atm via wifi, and it keeps a constant broadcast going to my phone for some unknown reason. I thought it was my dlna server, so I shut that off, and it is still broadcasting _something_... Its causing quite a battery drain, and unfortunately I cant seem to find the root of the issue. I've trolled through my router settings -- multicasting isnt on -- so Im at a loss. =\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can be caused also with the Media servers which runs on PC, also DHCP etc. It is not easy to eliminate all broadcast traffic and sadly our phones react at all that multicast packets.

Note 2 not automatically switching to stronger WIFI signal?

Ok this may be kind of a long post but I'll first address what I think is the issue.
My note 2 doesn't appear to be automatically switching to stronger available wifi signals unless I manually toggle the wifi off then back on again. It will then connect to the stronger signal.
The reason why this has become an issue is because I bought a Diamond WR300n wifi range extender. I'm using it as a reapter. I want to have better wifi signal in my garage where I spend a lot of time. My current wifi signal drops off pretty much near the garage when using my phone. My laptop still gets decent wifi reception when I'm in the garage though.
I went through the fairly basic setup for the extender and got it working. I confirmed this by plugging in the ethernet port from the extender directly to my laptop and its receiving a signal just fine, browsing the internet etc.
So i put this extender in my garage, it connected normally and I confirmed it was working using my laptop again. Everything appeared to be working fine. The extender has the same SSID as my main wireless router (uverse 78wireblahblah).
The issue is when I'm inside my house I'm connected to the main wireless router because this is obviously the strongest signal. When I walk out of my house the signal diminishes as I approach my garage. I can walk into my garage and my wifi signal is pretty much gone even though there is this repeater putting out a working wifi signal with the same SSID as my main router.
Weird right, one would think it would automatically switch and connect to the repeater in the garage, but it doesn't.
Now if I manually turn off wifi and turn it back on while in the garage, bam, very strong signal and I'm connected. There really is two issues though, 1. my note 2 is not automatically switching over to the stronger signal (both the repeater and main wireless router have the same SSID) in the garage and 2. sometimes it connects to that stronger signal in the garage from the repeater (only after i manually toggle wifi off and on) but the internet doesn't work. I'm actually connected to my network because I can access my "Yamaha receiver app" that lets me turn up volume etc on my receiver but I don't have internet access etc. This is usually the case but after awhile it just seems to start working and I have full internet access.
I know this is only semi phone related but I figured since alot of guys on here are very savvy with this tech stuff, maybe someone could help.
Again
1. why won't my note 2 automatically switch over to that stronger wifi signal which should be the same in the garage.
2. why does it sometimes only connect to the network but doesn't allow outside internet access.
Should I try the "wifi jumper" app that supposedly auto switches to best wifi signal (i thought our phones do this anyways)?
Not sure if this is the right place to post this so please move if need be =)
Thoughts?
Stay on what Samsung preset.
Basically I owned a nexus s, it does have automatically jump to higher signal router or access point in android 4.1+.
So basically the WiFi just jumping from my router to access point and from access point to router and I ended up getting no WiFi signal. I have to switch off my access point (extender) to get my WiFi working again...
And note 2 won't give me this problem.
Accidentally sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
If you'd ask me, just buy wifi jumper, you won't regret it!
It works perfectly fine with my 4 routers, all with different SSID. It's nice to have the best signal available wherever you are in the house. Wifi jumper gives me the best results I have had since trying a few different apps like it. The owner just finished rewriting the code for connecting to different routers with same SSID, so it should be the perfect solution in your situation!
And no, I'm not affiliated with it in any way, just a happy user :thumbup:
Edit: oops, old thread
thegipper said:
Ok this may be kind of a long post but I'll first address what I think is the issue.
My note 2 doesn't appear to be automatically switching to stronger available wifi signals unless I manually toggle the wifi off then back on again. It will then connect to the stronger signal.
The reason why this has become an issue is because I bought a Diamond WR300n wifi range extender. I'm using it as a reapter. I want to have better wifi signal in my garage where I spend a lot of time. My current wifi signal drops off pretty much near the garage when using my phone. My laptop still gets decent wifi reception when I'm in the garage though.
I went through the fairly basic setup for the extender and got it working. I confirmed this by plugging in the ethernet port from the extender directly to my laptop and its receiving a signal just fine, browsing the internet etc.
So i put this extender in my garage, it connected normally and I confirmed it was working using my laptop again. Everything appeared to be working fine. The extender has the same SSID as my main wireless router (uverse 78wireblahblah).
The issue is when I'm inside my house I'm connected to the main wireless router because this is obviously the strongest signal. When I walk out of my house the signal diminishes as I approach my garage. I can walk into my garage and my wifi signal is pretty much gone even though there is this repeater putting out a working wifi signal with the same SSID as my main router.
Weird right, one would think it would automatically switch and connect to the repeater in the garage, but it doesn't.
Now if I manually turn off wifi and turn it back on while in the garage, bam, very strong signal and I'm connected. There really is two issues though, 1. my note 2 is not automatically switching over to the stronger signal (both the repeater and main wireless router have the same SSID) in the garage and 2. sometimes it connects to that stronger signal in the garage from the repeater (only after i manually toggle wifi off and on) but the internet doesn't work. I'm actually connected to my network because I can access my "Yamaha receiver app" that lets me turn up volume etc on my receiver but I don't have internet access etc. This is usually the case but after awhile it just seems to start working and I have full internet access.
I know this is only semi phone related but I figured since alot of guys on here are very savvy with this tech stuff, maybe someone could help.
Again
1. why won't my note 2 automatically switch over to that stronger wifi signal which should be the same in the garage.
2. why does it sometimes only connect to the network but doesn't allow outside internet access.
Should I try the "wifi jumper" app that supposedly auto switches to best wifi signal (i thought our phones do this anyways)?
Not sure if this is the right place to post this so please move if need be =)
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wifi jumper is a good idea
luega said:
wifi jumper is a good idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Wifi Jumper is probably the way to go. In an ideal world, the WiFi stack would roam properly in all cases, but sometimes you're just not quite far enough for it to roam. This is even an issue with the PC also, but most manufacturers allow you to configure the roaming behavior of the driver to your tastes (max range or max speed).

[Q] Is there any solution for WiFi not connecting to certain networks

My Nexus 10 works fine on most WiFi networks, but there are a few places where it fails. The N10 sees the network which has fine signal strength. It goes to the "Connecting" state, waits 30 seconds or so, and then drops back to "Saved".
I would think the network had non-functional DHCP, but I can connect with a Lenovo notebook instantly from the same place to the same network and AP.
The router that causes the problem is a Cisco 1200 series AP, operating vanilla 802.11g, with an open network, in the 2.4 GHz band.
I have tried all the Wi-Fi-related options in the N10, and removed and recreated the connection. I have found nothing that helps.
Has anyone that has seen this issue found a solution?
timg11 said:
My Nexus 10 works fine on most WiFi networks, but there are a few places where it fails. The N10 sees the network which has fine signal strength. It goes to the "Connecting" state, waits 30 seconds or so, and then drops back to "Saved".
I would think the network had non-functional DHCP, but I can connect with a Lenovo notebook instantly from the same place to the same network and AP.
The router that causes the problem is a Cisco 1200 series AP, operating vanilla 802.11g, with an open network, in the 2.4 GHz band.
I have tried all the Wi-Fi-related options in the N10, and removed and recreated the connection. I have found nothing that helps.
Has anyone that has seen this issue found a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seen this a million times, and it's one of my lingering dislikes about Android (although to be fair, I've seen the analogue -- much less -- on my iPad as well). Toggling the Wi-Fi state on and off like mad (or Airplane Mode) usually does the trick for me...eventually. Have you tried rebooting the router (relatively sure you've have, sorry) or using an app like Wi-Fi Analyzer from the Play Store to see if there's any channel interference? Mobile devices don't always deal well with overlapping channel use.
Rirere said:
Seen this a million times, and it's one of my lingering dislikes about Android (although to be fair, I've seen the analogue -- much less -- on my iPad as well). Toggling the Wi-Fi state on and off like mad (or Airplane Mode) usually does the trick for me...eventually. Have you tried rebooting the router (relatively sure you've have, sorry) or using an app like Wi-Fi Analyzer from the Play Store to see if there's any channel interference? Mobile devices don't always deal well with overlapping channel use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot reboot the router because I have the problem in a public place (an airport). I do not have the problem with my own router.
I do use a WiFi analyzer, and there is no interference issue. The AP is on a clear channel, and the signal is very strong.
So the only and best solution it to turn Wi-Fi on an off rapidly until it works? Really?????
timg11 said:
I cannot reboot the router because I have the problem in a public place (an airport). I do not have the problem with my own router.
I do use a WiFi analyzer, and there is no interference issue. The AP is on a clear channel, and the signal is very strong.
So the only and best solution it to turn Wi-Fi on an off rapidly until it works? Really?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never said it wasn't stupid. It's possible that the airport is using a network hack to facilitate its captive portal (I assume it uses some kind of gateway?), and Android is really bad about network "misconfigurations."

Wifi issues, router/modem stops working

Hi. Have an S8 plus exynos. Have had big trouble since last phone update with wifi. Get this "!" Icon besides the wifi symbol.. router stops workin for all internet and ofcourse phone wont work either. Tried setting manual static ip for phone and router but no help. So im stumblin in the dark here. Any suggestions??
Thanks in advance.
Recent system updates have made this problem more frequent for both the S7 and S8.
If your router broadcasts both 5mh and 2.4mh signals (i.e. an AC router), and your connection messes up when at some longer distance from the router or through multiple walls, change router settings so that the 5 and 2.4 signals have different SSID names. Turn off any "smart connect" option. Then find the 2.4mh signal in your phone's WiFi settings and make that auto reconnects, and forget the 5mh signal. This forces the 2.4 connection when you're home which has much longer range than the 5.
If that only partially helps, go into router settings and switch the 2.4mh signal channel from auto to one of these three: 1, 6, or 11, whichever seems most stable when you reconnect.
If your router has Qos (quality of service) settings, be sure your phone is in a higher priority level.
Lastly, be sure your router has the latest firmware.
Doing all this fixed the problem for me but may not be a universal fix for everyone. Good luck!
bikercr said:
Recent system updates have made this problem more frequent for both the S7 and S8.
If your router broadcasts both 5mh and 2.4mh signals (i.e. an AC router), and your connection messes up when at some longer distance from the router or through multiple walls, change router settings so that the 5 and 2.4 signals have different SSID names. Turn off any "smart connect" option. Then find the 2.4mh signal in your phone's WiFi settings and make that auto reconnects, and forget the 5mh signal. This forces the 2.4 connection when you're home which has much longer range than the 5.
If that only partially helps, go into router settings and switch the 2.4mh signal channel from auto to one of these three: 1, 6, or 11, whichever seems most stable when you reconnect.
If your router has Qos (quality of service) settings, be sure your phone is in a higher priority level.
Lastly, be sure your router has the latest firmware.
Doing all this fixed the problem for me but may not be a universal fix for everyone. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another thing to try is assigning your phone a reserved ip address via your router settings. This makes a faster connection that should work every time. Router sees your phone's MAC address and gives it the same ip address connection every time.
snekkarn said:
router stops workin for all internet and ofcourse phone wont work either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the problem affects all devices connected it sounds to me like your router has a problem. Try a factory reset, set it up as new and see how it goes. If it's still acting up, you probably need a new router.
How to select only 2.4mh on phone?
se1988 said:
If the problem affects all devices connected it sounds to me like your router has a problem. Try a factory reset, set it up as new and see how it goes. If it's still acting up, you probably need a new router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, also try to connect your S8 to a local, public wifi network (like in a bar or coffee shop) and check if it connects there.
If it does, then the issue is certainly with your router.
Jostian said:
How to select only 2.4mh on phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't if the SSID is the same for both frequencies
have you tried to install latest baseband?

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