Wi-Fi keeps locking up

RdogMartin

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Got my S4 yesterday and it's working well *except* when accessing the wi-fi connection in my home, which works for maybe 10-30 seconds and then can't connect any more, whether it be Chrome, Play Store, or any app that connects to the internet. If I turn off wi-fi and then re-enable it, things work again for another few seconds before locking up again. I went through this disable/enable routine 5 times in order to download the Facebook app. I spent 45 minutes with AT&T yesterday and tried various things, but without success.

* I went to a cafe with an unsecured wi-fi and it worked fine.
* My home wi-fi uses WPA-Personal and works fine for other devices. I just tested two laptops, a Nexus 7, and a Windows Phone. The router is a D-Link DIR-655 and has been running flawlessly for a few years.
* I temporarily disabled security on my wi-fi router and changed a few other settings, but the lockup behavior remains.
* AT&T had me completely reset the device, but the behavior remains.
* The phone reports that the wi-fi connection is 'Connected', the signal is 'Very strong', link speed is 65Mbps, and security is WPA/WPA2 PSK
* If I enable the mobile data option and turn off wi-fi, the internet works fine, but of course I'm eating up mobile data.

Over the next few days I'll try connecting to a few more wi-fi networks to see what happens, but I wanted to throw up this post to see if anyone had any ideas or were having similar trouble.

Cheers,
Roger
 

oshogg

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Is there a Wi-Fi setting that says "Keep connected during sleep" or something similar? If so you can try that. Also you could try disabling 802.11ac (if there is an option for it) or the 5GHz band (if there is an option for it).

What Wi-Fi options are there in general?

Osho
 

RdogMartin

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The option 'Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep' is already set to Always. See attached pic for other options, which are still at their default. My router doesn't offer 802.11ac or 5GHz, so there's nothing to change there.

Roger
 

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RdogMartin

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I have "forgotten" my connection more than a dozen times, which is what I was doing until I learned that disabling/enabling the wi-fi could also temporarily get things working again. And I've cycled the power on my router *and* cable modem twice, with no change in behavior.
 

oshogg

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I have "forgotten" my connection more than a dozen times, which is what I was doing until I learned that disabling/enabling the wi-fi could also temporarily get things working again. And I've cycled the power on my router *and* cable modem twice, with no change in behavior.

I presume you already have the latest firmware for your router? If not, that would be the first thing to try.

Next, configure your router in different modes 802.11b/g only or 802.11n only. And see if that changes anything.

Osho
 

Wilbur

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Have you tried rebooting the phone? I'd even go so far as removing the battery for a minute or more letting all memory data drain and then starting the phone up again. Just a thought for trouble shooting the problem.
 

RdogMartin

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Osho - I think I figured it out. I had previously tried setting 802.11n only and 802.11g/802.11n in addition to the default b/g/n. Nothing changed but based on your suggestion I decided to try every possible option. When I got to 802.11g only, things started working! I've spent about 15 minutes accessing the wi-fi without a single glitch, so things are looking good.

I may need a new router long term if restricting it to 802.11g only has side effects, but at least I'm working today.

Thanks Osho!
 

jwn66

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Same exact thing happened to my Playbook, had to set it to just g, but last night I upgraded internet and got a new router and can safely leave it on all settings and not just g now. Them older routers don't like to play nice sometimes with newer tech. Good thing, will be getting s4 soon so pretty sure it won't have problems now, positive I would have after seeing this thread lol.
 

oshogg

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I can report another (better imho) work-around. Enable 802.11n but make sure you only use TKIP for security (and not AES). This also works fine and you can get better 802.11n speed.

Osho
 

captain_tinker

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Oh man, glad I'm not the only one seeing this! I thought I was going crazy! Both my new S4 and my wife's new S4 are seeing this same issue at home, only. We also have the DLink dir-655. I'm going to try the TKIP thing and see what happens. Other than that, maybe a new AC router? Hate to do that since this router is working pretty well.
 

Jens Karlsson

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I have the exact same problem at home. Also on a DIR-655.

A new router then, but great that there is a soullution here. Seems quite hard to find any when the phone is as new as it is.

-- Edit --
anyone who knows any D-link thats not to expencive that works?
 
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kingb71

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I had the same problem with the same router on my current phone that I'm leaving today for an S4. I just switched my router this morning from g only to n/g. Guess I will have to switch it back. Makes no sense to reduce the speed so much though. I was told it is because the version of N that this router uses is "draft" N, not final spec N, which apparently somehow makes a difference.
 

Alexander Ivanchev

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Glad I found this! Same issue:

Test case:

1. My DLink router DIR-655 (latest firmware) configured in 802.11n mode only
2. After about 10 mins of browsing the connection freezes - the AP is still connected but I have no connectivity to the net - can't even ping the AP's IP... - the easiest way to reproduce is to just run speedtest which hangs mid-way.
3. When I disconnect from the AP and reconnect it works again - until next time it happens...

Things I know:

1. Not an issue on my wife's iPhone 4S
2. When the AP is in 802.11b/g mode it works fine (but much slower)

So, looks like a definite issue with the S4 (or 4.2.2) and the DIR-655 - did anyone report this to Samsung/Dlink?
 

jim302

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Mine (Rev. A) doesn't allow me to select TKIP only with 802.11n

TKIP and WEP are unsupported on 802.11n networks. Attempts to use these encryption types, if allowed in the first place, will result in slower speeds (802.11 g and a only). This isn't specific to any specific device. It is part of the 802.11n standards.

802.11n works with unencrypted or AES encrypted connections.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

Alexander Ivanchev

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Yep, so I guess 'g' it is... :( It's weird as I have 3 other 'n' devices which work just fine with the same router, but perhaps the S4 is using something in the final standard which isn't supported by the 'draft n' version of the DIR-655. Either that or there's a bug.

[edit: I contacted both dlink and samsung - will update]
 
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captain_tinker

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I wrote down every setting on my router, then went and reset back to factory defaults. I at least put back all my security settings, mac address filtering, etc. Left it on N only, with AES only, and still had the issues. Then went to G only, and so far, no more issues. That is very strange. Its also quite upsetting, because I purchased this router several years ago specifically for N capability! Looking around now for other routers to replace this with, and I'm sorely disappointed by all the extremely poor reviews on every other supposedly "top level" router. I've looked at all the top brands, D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, Cisco, Belkin, and even a few no-name brands like Asus, and each and every one have reviews that say range is poor, or constant dropouts, or have to re-set or re-boot multiple times a day, or gets so hot it fails, or support stinks, etc. I cannot find anything that sounds promising. In fact, the only router I can find on the market right now that has good reviews, is the router I already have! I guess setting to G only isn't a huge deal, since the only computers in the house really affected by it will be my wife's laptop, and my tablet. The internet connection to the outside is slower than 54 mbps, so browsing won't be any different, just file transfers between machines, and she rarely does that on her box, same with my tablet. So I guess I'm staying put for now. Unless anyone has had a good experience with any other router that is not terribly expensive?

capT

PS: by the way, doesn't the S4 support wireless AC? Anyone tried it on any of the current AC routers?
 

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