I was wondering if any of you experienced this wifi connection problem on s7.

[Android Central Question]

say, my s7 is connected to wifi. I walk away far enough to disconnect from wifi. when i get back to the place, it does not connect right away. i have to turn the screen on first and then it reconnects. there must be something wrong with this. my friend's phone (oppo) just connects without turning the screen on.

anyone who is experiencing this? solution?

 

[Tim1954]

It will have something to do with the battery saver function. All radios (WiFi, Bluetooth etc) use power, the device puts them on standby when the screen is off to save battery.
Data saver can slow things down a little too.
I wouldn't worry, I have the same thing and it doesn't cause me any undue delays and I get great life from my battery!

Doing a cache partition wipe now and then will keep it fresh....

 

[Tim2790]

It will have something to do with the battery saver function. All radios (WiFi, Bluetooth etc) use power, the device puts them on standby when the screen is off to save battery.
Data saver can slow things down a little too.
I wouldn't worry, I have the same thing and it doesn't cause me any undue delays and I get great life from my battery!

Doing a cache partition wipe now and then will keep it fresh....

So there is nothing wrong with this? Will it connect eventually or i need to turn the screen on?

 

[Tim1954]

If it reconnects once you turn the screen on, I wouldn't worry..

 

[Tim2790]

so this is basically how the phone works?

 

[Tim2790]

or is there anything i can do to make it reconnect without turning the screen on first?

 

[Tim2790]

S7 strange Wifi connection behavior. Are you experiencing this?

My S7 has to be turned on first to be able to reconnect to Wifi. Is this normal?

Someone told me I should not worry about this, but I want to assure if this is how S7 is supposed to work or not.

My previous phones automatically reconnect without turning the screen on.

Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: S7 strange Wifi connection behavior. Are you experiencing this?

Similar threads merged.

Is wi-fi set to stay on while asleep?

 

[Tim2790]

Re: S7 strange Wifi connection behavior. Are you experiencing this?

Yes, it is on.

 

[B. Diddy]

Any power-saving modes turned on, or 3rd party battery-saver apps installed?

 

[Tim2790]

Battery saving feature is off. There isn't any third party app.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, not sure then. I agree, it seems silly to have to turn on the screen in order to connect to the wi-fi again. This probably doesn't matter, but is Smart Network Switch on? If so, turn it off: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-manage-your-networks-samsung-galaxy-s7

 

[Tim2790]

It is also off. Im not using my mobile data most of the time.

So there must be something wrong, right?

 

[B. Diddy]

It's hard for me to say if something is malfunctioning, or if that's how they intended it to work. If the latter, that doesn't seem to be a great functionality decision on Samsung's part. Let me ask some of the other Ambassadors to see if they experience this with Samsung devices.

Also, did you already try a cache partition wipe, as suggested earlier by @Tim1954? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28028

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi there,

Is your WiFi network set to automatically re-connect? If not, and if you have the 'security feature' enabled, any changes to WiFi or network states on the phone (to avoid a stolen phone from having WiFi turned off) will require you to unlock your phone first. If the network is not set to re-connect automatically, then that would mean you have to unlock your phone to re-connect manually.

Now, as others have asked, is your WiFi set to be on ALWAYS so that the phone doesn't turn it off when sleeping? And any other battery-saving apps that might be turning it off would also conflict.

Does it happen with all WiFi networks? Or just a specific one (some routers might not allow you to connect automatically right away)?

 

[Tim2790]

Yes it is indeed weird of a phone to work if this is intentionally made.

I even factory reset my phone to be sure but to no avail.

Thank you so much. Really looking forward to a solution if this turns out a problem.

 

[Tim2790]

Yes all my wifi networks are set to auto reconnect by default.

Wifi on during sleep is set to always by default as well.

This happens to all my wifi connections.

I actually didn't notice this before, but I dont mean it wasnt happening, until someone called me and i could not be reached because of this phone's behavior.

I investigated more and confirmed that it doesn't reconnect until i turn the screen on. The connection however is present even durinv sleep once it has reconnected.

 

[Tim2790]

The possibility of the routers being the problem might be the cause but my friends can automatically reconnect without turning the screen on.

 

[Tim2790]

Just to clarify, i dont have to unlock my phone. I just need to turn the screen on on a locked state and then it reconnects.

 

[Tim1954]

These are incredibly complex devices. To compensate for high battery use by these amazing displays (and increasingly complex apps and software), you have myriad options to save power /data in your settings. You can limit background data usage by apps in data usage settings, you can go to device manager and limit connections and app activity while the screen is off (background). It's this where I'd start looking. If you have no battery /data limitations you can go wild and have the device run like a demon. If you limit these activities, then things like your issue happen.
Device management is a place to start to poke around in, power saving mode... Settings... Restrictions.. There you can allow apps that run in background to use WiFi and mobile networks. Key words being background here!
In developer options, there is a swag of settings to make WiFi more aggressive..
In connections, you can find advanced WiFi settings and tweak the WiFi activity.
In the data saver settings you can allow apps to use background data usage (meaning they will keep open the WiFi regardless of screen status)..
Like I said, these are convoluted devices, and a lot of exploring is required to get the most out of them... Pick the apps you want active and allow them to run whenever and you'll be away... Good luck