Why does my samsung j3 connect to other networks, but not my network?

[Android Central Question]

My phone worked perfectly until 2 days ago, then suddenly couldn't connect. I am about to take a sledgehammer to it.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Welcome to the forums. Have you tried rebooting the phone? Forgetting the network and re-entering the info to connect?

 

[djrakowski]

Welcome to Android Central!

I assume you're talking about WiFi networks. If so, does the phone generate any error messages when you try to connect? Have you changed the configuration of your WiFi router - changing it to another frequency band, or changing its SSID and/or password? Have you tried rebooting the router? Have you tried "forgetting" the WiFi connection in your phone's networking settings, then adding it again?

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[BMCS]

Thanks Golfdriver97, I did those moves several times to no result.

 

[BMCS]

Hi djrakowski, thank you for responding. I have not changed the router configuration. I don't see any error messages, but would not know where to look for an error message. I have tried rebooting the router, forgetting the network settings and adding them again. All with no results. My wife and son each have the same j3 phones, and they both connect to the router with no trouble.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Did you get an update recently?

 

[BMCS]

Thank you Golfdriver97 for walking me through this. I don't think there have been any recent updates. About a week ago we had a power surge and a blackout. It fried my surge protector, and my laptop computer needed some repairs. The J3 was connected to the same surge protector, but seemed unharmed, until a couple of days ago when it couldn't connect to our wifi network.

 

[djrakowski]

Ah, perhaps you've found the root of the problem. Your WiFi hardware could be fried (or at least damaged enough to present problems in connecting to WiFi networks).

Have you been able to connect to any other networks? Perhaps at a coffee shop or library?

 

[BMCS]

Yes, to test that out I went to a coffee shop, and the guest network connected easily.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Is your router set to 5 GHz? Most other public routers are 2.4. Maybe that is part of the issue?

 

[BMCS]

I just checked, and the router is at 2.4. It's working fine for all the other devices in the house. Would a hard reset likely solve the problem?

 

[djrakowski]

I just checked, and the router is at 2.4. It's working fine for all the other devices in the house. Would a hard reset likely solve the problem?

A hard reset might solve the problem. I rarely recommend going that route - I consider it the nuclear option - but in cases where you've tried just about everything else, it may be justified. Just make sure you've made a backup before you do it - preferably to your Google account, though Samsung offers some useful backup tools as well, provided you're signed in with a Samsung account - to make setup less painful afterward.
@Golfdriver97, didn't we just have a chat about this very subject recently?

 

[BMCS]

djrakowski, thank you. I just used the nuclear option and did a hard reset. It worked! I backed things up to Google, and the settings are back in place. I thank you and Golfdriver97 for taking time with me to solve this problem.

 

[Golfdriver97]

djrakowski, thank you. I just used the nuclear option and did a hard reset. It worked! I backed things up to Google, and the settings are back in place. I thank you and Golfdriver97 for taking time with me to solve this problem.

Glad that worked out. I am usually hesitant to suggest a factory reset. Mostly for the idea that people don't like the idea of setting their device back up to where is was before.