WiFi and Location Tracking doesn't work

[magnificence]

Hey all,

I've just bought a new android device, the Dell Streak. But I have two problems. First I can't connect to the WiFi in our house. I have Android 1.6, if I press from my home screen on the menu buttons I go to: Settings > Wireless controls > Wi-Fi settings. At this point it is sometimes black for a pretty long time. Now If I toggle Wi-Fi (off and) on again, it starts scanning, but nothing comes up. My mother-in-law has a android smartphone to, and she can see like 2-3 networks which includes our own. Even if I manually add the network, it says "Not in range, remembered". So currently I just use 3G.

Also, I'm unable to track my location in any application. Maybe that works if my Wi-Fi is working too, but it doesn't at the moment. Personally I think its weird that It can't track my location, since I'm connected to one of those antenna's for 3G right? So I would think that at least they could make a rough estimate. And yes, I turned the "Enable GPS satellites" and "Use wireless networks" under "My Location" on.

Does anybody know how to fix this or do you think this is a device problem?

 

[magnificence]

Ok, now today I got out of the house and drove some place and google maps worked perfectly, now whenever I go to "My Location" it really goes to it, maybe it remembers the last spot it tracked me. Is it normal that my location should only be trackable while I'm in a car (and don't use Wi-Fi, if that makes a difference)? Also, I found out I can find the Wi-Fi networks of some other people, but not ours and the one from the neighbours (that my laptop does see).

 

[takeshi]

Is it normal that my location should only be trackable while I'm in a car (and don't use Wi-Fi, if that makes a difference)?

It's normal that GPS works outdoors and doesn't work indoors. In some cases you may be able to get a GPS fix indoors but don't count on it.

Some Android devices seem to have problems connecting to wireless N routers running in mixed mode. If that applies to your case, try switching the router to G only. Some devices have problems with hidden SSID's. If the SSID is hidden, try disabling that. It's difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all solution to WiFi issues.

With any form of troubleshooting, the goal is to remove as many potential variables that might be affecting the situation. Try removing as many things as possible, including encryption, MAC address filtering, etc and see if you can then connect. If you can, start adding things back to see where the problem is. If you can't connect to an unsecured wireless network then you need to dig a bit deeper. Of course, you won't want to leave the wireless network with all security disabled in the long run...