Bad Wi-Fi Range

[akarol]

I hope that's the case. As I mentioned earlier, I don't really seem to have any performance and range issues rather than what the bars are indicating. I hope it's something that will be addressed soon making the bars more indicative of what's really going on.

 

[eyecon82]

Back to topic: why aren't any of the android sites reporting on this issue?

I believe BGR is reporting it

Is the EVO 4G plagued by poor Wi-Fi reception? ? Boy Genius Report

 

[acstewart82]

Same here as far as the bars but I haven't noticed any degradation in performance.

 

[kcken]

My bars come and go as well, but performance remains consistient.....

 

[MrDroid]

Hopefully a solution to wi-fi problem

not helpful at all. get a life!
what is a forum for? my post were much more relevent than what you just posted. didn't you read the other guy's unfriendly reply to my post? you repeated the same thing. you look like the troll!

I think the wi-fi problems were caused by "darrylb". lol
Just kidding...gotta chill dude. Backup the phone & return it to Sprint as was suggested.

I found a solution online for the wi-fi problem (I don't get my EVO until tomorrow to test this, so DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK).
See post toward bottom of the page at:
Poor wifi connectivity - HTC EVO™ 4G (Sprint) - Android Forums - HTC Community

Posted by tristar2 on 7 Jun 2010 3:55 PM
rated by 0 users Re: Poor wifi connectivity
I've "had" the poor wifi reception issue just as many of you have described in previous posts. I call HTC and spoke with a very helpful tech support agent. She was very helpful and importantly "cured" my wifi issues. Below are the steps we took:

BACKUP your DATA ...

1. Factory Data Reset (home, menu, settings,privacy >Factory Data Reset)

Phone will warn about erasing all data, so make sure your data is backed up..

2. After phone restarts: (takes about 3 minutes)

a.OBE (Out of Box Experience) starts (skip to setting up Gmail account).

b. Skip to complete OBE and allow Evo to finish booting.

c.On home screen, touch menu, settings, wireless & networks.

3. Enter wifi settings via wifi settings (set up and manage wireless access points)

a. Touch WI-FI (Turn on Wi-Fi)

4.Under Wi-Fi networks select desired network.

a. Enter network password and verify info.

b. Connect

5.Touch network name to view connection details (Status-connected, speed, channel, signal strength, security, and ip address. My speed went from 1 or sometimes 11Mbps to 48Mbps!

6. Return arrow to previous page (Wireless & networks)

a. Scroll down and uncheck "Mobile Network".

b. Touch home. All Apps, Internet.

c. Don't enter your PCS phone #.

7. Touch address bar and enter the following web address to test your speed:

mobilespeedtest.com, enter

8. Touch "run speed test" and note results..

a. re-run speed test with the 1Mb file as suggested.

9. I like the "speedtest.net app in the market. I use it on my 3Gs and my Touch Pro

Notes: On back to back speed tests using speedtest.net with the 3Gs and the Evo, the Evo returned

3060kbps vs 3Gs 4269kbps.

Evo Wi-Fi strength indicator showed "0" bars to only "1" bar for the duration of the test.

The 3Gs had a steady bandwidth needle while the Evo displayed an erratic bandwidth needle.

Bottom line is that I can now connect with my router which is 3 levels down in my home..

I hope this info helps.

tristar2

 

[bubbatex]

Funny, I was wondering if doing a factory reset would help this. It is always recommended to do one on a new Windows Mobile device.

 

[qst4]

@darrylb, which apps in particular. I noticed some issues with streaming (pandora, last. fm, you tube). I haven't been able to replicate and after shutting off my airport express wifi and turning it back on things seem to working O.K. But I'm still watching those apps closely.

 

[tankerkevo]

I can connect, but its very unstable. Speedtest app ranges widely from incredible to piss poor from the same location. Simply using the terminal and running 100 pings to google my ms range from 90ms (excellent) to +500ms (terrible) and a fwq attempts time out (very bad). In my 10 years of dealing with linux, this has generally been an indicative symptom of unstable wifi drivers. I anticipate an update in a month or so, or when froyo drops. Its not hardware, as the hardware has proven it CAN perform, which tells me its the hardwares software controller. note: My Palm Pre has no issues with stability from the location. Also same results on both a Netgear and Linksys router.

Something also worth considering: when posting your symptoms, its good to know everything about the enviroment of the hardware. One thing i havent seen mentioned is if users have a protective cover. I have had better wifi range walking away from the router while doing my ping tests with my Body Glove hard shell removed from device. Although my test results are still inconsistent, with or without the glove on in immediate proximity (10 ft Direct Line of Site) of the router. But I do get better range without thw glove... just something to consider.

Luckily for me the 3g everywhere in my house and neighborhood is blazing fast though. So for me its no big deal while I wait for a software update. I can use my laptop to VNC into my headless Fedora server in the mean time.

Good luck everybody, and try not to have too many annuerisms over this.

 

[Cory Streater]

Not to be a pessimist but I'm a little skeptical of the Factory Reset recommendation. I think the solution is more like in the form of a software/firmware update. I basically accomplished the same thing the procedure suggested by holding down on my access point name, and clicking the forget option. I then reconnected and my speed went from 24Mbps to 54.

 

[ambulanceonfire]

i performed the factory reset without any positive results. not that i expected any....

 

[tankerkevo]

I completely agree with Cory. A factory reset is just making more work for yourself... It's not going to fix the bytes in the kernel driving the hardware. Your best bet is to wait for an update and try to hang in there and be patient while the HTC developers get some new code into the kernel.

If you do wind up resetting, let us know your results over time. I want to see if my House skills with technology are still sharp!

 

[Yourdogsdead]

Is it confirmed that this is a software related issue? I really really really really really hope that it is. You have no idea how much this will crush my Android patriotism if it's a hardware deal.

 

[CBConsultation]

As a Blackberry user for 8 years and being very familiar with the OS upgrades, I can assure you that the Wi-Fi reception is specific to the first build release [Eclair]. Wait until a new ROM is released and you will see better signal.

Froyo has already been tested and Wi-Fi and battery life have both shown great increases.

 

[DisplacedMic]

i know this is frustrating - i have been following this thread since the op - but look on the bright side - we could all be iphone 4g users a few days after launch forced to use some of our 200 megs/month because wifi doesn't work @ home!!


Just teasing Apple - the iphone4 looks like a beautiful little upgrade - bravo!

still glad i went the HTC route though

 

[ByteMaster0]

+1 for poor perceived signal range on WiFi. Am also glad to hear that I'm not the only one involved. Perhaps they've toned down the WiFi range to reduce battery drain + reduce the range of the Mobile Hotspot? Or just poor driver support for the n chipset in 2.1...

 

[cheebahawk1]

I don't know if this is just all in my head but here goes:

Last night I turned off location services in hopes of conserving battery (since I can't seem to make it thru a whole day wit 2 charges. Phone shut off at 11pm) and turned on my WiFi.

Usually in my bedroom I was only getting one bar, but with gas off my signal was at three bars and never dropped. I don't know if gps is affecting WiFi strength or if it was just a coincidence.
I thought I would share in hopes of somebody else replicating my experience or disapproving it.

 

[Carioca_FL]

I also disable GPS and location services and still get piss-poor WiFi signal...

Here's hoping that an OTA update fixes this.

 

[acstewart82]

Mine seems to be working fine.

 

[caseydietz]

Hi, first post on the forum from being a long time BB user. I am having the same problems with poor wi-fi... hopefully a fix will come sooner than later.

 

[Y2Dre]

After further analysis, I realized that I actually get speeds twice as fast when I'm right next to my router. Earlier, I reported that I got over 6000 kbps download speeds when on WiFi. However, when I go to my basement where the router is, I get over 12000 kbps download speeds. I must say that my last phone was a Blackberry 8350i on which I never tested speeds. For me, it was either on or off. So, in one sense, my EVO is working fine...I always get a signal anywhere in my house. However, I'm beginning to wonder if the connection strength should be more stable...more consistent. Who knows?