Can't detect my home wifi network without my SIM card(s)

[testuser1029]

Switched on my old Motorola G5s plus today, on the set up menu it was unable to detect my home network but was detecting other nearby wifi networks. When I put my SIM card in it suddenly detected my home network.

The first time this happened I had only done a factory reset through recovery mode WITHOUT wiping out personalized content. So I assumed that was the cause of this issue.

I then performed a full factory reset, wiping out all data and switched it on again, but it was still unable to detect my home network on the set up screen. I then skipped it and most of the set up and went straight to the main menu but it was still unable to detect my home Wifi. I then did a full reset of network configurations on my mobile but nothing happened. Inserted both of SIMs in and it started detecting my home network again.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! That does sound odd. If you want to keep testing this, it might be worth rebooting your wi-fi router before you try reconnecting the phone, in case part of the issue is your home network.

 

[testuser1029]

Thanks for the reply!
Yes it is extremely unusual, I've never seen it happen with any smartphone.
I did all the usual stuff - rebooting the router, then testing it. I've done repeated factory resets and determined that my phone simply cannot connect to my own router before I insert my SIM cards. I assumed that it was a case of pure coincidence, that I was inserting my SIM cards just as my phone detected the router, so I randomized the time over which this happened. One hour, a few seconds or 17 minutes, it doesn't matter, my phone only detects my router when I put in the cards. I also checked with and without the SIM tray. No luck there, at least one of my two sim cards has to be inside the phone and be detected and get setup before I can connect to my home WIFI.

 

[B. Diddy]

Would it matter if wi-fi calling was turned off?

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for the reply!
Yes it is extremely unusual, I've never seen it happen with any smartphone.
I did all the usual stuff - rebooting the router, then testing it. I've done repeated factory resets and determined that my phone simply cannot connect to my own router before I insert my SIM cards. I assumed that it was a case of pure coincidence, that I was inserting my SIM cards just as my phone detected the router, so I randomized the time over which this happened. One hour, a few seconds or 17 minutes, it doesn't matter, my phone only detects my router when I put in the cards. I also checked with and without the SIM tray. No luck there, at least one of my two sim cards has to be inside the phone and be detected and get setup before I can connect to my home WIFI.

Can you test this on another wifi? Sounds like a issue with your home Wi-Fi

 

[anon(19759)]

Did you set your router to broadcast the SSID or is it hidden? Try entering the ssid and pw manually and see if it connects.

 

[J Dubbs]

I'm curious about this as well, never experienced the problem before or even heard of it. I hope we can find a resolution

 

[joeldf]

Did you set your router to broadcast the SSID or is it hidden? Try entering the ssid and pw manually and see if it connects.

This was my first thought. If the SSID is hidden, the phone won't see it without manually inputting the information in advanced setup. Factory resetting the phone would have erased any saved networks, so only the unhidden networks around you would be seen.

If, I fact, the SSID is not hidden, then I'm at a loss. You would need to go into your router's settings to see if it's hidden or not.