Galaxy S4: your internet connection is unstable.

[robbie303]

Tried the reset, new kitkat android firmware and also the clear cache. Did only work for a few days.
What also works for a short time is setting the phone on a fixed ip. Then the internet will remain stable for a few days, and then the error will return again.

The Samsung S4 (and probably more models) probably have a problem with dual band routers. The phone connects to the wifi network, but still can not get data from it. Turning off the 5Ghz band (so the router only works at 2Ghz), also solved the problem.... for a few days....

So, I threw away my TP-link modem and bought the Asus RT-AC68A. The problem was away for a few days, but after that, the error came back.
I have the same problem on 2 phone's (both are Samsung S4), so it can not be that 1 phone is defect.
It simply must be some design defect in the S4.
Nothing that I can solve.

Samsung should have solved this issue, it has been there for long time now.

 

[jeffreyh51]

I finally decided to call Samsung directly regarding the “your internet connection is unstable…” issue, after AT&T suggested that they replace my phone (S4) under warranty, despite the probability that it is software related, and has nothing to do with the hardware. I spoke with a nice, understanding tech who actually seemed to know what she was talking about, and acknowledged that she had heard of the issue. In fact, she had experienced it herself with her Note 3.

She described what she had done on her own, since Samsung has not, itself, come up with anything. She explained that it worked for her, and that it was worth a try. Since I had already tried everything else I could find on the net, I figured no harm done…..

Go to Application Manager, ALL
Scroll to Wi-Fi Direct Share and click
Hit Force Stop
Hit Clear Cache
Go back to ALL list, hit Wi-Fi Direct
Do the same as above
Restart

I don’t understand, because I’ve done the “wipe cache partition” procedure with no positive results, but this has kept everything stable for 2 days now. I don’t know if I’m going to have to do it again when the cache fills again, but this is the first thing that has really worked for me so far.

Worth a try. Let me know if it works for you.

 

[robbie303]

Thanks Jeffrey, gonna try it. But looked at the other forum giving this same tip, and people said the error came back after a few days.
I will keep you posted for sure about if this solves the error. thanks again Jeffrey.

 

[paulhead]

I called att and they advised me to the following settings. I was having trouble connecting to free wifi every where. Been fine ever since

 

[robbie303]

Thanks Paul, but that has got nothing to do with the internet connection becoming unstable after being connected for a few days (or becoming instable even immediately)
This thread is about Samsung S3, S4 and Samsung Notes getting an error message saying "your internet connection is unstable"
The error only pops-up with certain wifi routers. The error can pop-up immediately (seconds) when connecting to the wifi router. It can also disappear for a few
days, after changing some settings.


PS: the suggestion which Jeffrey gave to me is still working OK for 1 day now.

 

[69hanes]

Awesome ...

Posted via Android Central App

 

[thegrosboss]

Jeffrey solution doesn't work for me !
(S4 with 4.3)

 

[jeffreyh51]

OK. Since I've now dedicated my life to resolving this issue : ) I now have an update.....

The last solution I posted DID help, but still occasionally gives me the dreaded message. I stumbled upon an Apple board that was discussing the same issue. One poster noted that not only was a static ip important (most of us know that already), but he was having issues because of the ssid on his router. He used a hyphen in his identification, and claimed that when he changed the ssid name to use no hyphen, all of the " Your internet connection is unstable" messages went away, as it did for others.

I was aware that my ssid used a hyphen, so no big deal to change it and reboot the router (Netgear R7000). Seems to have worked, and it's now been 4 days without any such messages, and I'm also getting my full download speeds (100mb) consistently. Very strange.

I'll keep an eye on it, and report back. In the meantime, if you use a hyphen in your ssid, it's worth a try. If you use some other weird characters, you may want to play around with that as well. Good luck.

 

[jeffreyh51]

Hilarious...NOT.

As noted above, it's been 4 days without incident. 2 minutes after I posted this, I got the message for the first time. Amazing.
Back to my life's work : (

 

[thegrosboss]

hi,
no more problem at home since i uninstall Adblock
Why ?

 

[jeffreyh51]

hi,
no more problem at home since i uninstall Adblock
Why ?

Maybe a strange coincidence? I wish it were that easy, at least for me. I don't use Adblock.
Since it happens only on my S4, I know there's something up there, especially since it only started happening with the 4.3 update (happening with 4.4 as well). I'm not giving up on this one.

 

[robbie303]

Removing the Wifi direct services as Jeffrey suggested did solve the issue for me.
Since then, I had the error maybe 1 time being displayed during the past 2 weeks.

 

[jeffreyh51]

Glad it worked for you, Robbie. It's made things much better for me as well, however, I'm making all the best attempts to eliminate it completely.
...to be continued.

 

[JasW]

Go to Application Manager, ALL
Scroll to Wi-Fi Direct Share and click
Hit Force Stop
Hit Clear Cache
Go back to ALL list, hit Wi-Fi Direct
Do the same as above
Restart

Thanks a bunch for this. I also have a Netgear Nighthawk router, which I just bought a week or so ago to replace a 5-year-old Netgear router that was showing its age. (As an aside, the Nighthawk has been a dream come true in terms of range and improved download speeds.) My AT&T Note 2 would only connect to 5GHz on the Nighthawk, but of course 5GHz range is terrible. The 2.4GHz would only rarely appear, and would always disappear as soon as I tried to connect to it. Most of the time, other than the 5GHz, my Note 2 wouldn't see any wifi at all -- not the 2.4 or the neighbors, etc., that it always used to see. This fix from the Samsung rep has done the trick. Thus far (fingers crossed).

 

[r-p]

I used the 'Samsung lady' advice.

Is showed a wifi-is-unstable-warning the SECOND it finished rebooting. :'(

 

[BjdC]

Thanks Paul, but that has got nothing to do with the internet connection becoming unstable after being connected for a few days (or becoming instable even immediately)
This thread is about Samsung S3, S4 and Samsung Notes getting an error message saying "your internet connection is unstable"
The error only pops-up with certain wifi routers. The error can pop-up immediately (seconds) when connecting to the wifi router. It can also disappear for a few
days, after changing some settings.


PS: the suggestion which Jeffrey gave to me is still working OK for 1 day now.

 

[P D2]

this worked. thanks

I finally decided to call Samsung directly regarding the “your internet connection is unstable…” issue, after AT&T suggested that they replace my phone (S4) under warranty, despite the probability that it is software related, and has nothing to do with the hardware. I spoke with a nice, understanding tech who actually seemed to know what she was talking about, and acknowledged that she had heard of the issue. In fact, she had experienced it herself with her Note 3.

She described what she had done on her own, since Samsung has not, itself, come up with anything. She explained that it worked for her, and that it was worth a try. Since I had already tried everything else I could find on the net, I figured no harm done…..

Go to Application Manager, ALL
Scroll to Wi-Fi Direct Share and click
Hit Force Stop
Hit Clear Cache
Go back to ALL list, hit Wi-Fi Direct
Do the same as above
Restart

I don’t understand, because I’ve done the “wipe cache partition” procedure with no positive results, but this has kept everything stable for 2 days now. I don’t know if I’m going to have to do it again when the cache fills again, but this is the first thing that has really worked for me so far.

Worth a try. Let me know if it works for you.

 

[P D2]

this worked. thanks

 

[maryjane9110024]

Did not work for me. As soon as my phone booted back up, the same message displayed.

 

[Dulcie Cattrell]

Clearing the cache seemed to work for me - at least at the moment. The issue occurs on my GS4 both at home and in the office, so I was not able to make changes to the router in every instance. Glad this seems to have worked. Fingers crossed!