Galaxy S6 won't stay connected to 5GHz band anymore, only stays connected to 2.4GHz. Why?

[nerbieT]

My phone is a Galaxy S6, model SM-G920V, and it currently has Android version 7.0 (Nougat). I've owned the phone for about 2 years and have never had a problem with staying connected to any wireless network. But somewhere in the last 2-3 months it developed a problem where it won't stay connected to the 5GHz band of my wireless router.

Doesn't seem to be a problem with my router because several other devices of different types stay connected to the 5GHz band without any problem, although I did reboot the router to see if there would be a change. Also, the 2.4 and 5 bands are labeled accordingly so that I can choose the connection. When I switch over to the 2.4GHz band, it stays connected with no problem. The only way to temporarily resolve the problem (that I've found) is to shut off the phone's Wi-Fi, and then turn it back on. At that point, the phone will connect, but then after a little while it will lose the connection again.

I suspect that an update created the problem, but since I don't know exactly when it started happening, it's hard to pinpoint. I hate to go through the hassle of rolling the Android version back to 6.0 if I'll be left with the same problem - I've seen several posts similar to this from the past 2 years, but with no good solutions.

Has anyone encountered this and had success fixing it permanently?

 

[SpookDroid]

Have you tried changing the 5GHz channel in your router? I've seen similar issues where suddenly a neighbor has a new router and it creates noise on your signal (remember, 5GHz might be built for faster transfer speeds, but it's waaaaay more susceptible to noise and will not travel as far through obstacles as 2.4GHz).

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Also, 5 GHz has lesser range than 2.4 GHz, and doesn't penetrate walls as well. If this is happening when you're somewhat far away from the router, it's possible that the 5 GHz signal is low enough that the phone decides to switch over to 2.4 GHz, which will be stronger (and is a network that is presumably also saved to the phone).

 

[jevalladares]

Hi NerbieT

I agree with the other two post. I also have and Galaxy S6 and had a similar issue, in my case the phone won't even see the 5 Ghz network at the beginning of my troubleshooting.

After some forum reading, troubleshooting by trial and error I have manage to have a 5 Ghz stable connection to my phone. apparently Samsung phones can see certain 5Ghz channels depending on the region where your phone is for. For example US phones will work on channel 36, probably 38 & 30, but for other regions Europe, Japan and in my case Latin-america other channels apply.

My recomendation is:

1. Have separate SSID for 2.4 and 5 Ghz
2. Leave Wireless A on the 5Ghz band and have Mixed B/G and N on the 2.4 GHz (that way you leave a fast writeless connection to cover more areas of the house.
3. Change the channel settings to a fixed one; for 2.4 Ghz use the less crowed channel (You can use WiFi Analyzer app for this) and for 5 Ghz use the Channel that your phone* can see. This will be trial and error until you find a channel that your phone is set up.

See setting for my Lynksys Router.


Have a good day

Erasmo

 

[nerbieT]

SpookDroid, I didn't manually try to manually change the 5GHz channel. Not sure that's the issue because I've noticed that when it drops, it throws an authentication error. If I disable the Wi-Fi on my phone and then turn it back on, it will reconnect.

 

[nerbieT]

B. Diddy, it's not a network strength issue. The phone had no problem staying connected to the 5GHz band up until a few months ago, no matter where I was in the house. Also, I noticed that when it loses connection, the phone shows some type of authentication error.

 

[nerbieT]

Jevalladares, the phone can see the signal from the 5GHz band with no problem. It drops with an authentication error, but as soon as I disable the Wi-fi on my phone, and then turn it back on, it reconnects the 5GHz band.

 

[SpookDroid]

I'd still try to change the channel. Seriously, you can see the same strength, but if there's noise in that channel all of a sudden (in my case, it happened when two of my neighbors got a 5GHz router the same night), you'll still see the same signal strength, but the channel is so noisy your phone might not be able to authenticate or transmit any data (think of someone talking in a room very loudly, and then fill the room with more people talking at the same time...you still hear the person, just can't understand them very well).

Also, some routers have issues with Sammy phones in certain channels. If there are no updates for your router, switching channels can help.

 

[nerbieT]

Good to know, SpookDroid. I'll mess with those settings. You've offered the best possible explanation based on the symptoms I've described. Didn't realize that a noisy channel could result in authentication errors. I'll let you know if it helps. Thanks.

P.S. I will never buy another Samsung phone, that's for sure. Disappointing experience, disappointing performance, even when it was new. I like Android, but not Samsung.

 

[SpookDroid]

Let us know if that helped. Also, it's both the router and the Samsung chipset, not just Samsung, but yeah, I can see how, in the end, for YOUR experience (since the router works fine with other devices) the phone would seem to be the culprit. Other things like BT and NFC could be affecting the connection, but that's usually more common with 2.4GHz networks.

 

[nerbieT]

Thanks to everyone, especially SpookDroid, for the input on this. Got the problem fixed. Here's what happened. I had to turn off the band-steering feature for the 5GHz band of my Linksys router (the router broadcasts two 5GHz bands) in order to manually set the channels. I ran my Wi-Fi analyzer and, sure enough, there was a lot of congestion in 5GHz-land. I picked less congested channels, connected my phone and, Voila, it has stayed connected for days!

For the last 7 months, we've been living in a new place with much more wireless congestion, and I never considered the problems that could cause. Definitely didn't know it could cause authentication errors! Anyways, thanks for the help!

 

[SpookDroid]

Glad we could help!! It surprised me too, but yeah, especially since more people are getting the same 5GHz router from the same provider, things can get hectic if they're all 'shouting' in the same default channel.