Has anyone had major wifi and gps issues?

[MannyZ28]

My friend has the AT&T version of the S3 and it does some weird things. The GPS symbol keeps blinking in the top left corner of the notification bar, even when he's not really opening an app that would require GPS.

Most importantly is his wifi issue though. Lets say he encounters a new wifi network, he can hook up to it, but then it drops the connection and then it reports the wifi network to be out of range, even when standing right next to the router.

I have the Sprint version and have none of these problems. He got his phone on the 21st of June, sent directly from AT&T, and it was working fine for the first two weeks or so.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[Shepx13]

Nope. No problems with wifi or gps whatsoever. In fact, this seems to be one of the least buggy android phones I've seen on release.

 

[brewzer]

Nope. No problems with wifi or gps whatsoever. In fact, this seems to be one of the least buggy android phones I've seen on release.

Same here. GPS and WiFi work flawlessly for me. Sounds like he may have a hardware defect, I would definitely exchange it or have them replace it under warranty.

 

[MannyZ28]

That's what I was thinking...definitely didn't look like a software issue to me.

 

[Newtoandroid99]

I see the GPS pop up up from time to time, but i think that comes up if you enable that in settings. My wifi has been flawless, has he tried to reboot the device? I would try that and maybe even a factory reset before i returned it.

 

[MannyZ28]

Yeah, lots of reboots and battery pills. Factory reset is definitely next on the list.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[chronictacos]

try a separate pass code. i understand at my work there are 2 different security codes on the back of the router depending on which passcode it requires may solve the issue just a thought

 

[evq.003]

You could also try changing the channel the wireless router is using. I had a very similar issue when I would go to my dad's house, and not only would my phone struggle to maintain a wifi connection, my battery would be severely drained.

So I installed a small utility on his laptop called inSSIDer and ran a scan of his and surrounding networks and found nearly everyone around his house was using the same channel. I then set the router to use the least used channel, rebooted the router, toggled the wifi on my phone off and on, and never had a problem since. He even claims his laptop speeds are faster now, but I didn't do any speed tests before or after to verify that.

 

[dubge]

I'm having this exact problem on the Verizon version. My home network works fine, but my work network keeps dropping it and reporting "out of range"

I have to turn wifi off and on (or sometimes even forget the network and set it up again) and then it'll stay connected a bit but eventually will disconnect again.

It's quite annoying since I only notice when I glance at the phone and see it's back on 4G sucking up my data again

I am also having this problem on verizon but my 3g/4g uses less battery then wifi

 

[dmmattix]

The default for the phone evidently is to have WiFi in Power Save mode which puts it to sleep from time to time. There was a post on another thread which pointed to the following:


1. Open up the Galaxy S3 phone dialer
2. Then dial *#0011#
3. Look for the “ServiceMode” screen and press the left menu button
4. Select “WiFi”
5. You should see that the “WiFi Power Save Mode” button is “ON” – now put it on “OFF”
6. Your done! Just exit the menu, switch off your WiFi, then switch it back on again. If your router details are saved and automatically connects, get your Galaxy S3 to forget or delete the network information. Then reconnect, putting in all the required information.

I had times when I would see the WiFi re-connect. I did the above and I have not seen it since.

Mike

 

[diegosalinas]

My S3 keeps flashing the GPS icon and saying Searching for GPS. It's driving me batty trying to figure out what it is. I've cleared all apps and it just won't go away.

 

[DavidsTech]

No real issue or problem with my LTE Galaxy S3. The GPS works great. My WiFi is working fine too. In fact, I would make sure my router/modem are functioning correctly before assuming my smartphone is acting up. Even if other devices are working on the same router/modem certain devices may have compatibility issues with it. It does mean the smartphone is broke or a replacement will fix it.