How do I get wifi on my phone, it seems to be missing and the wifi fan has exclamation mark (!)?

[CambridgeChris]

Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Suddenly, yesterday, my Nexus 7 (2013) tablet refused to access my home wi-fi.
It's been fine so far. But then it stopped working.
It appears to connect to the wireless router OK (a Virgin Media "Superhub"),
and the "connected" fan appears, with signal strength indication
- but there's exclamation mark next to it, and NO wireless connection.
No Gmail updates, no browser, no news apps.

I've tried the usual tricks
- reboot the tablet, reboot the router, switch wi-fi off and then on again, set a fixed IP address
- nothing works.

Any ideas?? A tablet without wi-fi is next to useless!

 

[Dmjohn29]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Do you have other devices connecting successfully to the wi-fi network, like phone, laptop, etc? If they can't connect, or show "limited" connection, then I would look to the router as the problem.

 

[CambridgeChris]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Yes. My android phone (android 2.3) is fine, also my laptop, my friend's laptop, phone and tablet.

My Nexus 7 was fine until yesterday. Since then, it refuses to see the wi-fi.
Gmail says "No connection. Retry."
Chrome says "This web page is not available".
But Settings .. Wi-fi .. Status says "Connected".

 

[CambridgeChris]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

By the way .....

I was running Android 4 with no problems.

Then I upgraded to Android 5.0.1
This worked fine for about a week - then the wi-fi refused to function.

 

[CambridgeChris]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Update on the problem ...

Totally bizarre behaviour!

Throughout Sunday and Monday it refused to access any data using wi-fi.
The exclamation mark remained beside the wi-fi fan. All other wi-fi devices int he house continued to behave normally.

Half way through Monday, when closing down, it said that it would enter "safe mode".
The next time I rebooted, it said "safe mode" at the bottom of the screen.
But all apps still seemed to behave as normal - except, no wi-fi access.

I had almost decided that there must be a hardware fault, and I should get it replaced under guarantee.

But, when I stitched it on on Tuesday morning, wi-fi was working!
Everything seemed back to normal ....
EXCEPT, after one hour, the exclamation mark came back again and wi-fi vanished.

So perhaps going into "safe mode" cured it (temporarily)??

Is there any way of manually putting it into "safe mode" to check out this theory?

Android 5.0.1, Nexus 7 (2013), two months old.

 

[ianamac56]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

I had a similar problem within days of upgrading my nexus 7 (2013) to Kitkat (5.0.1). The WiFi would work for short periods, the exclamation mark would appear beside the WiFi notification icon and the WiFi would drop out. I rebooted and the exclamation mark would disappear for a while then reappear. Sometimes rebooting would solve the problem for a couple of days but the problem still reappeared every few days.
I received the OTA update 5.0.2 a couple of weeks after the 5.0.1 update and have never encountered the WiFi problem since.

 

[CambridgeChris]

How do I get hold of the 5.0.2 update?

If (when??) my nexus 7 tablet starts to receive wi-fi again, can I request this update somehow - or do I have to wait for a notification to appear?

Putting my tablet into safe mode does not get rid of the problem. So I presume that it is not any 3rd party app causing it.

But only working with wi-fi for one hour in two days is a bit ridiculous!.

 

[ianamac56]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Yes, sounds similar to the problem I had - the WiFi worked sporadically and the exclamation mark appeared frequently.
Not sure where you're located (I'm in the UK), anyhow, I received the 5.0.2 update OTA about 3 to 4 weeks after I got the 5.0.1 update. I reckon you'll really have to wait for a notification to appear. It sounds like you do get WiFi appearing sporadically (as did I). When it works you could try going to "About Tablet" in settings and check for updates. I'm pretty sure Google must be close to the end of releasing this update so hopefully you'll get it really soon.
The problem you have sounds identical to what I had - all other devices work fine, WiFi only works sporadically. I remember being relieved to see the 5.0.2 update appear cause I knew it would likely fix my problem - and it did.

 

[CambridgeChris]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
(I sincerely hope, solved for good.)

I changed the wi-fi channel number on my wireless router, and the exclamation mark went away.
Wi-fi at home now works perfectly on my Nexus 7.

Probably there was a neighbour with a strong interfering signal on the same channel.

It's all that none of the other wi-fi devices at home had any problem - only my new tablet.

But for now, I'm happy.

 

[ianamac56]

Re: Wi-Fi missing - wi-fi "fan" has exclamation mark (!).

Very good...happy to hear you're all fixed.