Mediocre Wi-Fi performance

[Nitro211K]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

I have lousy WiFi speeds also.

-How do you switch between ART and Dalvik?
-How do you switch between 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz?

Ok I find out that you can change the Dalvik to ART in the developer options>>Runtime. But how do you change the GHz from 5.0 to 2.4?

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Ok I find out that you can change the Dalvik to ART in the developer options>>Runtime. But how do you change the GHz from 5.0 to 2.4?

@ Nitro - 5.0 to 2.4 GHz is controlled by the network you're connecting to. Such as 2.4 GHz is commonly used for most wireless (b/g/n) and 5 GHz is usually used for the AC standard. You would have to check your network to see if your router can even support a 5 GHz network.

 

[Preach2k]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

I am having No problems with my WiFi at all. I am on Century Link. It also work great on the Network at Church and at work.

 

[Alexander Burnside]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

No it is fine. Humans can mess with signals -- Cases do not. An example of this is remember the bunny ears on TVs? Remember if you were getting a fuzzy picture and you went to adjust it you could grab the antenna and it would get a little better? Same with Cell Phones except the opposite since you're covering the whole thing with your hand -- so you block the signal. Cases do not cause this to happen.

Ah, makes sense. Is it because our magnetic field is interfering with the radio frequency?

 

[Nitro211K]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

@ Nitro - 5.0 to 2.4 GHz is controlled by the network you're connecting to. Such as 2.4 GHz is commonly used for most wireless (b/g/n) and 5 GHz is usually used for the AC standard. You would have to check your network to see if your router can even support a 5 GHz network.

My network router (comcast) only has the b/g/n option, no AC. and I assume that the Note 4 has 5GHz as default, this is why I get 50mbps when I am next to the router, and 4mbps when I am in another part of the house?

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

My network router (comcast) only has the b/g/n option, no AC. and I assume that the Note 4 has 5GHz as default, this is why I get 50mbps when I am next to the router, and 4mbps when I am in another part of the house?

The router they gave you probably only operates on 2.4 GHz. The Note 4 isn't set to anything -- It just uses the 2.4 or 5 GHz network that it is connected to -- This is controlled by the router and not the phone.

The router they gave you probably doesn't have good signal range / penetration and that is why when you're next to the router you get good speeds but when in other parts of the house interference / walls drop the strength of the signal which drops the speed as well.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Ah, makes sense. Is it because our magnetic field is interfering with the radio frequency?

Exactly .

 

[thatdarnpunk]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Really weird that my download speeds are so much worse than upload.

 

[smoothrunnings]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Before I got my Note 4, I had a Note 2 on AT&T and I still have it. Comparing the Wi-Fi performance between the two phones, I noticed how much weaker the Wi-Fi performance of the Note 4 is. I did a series of speed tests, and I was able to confirm that the Note 2 definitely had a better Wi-Fi chip than the Note 4.

I live in a 6-floor university dorm that has one router on the 2nd floor. But I can get a signal in my room on my phones, both of which get anywhere from 1-3 bars of Wi-Fi when I'm in my room. I get around the same speeds when I'm standing right under the router (the Note 2 still outperforms the Note 4). Download speeds on the campus network these days ranged anywhere from 0.8 to 16 mbps. I kid you not; speeds were very inconsistent even when doing speed tests on both phones. (Upload speeds were blazingly fast on both phones.)

In real-world testing, I have tested streaming two YouTube videos (1 short and 1 long) and downloading a large app (~700 MB) from the Play Store. They are streaming the same videos and downloading the same app. And this is where things take a weird turn:

Directly under the router, the Note 4 buffers the videos much quicker than the Note 2, but it downloads the app slower. The opposite is true for the Note 2 (it buffers slower but downloads faster). Away from the router in my room, however, the Note 2 consistently downloads and buffers faster than the Note 4. When streaming the video, the Note 4 actually keeps stopping the videos to buffer, and the download hangs often and starts back up downloading anywhere between 60-200 KB.

Are any of you experiencing similar situations? Is my Note 4's Wi-Fi chip defective? What is so different about the Note 4 that its Wi-Fi performance is inferior to the Note 2? I'll provide more details about my settings later.

In case things like these matter: the routers that my school uses are Cisco ceiling routers. They operate on 802.11n dual-band. (I could tell it was dual-band because my Note 4 could connect to either of them at will.)

Putting your tin foil hat on should give you better WiFi reception on your Note 4.

 

[Nitro211K]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

The router they gave you probably only operates on 2.4 GHz. The Note 4 isn't set to anything -- It just uses the 2.4 or 5 GHz network that it is connected to -- This is controlled by the router and not the phone.

The router they gave you probably doesn't have good signal range / penetration and that is why when you're next to the router you get good speeds but when in other parts of the house interference / walls drop the strength of the signal which drops the speed as well.

That makes sense, but why is the S4 able to give me a 14mbps while the Note 4 give me 4mbps in the same spot of the house? I guess I would have to go get a good repeater (any recommendations)?

 

[dpham00]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

I learned them when on of our mods (dpham) posted the filings for the Note 4 as they went through their normal approval process (they show the internals on a diagram) -- So I figured it out then .

It doesn't show the exact location in the public fcc filing, but does show approximate location. The easy way to check is to use an app like signal check to see signal strength, and put your hands over the top and bottom. You will see a signal drop. 6 just tried it and my signal went from 97 to 105.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4

 

[dpham00]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Err...that's pretty bad news, isn't it? What does that mean for cases? Surely, cases cover the top of the phone.

Plastic cases shouldn't affect signal strength. A solid metal case would though. On the note 3, Samsung had the antenna on the back, behind plastic anyway.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4

 

[ChemMan]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

Seems ok for me.

 

[deparson]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Wi-Fi performance sucks!

My N4 is crazy fast on Wi-Fi. Faster than our N2 and N3. Strange.

 

[cypcon]

Ok i got the n4 verizon and am having the exact problem except im on a home wifi through comcast so no competing with other people and when im right beside the router i get amazing speeds but when i go 15 -20 feet away i go to under 4mbps and on my galaxy s2 yea a s2 i get 8mbps or better in the same spot, i have read alot i mean alot and have tried all the settings on the phone had my router set for optimum speeds but still yet my old s2 beats my EXPENSIVE n4 15 feet away from my router! Why is that? Faulty phone? Should i return it?

 

[cypcon]

Also my n4 shows full bars on wifi at that range and link speed is showing 130mbps but my galaxy s2 is crushing it on wifi now when i switch to 4g lte everything is fine, im on my fifth day of my 14 day return window i think im going to get another one tomorrow and hope it is better im a big samsung fan but this is quite disappointing especially for the price tag. I hope its just this unit

 

[Preach2k]

This is what I get on my WiFi.

Sent from my GNote4 using Tapatalk!

 

[cypcon]

I get close to those speeds when im right next to my router

 

[Preach2k]

Before Returning your Note4 Try Some of these Methods: I hope it works for you.

If you are having a WiFi stability problem, then disabling WiFi Direct Share and WiFi Direct apps can solve the problem. To disable them, go to Settings, then Application Manager on the All tab.
Turn off your router and your Galaxy note 4 for few minutes, and then turn them on again.
Open Settings on Galaxy note 4, navigate to WiFi, and then long press on the connection. Tell your device to forget the connection and set the connection again from scratch.
Crowded channels could be the reason for a WiFi connection problem on Samsung Galaxy Note 4. To check and see if this is the cause of your problem, install the free app WiFi Analyzer and see if crowded channels is the problem. If so, then change the router channel.
Make sure that the firmware of your router is up-to-date, and also check settings like MAC filtering.
Disable all devices that are connected to the modem, then enable your Galaxy Note 4 first. Most of the time there are connection authentication issues with devices that are connected on the same network, such as IP conflict.

 

[cypcon]

yes I have tried all those ideas and have again for good measure, there is a bit of information that I left out. That is when I do restart my phone the speed at that range are blazing at first but slowly decrease to nothing. I just cant figure it out seems like ive tried everything twice, i mean im no expert but im not to bad with phones. I just hope the new one dont have this problem, i really want this phone!