Why does my bluetooth audio disconnect when switching wifi networks?

[Android Central Question]

I have a Verizon Galaxy S7 and have had for probably a year now. Just recently, it has started disconnecting the bluetooth audio when switching wifi networks. For example, I get in my car near work and it's still on the wifi network. I start playing audio through my bluetooth connection in my car and about a block down the road, the car audio goes quiet and the audio is now coming out of the phone speaker. It doesn't matter the bluetooth device that's connected (tried paired earbuds, paired FM transmitter, paired headphones). I've turned on and off the wifi and bluetooth with no luck. I've restarted the phone several times with no luck. I cannot find a setting to change and can only assume this is related to some software update I have. Help?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Does that also happen in Safe Mode? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28008

 

[konvajw]

I have a Verizon Galaxy S7 and have had for probably a year now. Just recently, it has started disconnecting the bluetooth audio when switching wifi networks. For example, I get in my car near work and it's still on the wifi network. I start playing audio through my bluetooth connection in my car and about a block down the road, the car audio goes quiet and the audio is now coming out of the phone speaker. It doesn't matter the bluetooth device that's connected (tried paired earbuds, paired FM transmitter, paired headphones). I've turned on and off the wifi and bluetooth with no luck. I've restarted the phone several times with no luck. I cannot find a setting to change and can only assume this is related to some software update I have. Help?

I'm having the same issue on my samsung s7 edge on at&t after latest update. Sound coming via bluetooth suddenly stops and instead plays through the phone speaker. I've seen few other reports of this behavior also, but this is first one that mentions potential cause related to switching wifi networks. Hope they can get this fixed in next update.

 

[T-Mack04]

Welcome to Android Central! Does that also happen in Safe Mode? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28008

Restarted in safemode and switch wifi networks and even turned off while having audio through my headset. The audio stayed with my bluetooth device. Not sure what that means, but I think there's a glimmer of hope!

 

[T-Mack04]

Took it out of safemode and still was working fine for about 5 minutes, then switched wifi networks on me and it dropped bluetooth audio and played it through the phone speaker.

 

[B. Diddy]

Since it seems to work correctly in Safe Mode, that suggests something you installed is causing the issue. Unfortunately, this means having to uninstall apps one by one until the problem goes away (unless you already have a suspicion of what the culprit might be).

 

[TransitTom]

Thanks for this insight. I've been frustrated with my Note 8 dropping the Bluetooth connection to my headphones and stereo in my truck. I now notice that it only happens as I approach or leave my house and my office!

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for this insight. I've been frustrated with my Note 8 dropping the Bluetooth connection to my headphones and stereo in my truck. I now notice that it only happens as I approach or leave my house and my office!

Welcome to Android Central! Certain 2.4 GHz wi-fi channels might interfere with Bluetooth, since the latter also uses 2.4 GHz. For your home, if your wi-fi router is using 2.4 GHz, try changing to 5 GHz (if available), or change the 2.4 GHz wi-fi channel (see the router's manual to learn how to do that).

 

[TransitTom]

Interestingly, they are both 5GHz. I'm just glad to know my phone's not defective.

 

[konvajw]

This is frustrating. My workaround is to turn off wifi when I leave the house and then my bluetooth in my car stays connected. I have xfinity hotspots, so almost every time I would drive by one of those my bluetooth speaker would stop and sound would start playing through my phone. My guess is this issue was introduced with a firmware/ security update about a month ago.

 

[Free RePHIL]

I'm having the same issue on a Samsung Galaxy S9+. Bluetooth audio that was playing suddenly starts coming out of my phone speakers right as I'm leaving my work wifi range. Bluetooth is still connected though and audio playback is coming from phone speakers. Audio playback does not pause when when switching devices/modes like normal. I verified that it happens on my home internet wifi too. This just started happening from 10/5/18 and on for me. I've restarted my phone several times. I've turned bluetooth on and off several times. I have reset my internet wifi settings to default settings. I've forgotten all of the bluetooth devices and re-paired the one I want to use. Nothing has fixed this issue.

Update to this 10/12/18:

Issues appears to be fixed. I did not force a patch. It just updated and works correctly again. Thanks for the help!

 

[B. Diddy]

The best thing I can suggest at this time would be to send feedback to Samsung about this issue. Hopefully it's some firmware bug they can patch easily with an update!

 

[Evan W Proffitt]

The problem stems from iHeartRadio. They recently updated and the update forces audio out of the phone speakers instead of Bluetooth whenever you change your Wi-Fi connection status, regardless of whether iHeartRadio is open or not.

 

[konvajw]

The problem stems from iHeartRadio. They recently updated and the update forces audio out of the phone speakers instead of Bluetooth whenever you change your Wi-Fi connection status, regardless of whether iHeartRadio is open or not.

Wow thanks. Uninstalling now to give it a try. That's ridiculous that an app could cause this behavior....

 

[B. Diddy]

If that's the culprit, definitely give iHeartRadio feedback about it through the app's settings menu. Hopefully they can quash that bug quickly.

 

[scripps]

I have the same problem!!! I have been trying to figure out what was causing it for weeks now. I would be listening to a podcast, leave the house and the sound would switch to my phone's speakers (S9+). I could stop the podcast and it would connect back to the BT headphones but it was driving me nuts!

I was able to confirm that as soon as I lost Wifi, it would happen.

I have deleted iHeartRadio and am hoping it fixes this problem. Fingers crossed!

I will experiment and update.

 

[konvajw]

I have the same problem!!! I have been trying to figure out what was causing it for weeks now. I would be listening to a podcast, leave the house and the sound would switch to my phone's speakers (S9+). I could stop the podcast and it would connect back to the BT headphones but it was driving me nuts!

I was able to confirm that as soon as I lost Wifi, it would happen.

I have deleted iHeartRadio and am hoping it fixes this problem. Fingers crossed!

I will experiment and update.

Uninstalling the iheart app definitely worked for me. Been running smoothly for several days now without issue!

 

[scripps]

I can confirm too that removing iHeartRadio has fixed the problem.