Wifi-Repeater

[HnLA]

I have always been connected to my own Wifi. Suddenly yesterday, I got a notice from Norton that "Wifi-Repeater_7038" is not safe and suggested I switch to VPN. I did not understand what it was talking about. This morning I see that instead of being connected to my usual wifi network, I was, in fact, connected to W-R_7038. So I switched back to my network.
How could my S10 be changed to a different network without my permission. I did not go into the W-Fi area to make any changes.
Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Is the repeater working for any device? It might have glitched and lost connection to your main router. Try resetting the repeater and setting it back up with your network.

 

[HnLA]

Honestly, I do not know what a repeater is, and I do not think I have one. It is possible that it is a neighbor in the building. I just wonder if it is malicious. How can a repeater connect to my phone without my allowing it? Thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Oh, I see -- I had thought this was part of your setup.

It's possible that your phone is set to connect automatically to any open public network. Try following the steps here to turn off the auto-connect: https://news.uthsc.edu/announcement...#:~:text=Android:,disable it for that network.

 

[HnLA]

Thanks, I connected and hit the do not connect. But still worried about why it would have connected in the first place. I appreciate your responses!!

 

[B. Diddy]

It might have to do with Hotspot 2.0 -- you can read more about it here: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Hot-Spot-20-HS-20#:~:text=Hotspot 2.0, also known as,to the Wi-Fi network.

It's possible that wi-fi repeater is part of some public network that is no longer working, so the phone could have automatically connected to the repeater, but wasn't actually connected to the web through it.

In your phone's system settings, go to Connections, and then tap Wi-fi (the word, not the toggle). Now tap the 3-dot menu button at the upper right, then Advanced Settings. Turn off Hotspot 2.0, and then see if the phone tries to connect to that repeater again.

Also, after tapping the 3-dot menu button, you can also try Intelligent Wi-Fi, and turn off the "Switch to better Wi-Fi networks" toggle.

I'm looking at the menu of my Galaxy A32 5G running Android 13/One UI 5.1. I'm not sure what your S10 is running, but bear in mind the menu structure and features might differ a little between our phones. If you can't find what I described above, you could always search for it in the system settings search bar.