WiFi won't connect - driving me crazy!

[alexondrums]

I’m just about at the end of my tether with this issue!

I imagine it’s quite common and been asked loads, but I can’t find a permanent solution, so it’s time to ask for help.

The main issue is that WiFi on my phone a) Doesn’t stay connected, or b) has problems connecting.

Often when trying to connect it will either show as ‘connecting...’ then a few seconds later, go to ‘saved’, or ‘authentication problem’, or the connection disappears, then a few seconds later goes back to ‘connecting...’, and either one of the above happens or it sometimes connects.

Occasionally if I tap the connection it will connect, other times it will go in the loop of ‘saved’, or authentication problem’ or ‘disappear and reappear’ as described.

Most of the time the WiFi will be turned on, but the icon will show a ‘?’ next to it. If i go into the Wi-Fi settings, it will often show one of the states above. I can probably only get it to connect maybe 2/10 times.

I’ve tried various things via Google searches including removing and re-adding my WiFi AP, I’ve also reset my router WiFi settings and setup again. This worked for about half a day.

Other settings I’ve checked / tried:

- Turn on Wi-Fi Automatically (disabled)
- Auto network switch (disabled)
- Auto-connect (Enabled)
- Battery power saving exceptions (Wi-Fi added)
- Toggle Wi-Fi off/on
- Reboot phone
- Reboot router

The thing is, it doesn’t appear to just be my phone or my Wi-Fi. Similar things happen on my families phones, on different Wi-Fi AP’s in a different house – so it feels like an Android bug. My other devices in the home that connect to Wi-Fi don’t have this problem (e.g Chromecast x2, laptop).

It’s hard to say how long this has been happening, but maybe about 4-6 weeks +.

My phone did update itself to Android 9.0 a few weeks ago, but I don’t think this affected the issue, but can’t say for sure.

Is this a known issue, and is there a full resolution for it?

Sony Xperia XA2 – H3113
Android 9.0
Security Patch 1 May 2019
Build 50.2.A.0.379

 

[B. Diddy]

Do your other family members have the same phone as yours with the same OS version? Are the other wi-fi networks you've tried in other houses set up by the same person (e.g., some family member who acts as your whole family's IT person)? Does this also happen with public wi-fi networks, like at your local library or coffeehouse?

 

[alexondrums]

Do your other family members have the same phone as yours with the same OS version? Are the other wi-fi networks you've tried in other houses set up by the same person (e.g., some family member who acts as your whole family's IT person)? Does this also happen with public wi-fi networks, like at your local library or coffeehouse?

Thanks for your reply.

No my family members in question (my parents), both have Sony XZ1 phones on Android 9.0 as well. They don't use my home WiFi much so I'm beginning to think it might be something to do with my phone. I could connect to their router OK this week (mostly), but they have said in the past they get a similar problem to what I have described with my phone on my router.

I guess you could say I'm the IT person, (I work in IT) and I do set up the routers etc, which have been fine until maybe a few months ago when this issue started happening.

The main issue appears to be with my phone connecting to my router, but other devices on the same wireless network seem to connect OK (e.g laptop and chromecast).

I did get a new router about 1 month ago and wonder if this could be the cause - it's an ISP branded VDSL one, but is not particularly bad. I have factory reset it a few times, and reset up. The only things I customise are the SSID, WPA2 key, and that's about it.

I've just deleted the WiFi AP from my phone as I've been trying to get it to connect for the past 20 mins without any success. It has finally connected, not sure how long it will last. I will see if I can throw some other things into the mix to see how it's affected, e.g another phone.

I don't use too many public WiFi AP's, but did try one today and it worked ok.

 

[B. Diddy]

See if any of the tips here help: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...roubleshooting-wi-fi-connection-problems.html

Also, check the router manufacturer's website for any firmware updates.

 

[Rukbat]

Factory reset the router by pressing the reset button? Or a 30-30-30 reset? I'd try that one first - hold the reset button in until the last step. After 30 seconds, remove power. After another 30 seconds restore power. After another 30 seconds let go of the reset button.

The router should now have the factory SSID, no WiFi security and the factory login and password.

If that doesn't work, I'd suspect the router. Since the phone connected to a public AP with no problem, and the problem appears to be the WPA2 decryption, I doubt it's the phone. (If it was, it would be common to all XA2s with the May patch, and we would have seen a few complaints, if not many complaints. It's not a rare phone.)

Another thing you might try is to connect to the router and have it check for updates.

The two last ditch efforts are reflashing the router anyway, and reflashing the phone. Reflashing the router is easier. Just download the current firmware and "update" the router. If not, back up everything on the phone and try (Of course, reflashing the phone requires unlocking the bootloader, which voids the warranty. Everyone but Google seems to be afraid to allow us to get full access to our phones.)