Is Wifi terrible on all Icons?

[romant56]

Hey guys,

I'm sorry for posting three threads about my issues, but they all seem to be distinct enough to warrant new ones. Please let me know if I'm not following the proper etiquette.

I'm on my third Icon now, and they all have terrible Wifi (I thought it was just one earlier, but I realize now that all three are the same). I know there is some difference between signal status indicators and actual strength, etc. But look at the picture attached compared with my 8X. This is ridiculous! Most networks don't even show up.

Do you think this is a hardware problem or will it be fixed with a firmware update? I am so disappointed. Wifi is really important in any phone and I'm not sure whether to leave my gf with this phone or not.

EDIT 3/14: So after playing around with the phone for a while and setting everything up properly for my gf, I would still say definitely get this phone if you are thinking about it. It seems that the Wi-Fi range MAY not be as good as some other phones, and that MAY just be a software problem, but in everyday practical applications, it seems to not be that noticeable. Even with the surprising results I got in the photo, I'm jealous of my gf's Icon and may update to it myself.

 

[Indistinguishable]

My WiFi is great on my Icon. Here's this comparison I made awhile ago.

My desk is on the opposite side of the office from the company router. Here are the results from my Lenovo laptop connected to wireless compared to my Icon sitting on the charging stand right next to my laptop. Seems like the Icon's got some fantastic WiFi connection.

Lenovo


Nokia Lumia Icon

 

[spicypadthai]

No problem for me either - good signal strength and good performance.

 

[romant56]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll keep the phone then since all three have had the exact same performance. When it's connected the performance is great, it just seems to have a much narrower range than any other wifi device I own. Hopefully they'll somehow fix the range issue with an update. (And honestly, my gf is not obsessed with technology like I am, and she probably won't even notice.)

 

[Starrbuck]

No problems with my wi-fi here at home.

 

[Badgerbrown]

I haven't had any issues with wifi other than at my college but its very limited there and they don't have it in every building. Maybe if you reset the phone (or some setting) it will resolve the issue.

 

[devspeed]

I have WiFi issues also. Most of the time if I am streaming music I have to turn the WiFi off or it stutters bad. I started noticing this on my 928 also after the black update.

 

[8XSD]

I have wi-fi issues with my Icon as well. I have to turn wi-fi off/on atleast 3 times a day with my phone setting. Never had this problem with my 928 or Htc 8x.At first I thought it was my router so I had it rebooted daily and still get this problem.Wi-fi just not stable for some reason.

 

[extrikate]

Mine signal strength and speed are usually fine.


That said, I have noticed that both my 822 and Icon have issues when the signal is weak. Instead of switching to cellular data, I will get a connectivity error from IE or apps that need to pull data. My only option is to turn off Wifi, then it will connect no problem. I would think that the OS would automatically handle the tradeoff when the signal isn't adequate. Does anyone else experience this?

 

[berty6294]

Mine signal strength and speed are usually fine.
View attachment 59494

That said, I have noticed that both my 822 and Icon have issues when the signal is weak. Instead of switching to cellular data, I will get a connectivity error from IE or apps that need to pull data. My only option is to turn off Wifi, then it will connect no problem. I would think that the OS would automatically handle the tradeoff when the signal isn't adequate. Does anyone else experience this?

there is a setting for using data when wifi is weak.

 

[extrikate]

Thanks! I can't believe I never thought to look in the Cellular option of settings.

 

[berty6294]

Thanks! I can't believe I never thought to look in the Cellular option of settings.

Brief warning, in my experience it cause battery to drain much more rapidly!

 

[Starrbuck]

Brief warning, in my experience it cause battery to drain much more rapidly!

Only if you are in weak wi-fi areas, or all the time?

 

[Indistinguishable]

Brief warning, in my experience it cause battery to drain much more rapidly!

I've heard the opposite. In some of the battery threads here people are under the impression that having "Data when WiFi is weak" actually leads to better battery life as opposed to worse?

 

[nasellok]

I have WiFi issues also. Most of the time if I am streaming music I have to turn the WiFi off or it stutters bad. I started noticing this on my 928 also after the black update.

Yes, I am having the same problem, luckily I have unlimited data, so it really doesn't make a difference. That being said - id rather that it work. Hopefully we can get a fix for this.

 

[Kieta]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll keep the phone then since all three have had the exact same performance. When it's connected the performance is great, it just seems to have a much narrower range than any other wifi device I own. Hopefully they'll somehow fix the range issue with an update. (And honestly, my gf is not obsessed with technology like I am, and she probably won't even notice.)

I have this same problem. I can have my tablet, another phone and my Icon in the same place and the Icon wifi has the weakest strength of them all. I'm hoping for an update as well. I did contact Nokia about it and was helped with things I had tried already but they did mention hint that this wasn't the first hearing of this so hopefully we will get an update that addresses this because other than that the phone has been solid.

 

[Starrbuck]

I have this same problem. I can have my tablet, another phone and my Icon in the same place and the Icon wifi has the weakest strength of them all.

Signal strength meters across three devices being different doesn't mean much. Maybe find an app that shows you the actual signal level and compare those.

 

[Zippier]

Brief warning, in my experience it cause battery to drain much more rapidly!

I thought it just caused more use of data? I haven't noticed a huge difference on wi-fi vs data as long as it's a good signal. It's when my phone is always searching that seems to drain it a bit more.

 

[Kieta]

Signal strength meters across three different devices being different doesn't mean much. Maybe find an app that shows you the actual signal level and compare those.

I would say it means a lot. How can that not mean much? And apps show the signal strength on the Icon to be the weakest. Problem is I couldn't find the same signal strength app for both Android and Windows. It's not a big deal to me as I was planning on getting a wider range router anyways. But for this many people to have the exact same issue, I believe its an issue. And I believe Nokia does as well. I just hope we get a fix for it sooner than later.

 

[berty6294]

I thought it just caused more use of data? I haven't noticed a huge difference on wi-fi vs data as long as it's a good signal. It's when my phone is always searching that seems to drain it a bit more.

It could just be because of my use case at the time. I was constantly moving from in WiFi to off WiFi to bad cellular to good cellular in the matter of minutes for hours at a time.