Is Wifi terrible on all Icons?

[matfantastic]

Just wanna chime in and say my wifi is terrible on 8.1 Same problem as others here. Hard resets don't fix it. Hoping its addressed with the Lumia Cyan update.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Then I'm stumped. Like I said, I'm not having issues. Other than GreenScrew (because he's stated he's in a rural area with nobody else near enough), do any of you guys know if there are other 2.4GHz/5.8GHz networks in close proximity or possible neighbors using 4th Gen cordless phones? 4th Gen cordless phones also use the 5.8GHz band and are known to cause interference.

Like I said previously, I used inSSIDer 3 and was surprised at so many Wi-Fi networks in my area. When you bring up your Wi-Fi connection screen on your respective phones, how many networks do you see? If you see more than two or three, there could be interference. I think as Wi-Fi becomes more widespread, we're going to be seeing more and more interference. Also, cordless phones won't show up as wireless networks because they don't broadcast SSID's. All it takes is one or two running on the same channel as your Wi-Fi networks to make a mess of things.

And yes, you could be standing right next to your router and still have connection problems from interference from other Wi-Fi networks. It happened to me with my old router and my 928 on 2.4GHz.

The reason why I keep pushing the interference cause is that I'm not understanding how you guys all being fellow Icon owners all running WP8.1 are having Wi-Fi issues and I a fellow Icon owner running WP8.1 is not having problems.

radmanvr also brought up a good point about the router quality. I'm running a Netgear R6300v2 which, at the time I bought it about 7 months ago, was Netgear's top of the line home/small business router.

 

[TLRtheory]

It's pretty annoying on mine.

I have a Linksys E2500... definitely nowhere near the best I could've got, but EVERYTHING else works nicely on it. It's not too high tech for my Wii like my dad's ASUS RT66U is, and it's been compatible with everything I have including a Dell M5040 Laptop, Toshiba C655 Laptop, iPhone 4, PlayStation Vita, OUYA, Xbox 360-e-slim, Xperia Play, Nook Simple Touch, Lumia 520, Surface Pro 2, Venue 8 Pro, Veriton N281G, Mac Mini and Lenovo A2107A... the Lumia Icon is the ONLY DEVICE IN THIS HOUSE that doesn't play well with my WiFi.

It'll have solid speeds... when it's connected - but that's only like 50% of the time. It often disconnects and shifts into "limited" connectivity. If I were already having WiFi issues with other devices then I'd chalk it up to me buying from the low-end of routers, but everything in this house likes my E2500... except the Icon. Drives me nuts.

 

[mtalinm]

it's dismal on mine as well. i have unlimited data so I'm not terribly worried, but because uploading pictures ONLY works on wifi I would like wifi to work.

 

[anon(7901790)]

Have you guys tried connecting to other wifi networks to get a better idea of performance? Also, this may sound silly, but a simple reboot of the router may solve the issue too.

 

[zorb58]

I posted this before, but I think it is worth reiterating:

My experience with the Icon is that it severely underestimates the connection quality. Mine constantly has 1 bar or less on the wifi symbol, yet it never loses the connection and speeds remain high. Unless you're losing connection all together (and I know, some of you are), I wouldn't worry about the symbol in the corner.

 

[TLRtheory]

Have you guys tried connecting to other wifi networks to get a better idea of performance? Also, this may sound silly, but a simple reboot of the router may solve the issue too.

Yep, regardless of whether it's my dad's awesome ASUS router, my kinda junky E2500, hospital WiFi or work's WiFi... I feel like I'm boxing to get past "limited" connection on the Icon.

I've thought about rebooting the connection... but at the same time, having 10 devices working without a hitch kinda makes me feel like I'd be wasting my time.

 

[onlysublime]

I'm pretty sure it's because while we are able to get Windows Phone 8.1 through the developer program, we cannot get the firmware upgrade for the phone. That will only be available from the carriers.

I've noticed that WiFi performance has degraded since I upgraded. For example, between my bathroom and the router are multiple walls. I used to get a great signal. Now it's a fraction of what it used to be. I fully expect to have the performance back to where it was before once we can get the full complete upgrade from the carrier.

It's "only" Windows Phone 8.1. The version of Windows Phone 8.1 you will get from the developer preview is "final," but it does not include any device firmware or driver updates that will accompany the future, public releases of his update on specific handsets. Also, Microsoft typically delivers small post-RTM updates that handset makers include with their phones; this release does not include any of that.

 

[GreenScrew]

My experience with the Icon is that it severely underestimates the connection quality. Mine constantly has 1 bar or less on the wifi symbol, yet it never loses the connection and speeds remain high. Unless you're losing connection all together (and I know, some of you are), I wouldn't worry about the symbol in the corner.

I don't find this to be the case. For me I find its very accurate I get 1 bar and when I walk to the other side of my (attached) garage, it doesn't find the router at all. My HTC 8x with 8.1 gets 3 bars at the furthest point in the same garage.

 

[JudgeHolden]

I just hit my data limit, even though I'm almost always within range of wifi. My Icon just can't do anything with the signal in my bedroom. My 928 had zero problem with this.

Making matters worse, under the dev preview I've discovered that, often, when I return home from work, my Icon can't connect to my Wifi at all without a soft reset. I went two weeks without noticing this.

 

[Kieta]

Yeah, the wifi range is just bad on the ICON. And maybe it only affects certain ICONs. I even went as far as to replace my Linksys E3200 with a Netgear AC router to have the same terrible range. When I'm close to the router it's fine but let me step out the back door, it's a struggle for the wifi to even stay connected while my wife and daughter can sit right next to me with perfect wifi connection on an Android and iphones. My tablet even has better range.

 

[anon(7901790)]

I've walked around my house and into my garage, and I noticed a big degradation of signal strength in certain parts of my house, namely, my daughter's room and the garage. I wasn't able to connect via 5.8GHz when I went into my garage and my daughter's room. That is to be expected since 5.8GHz ac networks have a much smaller range than 2.4GHz b/g/n networks; and obstructions affect the 5.8GHz band more than 2.4GHz. I still had a really good signal for my 2.4GHz network though and could connect, though I don't use that much, primarily because of severe interference from surrounding 2.4GHz networks (approx. 17) in my neighborhood. My daughter's tablet is the only device that routinely connects to it because it is not 5.8GHz capable.

 

[owsleyf]

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.

I too am experiencing same issue, place my ipad, iphone and Icon side by side and my Icon's wireless signal will be the lowest. I'm running 8.1 btw. On recent vacation, I had to revert back to my iphone due to lack of my Icon being able to connect to hotel's network...sadly the iphone had no such problem. Please Nokia fix this.

 

[zerog46]

Okay so I just updated my Icon to windows 8.1 and had the wifi issues. I reset my phone a few times and a row and it seemed to fix the issue, not sure it that's it or what but it's working.

 

[cbreze]

Ive seen my WiFi signal bars drop off to nothing and be completely grayed out yet I still stay connected and can use WiFi like its fine. Makes me think that on my icon at least, as I can't speak for others, that its more of an aesthetics issue with the bars display than an actual disconnection. In any case, its a non issue and I no longer pay attention to it.

 

[Dreamspell]

New firmware for Icons running WP 8.0 for "Improvements to Wi-Fi Connectivity to ensure a more consistent experience".

Verizon pushes out firmware update for Nokia Lumia Icon | Windows Phone Central
http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-icon/282792-verizon-pushing-update-today.html

 

[ssapre]

Ive seen my WiFi signal bars drop off to nothing and be completely grayed out yet I still stay connected and can use WiFi like its fine. Makes me think that on my icon at least, as I can't speak for others, that its more of an aesthetics issue with the bars display than an actual disconnection. In any case, its a non issue and I no longer pay attention to it.

I would double that. Same looks like with my icon and thats why I have stopped looking to that WiFi icon. It works good and without any issues so far.

 

[anon(7901790)]

For all of you having issues with Wi-Fi-.

http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-icon/282792-2.htm

You have to be running WP8.0 though.

 

[NOLATechy]

This is an issue with Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview. I used the Nokia Recovery Tool to flash my phone back to Windows Phone 8.0. Nokia actually includes the latest firmware update put out by Verizon with the red boot splash screen. My WiFi signal did include the new little "arrow" that points on BOTH the LTE and WiFi signals. Everything worked perfectly. Wifi worked, LTE worked, no lag with power button, smooth as butter. I then again re-upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1 and the Wifi issue is still occurring. The Wifi signal is grayed out. The WiFi cut out on me twice while downloading app updates and the lag to wake the phone has returned. Microsoft needs to investigate these issues and get them fixed as soon as possible or they are going to have to delay the official release of the update. This will definitely cause them to lose sales, especially with Apple soon to release the iPhone 6. Come on MS, get on this issue NOW!

 

[Kieta]

This is an issue with Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview. I used the Nokia Recovery Tool to flash my phone back to Windows Phone 8.0. Nokia actually includes the latest firmware update put out by Verizon with the red boot splash screen. My WiFi signal did include the new little "arrow" that points on BOTH the LTE and WiFi signals. Everything worked perfectly. Wifi worked, LTE worked, no lag with power button, smooth as butter. I then again re-upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1 and the Wifi issue is still occurring. The Wifi signal is grayed out. The WiFi cut out on me twice while downloading app updates and the lag to wake the phone has returned. Microsoft needs to investigate these issues and get them fixed as soon as possible or they are going to have to delay the official release of the update. This will definitely cause them to lose sales, especially with Apple soon to release the iPhone 6. Come on MS, get on this issue NOW!

Well my wifi range sucked before 8.1 Preview was even released. I did the downgrade, update and back to 8.1 and my range is considerably better. I don't think the Preview really has anything to do with the wifi, but who knows.