Odd WiFi problem

[Citizen X]

I don't actually own an iPhone - never have done!

Neither have I but I do have a sturdy internet connection and access to Google so typing in "iphone wifi issue" isn't that much work. I don't have a problem with people posting about their problems with their Windows Phone but before saying or implying iphones are somehow better with wifi my advice is actually do ten seconds of research on iphones.

Like I said, I own a Nokia 925. Great phone. Rubbish WiFi!

The wifi on ONE Nokia 925 is rubbish. Given the fact you really don't research these things well I don't think you can summarily declare the wifi on all or most 925s "rubbish." I am sure if you type in ANY smartphone that sold in quantity and "wifi" you will find some hits. What you don't ordinarily find is 4000+ post threads complaining about it and major publications running articles exposing the manufacturer aggressively censoring posts.

Anyway before I come to any conclusions regarding any phone I do a lot of hands on research and work myself. Regarding iphones I fiddled with the settings on several iphones. I fiddled with the security protocols on several wifi routers. I had the owner go through three different hand sets acquired over the course of months. I did a major software update. And then I did a software roll back. I made three separate visits to an Apple store and a couple to at&t. I also spent countless hours on the internet research all of that. Then and only then did I declare that there was an issue with the iphone and wifi. Personally I wouldn't touch an iphone simply because of the nightmare I had helping an iphone user with theirs. I have had multiple Windows Phones and never had an issue with wifi.

Some Lumias may have issues with wifi but there is no evidence it occurs anymore than with any other cell phone.

Here is some advice for 1520 owners.

Wait. Don't get the devices during the first week of launch. I never like to be the first with these things. Let the manufacturer work the kinks out.

Update. Do all software updates first thing. Don't rely on automatic updates for your first update. Force it to check and update.

Hard reset. It's a pain in the **** but after doing all available updates do a hard reset.

Return/exchange. When all the above fails try various software and router voodoo you find on forums like this. When you have exhausted all that either return the phone and wait a few months for a different manufacturing batch or try your luck with an exchange. Don't be like those apple idiots that just hang onto their phone and hope Cuppertino will send out a fimware/software fix.

 

[eugene89us]

My Lumia 925 appears to have a similar problem when there is Bluetooth interference. When Bluetooth is activated, it sometimes refuses to connect to a WiFi altogether - sometimes states that it was unable to reach the network. If your BT is activated, try to disable it, then toggle WiFi off and back on, and see if it connects. When I have similar connectivity issues, turning off Bluetooth resolves a problem. Which is why not every Lumia owner has this problem, since not everyone uses their Bluetooth on a daily basis. Let me know if that helps.

Anyone know why my old Samsung Focus would never have problems with BT - WIFI interference, while the Lumia line appears to have it? Is it the difference in BT versions, maybe?

Thanks!

 

[Citizen X]

My Lumia 925 appears to have a similar problem when there is Bluetooth interference. When Bluetooth is activated, it sometimes refuses to connect to a WiFi altogether - sometimes states that it was unable to reach the network. If your BT is activated, try to disable it, then toggle WiFi off and back on, and see if it connects. When I have similar connectivity issues, turning off Bluetooth resolves a problem. Which is why not every Lumia owner has this problem, since not everyone uses their Bluetooth on a daily basis. Let me know if that helps.

My Lumia 900 had issues with wifi if I was on a voice call using BT. I totally forgot about that since I don't use the phone for internet that much while on voice BT calls.

Another thing is there have been reports of the 1520 having issues with ac wifi.

 

[dotty14]

Re: Odd WiFi problem -READ THISEsp the END -test yourself

Icon Wifi Issues - Nokia Support Discussions

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Re: Odd WiFi problem -READ THISEsp the END -test yourself

Icon Wifi Issues - Nokia Support Discussions

I believe you posted in the wrong thread. This is the 1520 section of tthe forums.

 

[lancorp]

The problem is, my 1520 and my wife's 1020 are using up our AT&T data when we are at home, and seemingly, on our WIFI.
This morning, I was updating some apps on my 1520 and noticed the updates said they were using the cellular data. I checked the wifi symbol at the top, and it was on, signifying that it was connected to my home WIFI (an Apple Airport Extreme). But external IP checks show that my phone was clearly accessing the internet through AT&T. My iPhone 5, running the same check, showed it was going through my WIFI.

I went into my WIFI settings and nothing was listed there for the first few seconds, then it showed my WIFI.

This isn't good. When at home, I shouldn't have to babysit my WIFI status on my phone nor worry about whether what I am doing and the amount of data I'm using is through my free WIFI or through the limited cellular data plan.

Ugh!

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

The problem is, my 1520 and my wife's 1020 are using up our AT&T data when we are at home, and seemingly, on our WIFI.
This morning, I was updating some apps on my 1520 and noticed the updates said they were using the cellular data. I checked the wifi symbol at the top, and it was on, signifying that it was connected to my home WIFI (an Apple Airport Extreme). But external IP checks show that my phone was clearly accessing the internet through AT&T. My iPhone 5, running the same check, showed it was going through my WIFI.

I went into my WIFI settings and nothing was listed there for the first few seconds, then it showed my WIFI.

This isn't good. When at home, I shouldn't have to babysit my WIFI status on my phone nor worry about whether what I am doing and the amount of data I'm using is through my free WIFI or through the limited cellular data plan.

Ugh!

You are right that it is not good. I think you are making the mistaken assumption that it is the Lumias at fault instead of looking at the Airport Extreme.

Apple hardware is notorious for not being compatible with competing hardware.

 

[lancorp]

You are right that it is not good. I think you are making the mistaken assumption that it is the Lumias at fault instead of looking at the Airport Extreme.

Apple hardware is notorious for not being compatible with competing hardware.

While I won't discount what you are saying, you are making the mistaken assumption that I don't already have some sort of track record of other brands of devices that work fine with the Airport Extreme.

As an IT person for 15 years, my house is filled with all sorts of tablets, phones (Windows, Android and Apple), laptops, etc., I've not had a problem with the devices just falling off WiFi for no good reason.

So, can I say that it's NOT a Lumia problem? Nope.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

While I won't discount what you are saying, you are making the mistaken assumption that I don't already have some sort of track record of other brands of devices that work fine with the Airport Extreme.

As an IT person for 15 years, my house is filled with all sorts of tablets, phones (Windows, Android and Apple), laptops, etc., I've not had a problem with the devices just falling off WiFi for no good reason.

So, can I say that it's NOT a Lumia problem? Nope.

As an IT person for the same timeframe as you I can tell you that my house has all sorts of gadgets too.

I can also tell you that Apple hardware doesn't always like to play well with others, especially for things like wireless networking and mobile device accessories.

Heck they even wire their 3.5mm jacks differently from the standard, so that headsets made for iOS devices can sometimes cause odd behavior on competing hardware.

I made no such assumption about your skill level or knowledge. In fact I made no assumptions in my entire statement.

 

[toddpart]

I have issues with my 1520 showing as connected to wifi but it doesn't actually have a working data connection. My other windows phones work fine on the wireless network though.

+1 on my 920. Weird, just started happening. But, if I leave the data connection toggle to 'on' it will connect to internet via WiFi just fine. WiFi stays connected, bit loses internet access when I turn off cellular data. Very frustrating.

 

[diik0nn]

Same problem on my 1520. Phone always appeared to be signed into Wifi, but seems like it wasn't - my phone company just sms'd to say I had burnt through almost 1gb in a few days!
I tried to check the Wifi settings, I forced the phone to forget the network credentials an now it won't connect to my home Wifi network - it just give an "no response from the network error"?
Very frustrating considering there are a household full of gadgets connecting ok to the same network. Really hoping to figure this one out soon...

 

[lancorp]

Same problem on my 1520. Phone always appeared to be signed into Wifi, but seems like it wasn't - my phone company just sms'd to say I had burnt through almost 1gb in a few days!
I tried to check the Wifi settings, I forced the phone to forget the network credentials an now it won't connect to my home Wifi network - it just give an "no response from the network error"?
Very frustrating considering there are a household full of gadgets connecting ok to the same network. Really hoping to figure this one out soon...

Right! It's one thing to have an annoying bug, but it's a whole different thing when a bug starts costing you a lot of money in unexpected cellular charges.
FWIW, my 1520 hasn't had this problem since I last posted. I haven't really changed anything, and I still have my Apple Airport Extreme.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Just curious, but for those having issues are you using Wireless AC, 5GHz networks, Hidden SSIDs, or any combination of those?

 

[captainj87]

I just started having this problem when I installed update for 8.1 (8.10.12393.890) preview for developers. It all worked fine before but now it shows that Wi-Fi it's on and connected but it is still using cellular data. I have a prepaid SIM in my Lumia 1520 so I'm not worried about overages, but it is still really annoying. I'm not sure if it is the phone having problems hardware wise and it was just a coincidence that it stopped working right when I did the update or it is a bug in the new update. Has anyone had this problem and found a fix for it?.. Or an opinion on how to fix it?

 

[Akshansh Bhura]

On my Lumia 525
when I try to connect to an open WiFi hotspot it shows full signal strength and shows connected but there is no access to Internet

 

[jfa1]

well if you're not connecting to the internet on your wireless network that explains why you are on cellular data. It's your router

 

[mrZoSo]

Other people are having problems with dd-wrt as well as myself. I changed routers and no problems with WiFi since.

Jim

Running DD-WRT at home myself and haven't had any issues with my 1520 connecting to it. Might want to check for an updated DD-WRT release for your router. Just a thought.

 

[Don Cadman]

DD-WRT needs to have DNSmasq disabled for DHCP to work well with windows Phone 8.0. Disabled and works great (basic settings tab). DDWRT v24-sp2.

 

[Gene Petersen]

For me I do have some issue that my WI-FI signal drop very fast..when I connect my lumia 1520 to my wi-fi the phone connect my wi-fi very fast (around 25-30mb) and after 30 min or later the signal drop to 4-5mb unless I have to restart the phone again..anybody got this problem?

Very same issue. Wasn't always this way. 9 months back, can't say I even noticed. Last 6 weeks, horrifying. Renderers my XBox music pass worthless while driving. I've tried everything. Must be a protocol upgrade going on in my area. North Jersey. Beyond that, the phone simply crushes... Well yeah, all of them. Like a tablet w/phone for a sidekick