WiFi Keeps Disconnecting

[DayLateDollarShort]

Phone: LG56VL
OS: Marshmellow 6.0.1

Short Description:

My WiFi keeps randomly disconnecting. Looking for more sensible things to try. Thank you for any help!

The Details:

This phone is less than a year old and WiFi was working perfectly until around a few weeks ago. WiFi still works perfectly except that it randomly disconnects. Doesn't seem to have any pattern to it. Happens when phone is awake and when it is sleeping. Happens after a long time, or after a short time.

Don't think it means much but I have never had it happen while I was actually using the phone to do something on the WiFi connection such as browse. It never seemed to cut out in the middle of that kind of thing. Only seems to happen between uses (at least that I observed so far...maybe it could happen).

After it disconnects, I have no problem reconnecting and the WiFi works perfectly until it randomly disconnects again.

Things I have tried that didn't work:

1. Signal strength. Happens when the signal strength is strong, and when it is weak.

2. Different channels

3. Testing other devices on same WiFi router. They don't disconnect. So I am concluding it is likely the phone, not the router.

4. Interference. Of course it can never be completely ruled out, but I think it's safe to assume this is not it. I do not have any new devices in the house that might interfere. And none of the old devices seem to interfere since I never had that problem for almost a year. Also, I have tried different channels and still get the same random disconnects. I think you can rule this out.

5. Advanced WiFi options in settings. My phone doesn't have many. The few that it has don't seem to have anything to do with this. I tried switching them on and off anyway to see if it made any difference. No luck.

6. Rebooting the cable modem and router.

7. Uninstalling any third party apps that seemed suspicious and/or like they might have features that control WiFi.

8. The WiFi "utility" that is built into the phone that allows you to set the phone to automatically connect to WiFi whenever available. I tried toggling that setting on and off then back on.

9. Basic stuff like Rebooting the phone. Turning WiFi on and off manually, etc.

I think I listed most or all of the things I tried.

I am out of sensible ideas to try. Even if it is disconnecting, I don't understand why it doesn't automatically reconnect because the setting in number 8 that is set to on. That always worked in the past. Now it doesn't seem to work.

Any good ideas welcome! Thanks again.

 

[lunatic59]

How about other WiFi networks broadcasting with a more powerful signal? I know that when out neighbors got new service in their house, they installed a high power access point that was blasting a 5gHZ signal strong enough to keep my phone trying to connect to their network rather than stay on mine.

Give an app like WiFi analyzer a try.

I ultimately had to upgrade my equipment to stay connected.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

How about other WiFi networks broadcasting with a more powerful signal? I know that when out neighbors got new service in their house, they installed a high power access point that was blasting a 5gHZ signal strong enough to keep my phone trying to connect to their network rather than stay on mine.

Give an app like WiFi analyzer a try.

I ultimately had to upgrade my equipment to stay connected.

Thank you for the reply. WiFi analyzer is a good app. I had it, but I uninstalled it when doing the steps above. I have, however been monitoring the traffic from neighbors and have not noticed anything different. I still have an app on the phone that shows me the signal strengths from other WiFi and don't see anything different. Also, as I mentioned I tried other channels. My neighbors signals are usually relatively weak compared to mine and still seem to be the same. What you suggest is possible, but I don't see any evidence that is the problem so it doesn't seem likely.

 

[svim]

As you have gone through a number of things already, I'll suggest you try disabling IPv6 in your router's settings menu. Also, if you have any kind of anti-virus/anti-malware app on your phone, try disabling all its features, reboot, and see if your WiFi connectivity is back to normal again.

 

[lunatic59]

One thing I don't see mentioned. Does your phone exhibit this behavior on any wifi network or only your home network? It could be that your DHCP release/renew time is too short.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

As you have gone through a number of things already, I'll suggest you try disabling IPv6 in your router's settings menu. Also, if you have any kind of anti-virus/anti-malware app on your phone, try disabling all its features, reboot, and see if your WiFi connectivity is back to normal again.

Thank you for the lead...

It's an old router: Linksys WRT54GS Firmware: v7.50.8 build 001, Oct. 5, 2009

Think it was before the IPv6 standard. Not sure about IPv4, but don't see any settings related to either one.

There are no AV/Malware or firewall apps on the phone.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

One thing I don't see mentioned. Does your phone exhibit this behavior on any wifi network or only your home network? It could be that your DHCP release/renew time is too short.

Good question. I believe the answer is yes. I think it happened several times already when I was on other WiFi hotspots, so I think this can be ruled out. Since I'm not 100% sure about this though, I plan to try it again sometime. However I am pretty sure it happened so it's probably a long shot.

Also, my laptop does not disconnect from WiFi on this router. It only happens on the phone.

 

[svim]

Thank you for the lead...

It's an old router: Linksys WRT54GS Firmware: v7.50.8 build 001, Oct. 5, 2009...

Oh my, that WRT54 router series is a highly notable classic in some circles, iconic really. Props to you for still keeping one going. I worked with some of those several years ago. But I'd I do have to wonder if that's part of your problem. Maybe time to upgrade to something more current? You might also want to flash a different firmware like DD-WRT, well-known to improve a router's performance and adding features over typical factory firmware:
https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54G/GL/GS/GX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD-WRT
And since the WRT54s have replaceable antennas you might want to upgrade them, this should increase the coverage range as that could also be a factor in your connectivity issues:
https://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys-High-Antenna-Connectors-HGA7T/dp/B0002F3G7M

 

[lunatic59]

I think I have an old WRT54 in my basement. I don't think I'd put a nickel into it, unless it was to pay someone to cart it way. I'd bet a new router would resolve the issue.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

Thank you both for the input.

This router is working fine with another android device I use on it and my Windows 7 laptop. It never had any problems in all the years I've used it. It also worked fine with this phone for months, until now. So I don't suspect that is the issue, although again, it's possible it is.

Good ideas about the upgrades... I already made a home brew antenna for the router some years ago and it did improve the signal. It's good enough now.

I once flashed this router with an updated (Linksys) firmware and it survived. The third party flash would be my second to last resort as I have had a few bricked device flash failures in my past. Last resort would be to get a new router. Although if I confirm that the phone is indeed doing the same thing on other Wifi systems, I don't see a reason for either as this one works fine for me and was working with this phone as is.

Good thoughts...hoping for still more.

I'm thinking the answer is within the phone... all logical evidence seems to be pointing that direction. But I am out of things to try.

 

[svim]

You could try this, create a completely new SSID and password so you need to add in a completely new WiFi entry into your phone. Yes it's a hassle because you need to also do this in all your other devices (that are already connecting OK) but perhaps there's just some odd configuration setting tied to your current SSID in your phone.)

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

You could try this, create a completely new SSID and password so you need to add in a completely new WiFi entry into your phone. Yes it's a hassle because you need to also do this in all your other devices (that are already connecting OK) but perhaps there's just some odd configuration setting tied to your current SSID in your phone.)

Another good idea. But I forgot to list in my initial post that I already tried that.

Still looking for more great ideas.

But in the meantime, my plan now is to hang out with the phone on another WiFi system and see if it drops the connection on that one (I'm pretty sure I already saw it do that). If it does than I can be pretty sure the router is not the problem. Only problem is I can never be sure it didn't drop out because it takes only minutes sometimes and hours other times. But if it hasn't been lost after an hour I can be pretty sure it won't be. Usually it's less than that. Gives me a good excuse to hang out at Taco Bell and stuff my face!

If I am sure that the phone passes the test on another WiFi system than I can try flashing the router or probably just get a new router. I have no problem getting a new one... as long as I am convinced that will fix the issue. Right now it's not looking like it would.

 

[svim]

I tend to agree with your thoughts on your router not being the source of the problem but just a couple more long shots that are focused on your phone:
-- start it up in its Safe Mode.
http://www.lg.com/us/support/product-help/CT10000025-20150110993235-power-on-off
If your connectivity is OK while is Safe Mode that's an indicator there's some app you've installed that created the problem so then it becomes a matter on diagnosing just which one.

-- Try wiping the system cache partition. The system cache is completely different than the regular app caches and resides in its own dedicated partition, separate from the data partition where your data is stored so there's no danger of this deleting anything of yours. It needs to be done while your phone is in its Recovery Mode:
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/lg/lg-x-screen/recovery-mode/
The actual process only takes a few seconds so while it may not help it certainly won't hurt. Just on the remote possibility there's just some random, corrupted file in the cache that's tied to the general WiFi functionality.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

I tend to agree with your thoughts on your router not being the source of the problem but just a couple more long shots that are focused on your phone:
-- start it up in its Safe Mode.
http://www.lg.com/us/support/product-help/CT10000025-20150110993235-power-on-off
If your connectivity is OK while is Safe Mode that's an indicator there's some app you've installed that created the problem so then it becomes a matter on diagnosing just which one.

-- Try wiping the system cache partition. The system cache is completely different than the regular app caches and resides in its own dedicated partition, separate from the data partition where your data is stored so there's no danger of this deleting anything of yours. It needs to be done while your phone is in its Recovery Mode:
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/lg/lg-x-screen/recovery-mode/
The actual process only takes a few seconds so while it may not help it certainly won't hurt. Just on the remote possibility there's just some random, corrupted file in the cache that's tied to the general WiFi functionality.

OUTSTANDING!

I was going to wait until tomorrow to report back because I wanted to be sure, but I don't think I need to... I think it's clear that Safe Mode cured the issue! So yes, that confirms the problem is on the phone as suspected.

Why didn't I think of that?! That is exactly the kind of Android advice I needed since I don't know much about Android. I'm a Windows guy. I should have thought to ask if Android has something similar to Windows Safe Mode... never even knew it did! I suspected from the start it was software related which is why I started uninstalling apps. Sure enough!

Thanks so much for that. That is precisely the kind of advice I needed and was looking for. I never would have known there was a safe mode in Android.

I think there are two likely cases now.

First most likely:
Some app caused it. But the twist is that I have not installed any apps for a long time. And it has been working for a long time since I last installed any apps. So I'm guessing maybe it was an *update* to an app that caused it. That's what I hate about updates! URRR

Second most likely (probably not the cause I think but maybe a good idea anyway as you suggested):
Maybe there is still a need to flush the system cache just in case it is related to the issue. I might as well although I think this is much less likely the cause since it is working in safe mode. But you never know, could be a combination problem involving an app AND some kind of corrupt system file.

As long as nothing will be lost I will wipe the system cache anyway to be sure. You are sure that that isn't supposed to wipe out any configuration, data or settings right? Would not want to configure everything again from scratch. I want to be sure about this before I try it.

Although I have an app that *may* already be flushing the system cache. So it's possible that is already being done. Makes me a little nervous to do this, so I want to get a little more comfortable before I try it.

BOTH TIPS ARE OUTSTANDING! I mean really outstanding. You really gave me something new to look at when I was at a dead end. I didn't know about either one of these.

Thanks so much!

The next part, identifying the offending app (if wiping the system cache doesn't do it), may be even harder. Not sure where to go with that. Will have to devise a plan of attack. Otherwise I could just start randomly uninstalling everything with a brute force method... not a great plan. Wish there was a way I could look inside the pipes more scientifically to see what is clogging them. Takes more Android OS knowledge than I have to do that though.

OUTSTANDING ADVICE! Thank you!

 

[Phalon4]

Phone: LG56VL
OS: Marshmellow 6.0.1

Short Description:

My WiFi keeps randomly disconnecting. Looking for more sensible things to try. Thank you for any help!

The Details:

This phone is less than a year old and WiFi was working perfectly until around a few weeks ago. WiFi still works perfectly except that it randomly disconnects. Doesn't seem to have any pattern to it. Happens when phone is awake and when it is sleeping. Happens after a long time, or after a short time.

Don't think it means much but I have never had it happen while I was actually using the phone to do something on the WiFi connection such as browse. It never seemed to cut out in the middle of that kind of thing. Only seems to happen between uses (at least that I observed so far...maybe it could happen).

After it disconnects, I have no problem reconnecting and the WiFi works perfectly until it randomly disconnects again.

Things I have tried that didn't work:

1. Signal strength. Happens when the signal strength is strong, and when it is weak.

2. Different channels

3. Testing other devices on same WiFi router. They don't disconnect. So I am concluding it is likely the phone, not the router.

4. Interference. Of course it can never be completely ruled out, but I think it's safe to assume this is not it. I do not have any new devices in the house that might interfere. And none of the old devices seem to interfere since I never had that problem for almost a year. Also, I have tried different channels and still get the same random disconnects. I think you can rule this out.

5. Advanced WiFi options in settings. My phone doesn't have many. The few that it has don't seem to have anything to do with this. I tried switching them on and off anyway to see if it made any difference. No luck.

6. Rebooting the cable modem and router.

7. Uninstalling any third party apps that seemed suspicious and/or like they might have features that control WiFi.

8. The WiFi "utility" that is built into the phone that allows you to set the phone to automatically connect to WiFi whenever available. I tried toggling that setting on and off then back on.

9. Basic stuff like Rebooting the phone. Turning WiFi on and off manually, etc.

I think I listed most or all of the things I tried.

I am out of sensible ideas to try. Even if it is disconnecting, I don't understand why it doesn't automatically reconnect because the setting in number 8 that is set to on. That always worked in the past. Now it doesn't seem to work.

Any good ideas welcome! Thanks again.

I had that issue with phone before and I just changed the discoverability settings to "Always discover" and the disconnect problem stopped.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

I had that issue with phone before and I just changed the discoverability settings to "Always discover" and the disconnect problem stopped.

Thank you that's a good thing to try. But mine had already been set that way and this is what I addressed in my original post #8. It's called something different on my phone, but it's the same kind of setting. So in my case this was not the issue.

I am planning to wipe the system cache first to see if that solves it. I don't expect it to but will try that anyway. If that doesn't do it I will be going on to the theory that some app update caused the problem.

I'm not especially looking forward to that though because where do I start! I have a lot of apps and every one would have to be reconfigured when reinstalled. With my luck it would be the very last app that strikes gold.

And one major potential problem is that even if I uninstall the offending app, will that fix the problem? No guarantee. It could leave behind the thing that is causing the problem such as a setting of some kind, a corrupt file or the like, or who knows what. So I may never even know if I got the offending app, and even if I do the problem may still not be fixed. I could keep going until every app is gone and might as well have done a factory reset... which I would have to do in the end anyway.

This makes me nervous.

I could start with a list of apps that have been updated since the problem started. But AFAIK, the only log of updates is in the Google Play Store list which only keeps the last few days. I'd say I need to go back maybe a month. There were at least dozens of updates and I don't even have a list of which apps updated.

I need to pause until I have a sensible approach to this. A random effort here is potential trouble.

============= EDIT: to svim ===============

I tried doing the recovery mode procedure in that link, but could not get it to work after a number of tries. I don't get that menu. Instead it boots into safe mode. Must be some other procedure for my phone or maybe it doesn't have that same menu? Not sure.

======================================

 

[lunatic59]

As long as nothing will be lost I will wipe the system cache anyway to be sure. You are sure that that isn't supposed to wipe out any configuration, data or settings right? Would not want to configure everything again from scratch. I want to be sure about this before I try it.

Wiping the system cache will not effect your settings or data. It is a cache (just like a browser cache) in that it holds regularly used parts of the system at the ready rather than having to re-load them each time they are called for. All this will do is require the phone to reload the data store for that particular app because the cached instance will be gone. If anything you will see a brief degradation in performance, but I doubt you'd even notice it.

That said, make VERY sure you are wiping the system cache and not performing a reset or formatting a partition. Sometimes the menu is very clear, and sometimes it's a little confusing. If you are not sure, post a screen shot of your recovery menu and will let you know which one you want.

Although I have an app that *may* already be flushing the system cache. So it's possible that is already being done. Makes me a little nervous to do this, so I want to get a little more comfortable before I try it.

This is concerning as many apps that are heralded as performance enhancers/optimizers are more trouble than they are worth. I run my phones hot and heavy and tend to tweak much more than your average user. I have not needed to flush the system cache on any of my phones for probably 2 years, except as a matter of best practices when performing a factory reset. I would venture a guess that your problem lies more with this type of app than with your cache, but as @svim pointed out, there's no downside to flushing your cache, so it's a good place to start.

The next part, identifying the offending app (if wiping the system cache doesn't do it), may be even harder. Not sure where to go with that.

You are right about updates probably being the cause of your problem. Many developers change procedures or add features and settings with updates and you rarely see a changelog for an update. The only time you would be prompted would be if there were new permissions required, but most people click through those without consideration of the consequences.

The first place I would look is at ANY optimization apps. It might be that in an effort to "save" power, it's turning off your WiFi radio and disregarding the overarching system settings.

 

[svim]

,

.....I tried doing the recovery mode procedure in that link, but could not get it to work after a number of tries. I don't get that menu. Instead it boots into safe mode. Must be some other procedure for my phone or maybe it doesn't have that same menu? Not sure.

Sometimes you just need to keep trying, read through the instructions again and focus on those buttons. Timing can be tricky so it's important. But really, I'd instead focus more on figuring out whichever 'rogue' app is causing your problem.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

This is concerning as many apps that are heralded as performance enhancers/optimizers are more trouble than they are worth. I run my phones hot and heavy and tend to tweak much more than your average user. I have not needed to flush the system cache on any of my phones for probably 2 years, except as a matter of best practices when performing a factory reset. I would venture a guess that your problem lies more with this type of app than with your cache, but as @svim pointed out, there's no downside to flushing your cache, so it's a good place to start.

You are right about updates probably being the cause of your problem. Many developers change procedures or add features and settings with updates and you rarely see a changelog for an update. The only time you would be prompted would be if there were new permissions required, but most people click through those without consideration of the consequences.

The first place I would look is at ANY optimization apps. It might be that in an effort to "save" power, it's turning off your WiFi radio and disregarding the overarching system settings.

,
Sometimes you just need to keep trying, read through the instructions again and focus on those buttons. Timing can be tricky so it's important. But really, I'd instead focus more on figuring out whichever 'rogue' app is causing your problem.

Thank you for all the very helpful comments. FWIW, I understand and agree with all of the above.

So much to comment on, so little time!

Regarding the performance enhancer/optimizer apps, I agree most of it is garbage and not useful. And some of it is worse than that and actually makes your device less optimized or even causes issues. At one time some of it may have made some sense, but clearly the Android OS has improved to the point where most of the optimizations that these things are claiming are already done much better by Android itself. I think this is particularly true of the battery optimizers. Although there are one or two interesting ones I've seen that use a different approach that may have some actual effectiveness (albeit probably minimal and not worth it). I won't get OT with that here. I never consciously used one of these battery extending apps, and if anything I installed had such a feature, I made sure it was not enabled. The ones that simply stop running apps in order to "save battery life" are just stupid because as you are aware most of those apps just restart on their own using up even more battery life starting and stopping like that.

Anyway, I did consider that maybe the WiFi is being shut off by some kind of battery saver app. But I pretty much ruled it out since A. I don't like those features and have been vigilant to never enable them B. I see no evidence that supports this since the WiFi disconnections don't seem to have any relationship to battery level.

The only way I think it could be related to some kind of power saver thing is if there is some kind of corruption. Which is not likely I think, but never totally ruled out. (Could also be a poorly written code in some app or course.)

While I agree that some of the optimizer utilities can be risky or useless, some of the things they can do can be useful in some cases and that's why I use some of them. This phone is a cheapy. It has very little free memory and severely restricts the number of apps I can install. And since I am always operating on the full memory edge, I need tools that can at least temporarily free up memory. These can do the trick. There are times that I don't have enough memory to update apps and use these first to free up some temporary memory that allows me to install the updates.

I tried adding a 32G memory card and loading whatever apps allow it on that. It was only of minimum value. The phone just doesn't have enough memory to support that many apps even if they are on a card. There is no way around that lack of free memory.

So I think some of the optimizing features can be useful in some cases, I agree that others are useless or worse.

I find myself using All-In-One Toolbox to clear cache sometimes, not so much because it is any better than any of the other ones that do the same thing, but because I like the interface and it's easy to use. I am not promoting it, it's just one of many that do the same thing. In addition to the app cache, I believe it has the ability to clear system cache, or at least claims it does. It also has some bogus features like shutting down running apps, but I don't use those.

Finally on that issue, I also agree that uninstalling these apps is probably a good place to start if I am going to do a "random" uninstall. Although I'm not sure that's what I want to do next yet. Still thinking about what the best approach is.

Right now I am just enjoying the fact that the WiFi works right in safe mode. That means that it likely is not a hardware issue at least which is a relief. That would be insoluble. Course it could still be firmware, but I think that's also unlikely. At least now I think there is a high probability that if I can't locate the problem, which is probably an offending app, that a factory reset as a last last resort would probably work. That's some relief anyway. I hate giving up!

Another option I am thinking about is waiting a while to find out if its a known bug and whoever does the offending app issues a fix update. A long shot but not impossible. Sure would be the easiest solution. May give it a few more weeks. Have to think about it.

I don't trust phone/Android security so I don't do any serious work on my phone anyway... only on my laptop and not even on WiFi... just wired connection. So it's not a serious problem to wait a while and give the next step some thought. It's mostly just an annoyance.

I really appreciate your expert knowledge. It helps a lot! Thank you.

 

[svim]

... In addition to the app cache, I believe it has the ability to clear system cache, or at least claims it does. It also has some bogus features like shutting down running apps, but I don't use those.....

You obviously have a pretty good handle on the 'big picture' of what's going on in your phone but just to add, when you're installing some optimizing app from the Play Store, it's a matter where you are the installing it. Or to clarify, that alleged 'miracle' app (cough, cough) is installed in the general user data partition. Your phone's internal storage has several different partitions, most are dedicated to the operating system and then there's that one data partition where all your personal gets stored. The system partitions are typically restricted from the user so you don't have a lot of ways to directly access any of them (you need to root your device to open things up). So said miracle app being installed as a user app only has full access to that user data partition, and little else, The same pertains to things like anti-virus/anti-malware apps, they have full access to that user data, but only very restricted access to any of the system partitions.

As for manually micro-managing your phone's general functionality with those 'optimizer' apps, just be judicious. Keep in mind the Android memory management is pretty sophisticated so when you're trying to tweak it, try to gauge changes with some sort of documentation. Watching a before-after bar graph in some of those clean-up apps can often be just for the user's peace of mind benefit, not actual performance improvements.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

Yes, I understand completely. Points taken. I'm sure the vast majority of people who use those apps don't have any level of technical understanding about what they are actually doing (or not doing). It's clear to me from the way most of the apps of this type are written that the developers don't want them to understand. So they fail to explain anything about what is actually going on. Fortunately for me, although I am not an Android expert, I do have a pretty good working knowledge of computers and especially Windows. Many of the concepts in Android/Linux are similar so its mostly a matter of learning the different ways Android accomplishes the same tasks. You guys are a pleasure to talk to and learn from.

I like to play with my phone too... it's entertainment. I thought about rooting it just for fun (knowing it can create problems and being willing to take that risk). I have successfully rooted other Android devices in the past. But nothing I found worked to root this particular phone at the time I was thinking about it. Not sure if anything is out there that does it today. Also not sure I am still interested in rooting it. It was just a passing whim. Every once in a while I get the urge to play like that.

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

If I solve this, I will report back what it was. I have a suspicion that uninstalling apps may not solve it but I hope it does. If it doesn't I may have no other options than a reset. That would suck.

If it does solve it and I can identify the offending app, I'm going to very PO'd at that app for putting me through this. :O

 

[svim]

I'd focus on things like those 'optimizing' utilities or any virus/malware app, or other apps that have permissions to use Wi-Fi.
... and just a reminder, if you do go for that Factory Reset don't forget to make absolutely sure your personal data is backed up, and accessible to do the restore.

 

[lunatic59]

And ... make very sure you know your google credentials or you remove all account from the phone prior to reset. We've been getting a lot of people locking themselves out of their phones because they didn't know they had or understood FRP (Factory Reset Protection).

 

[DayLateDollarShort]

It's fixed!

I didn't have time to do it in a way that allowed me to identify exactly what the problem was or even what specific app the problem was with (in this case I don't even think that matters since in the end I don't think it's about a specific app), I had to do a quick and dirty job. But it worked.

The most important takeaway is that it was fixed by uninstalling apps. So future readers... give that a try if you have this problem.

Putting all the facts together with the method I used to fix it, I think I can say pretty confidently that it most likely wasn't a flawed app or even a flawed update. Most likely it was just a random bad installation of an update. I think the best guesses for what the problem was are:

1. Most likely: A corrupted file in an app that happened during an update.

2. I think much less likely but the second place guess: a setting or group of settings in one or more apps that either exposed a bug, or caused the WiFi to disconnect due to some kind of interaction between settings or apps.

But the good news is it's fixed and I didn't have to do a reset!

Thanks so much you guys for all the help! Really appreciate it.

Now back to my regularly scheduled life!