Help Wi-Fi is too slow - disconnects

[dynomot]

When in a public place like a shopping centre (mall) and I want to browse the Internet (if I'm in a shopping centre I'm sat in a Costa Coffee while the wife and daughter are shopping - so often times in my case) there are usually a myriad of free Wi-Fi networks I can connect to. Literally hundreds in some places. I pick one of the ones with a strong signal and off I go. Except more often than not my Note 3 connects then disconnects telling me the signal is too slow. I can go through about five before my Note 3 decides it's happy and let's me use it. Two questions, why is this? I presume lots of people are using the one access point rendering it (in the opinion of my Note 3) slow, and can I stop my Note 3 expressing it's opinion and not connecting?

 

[Rukbat]

Two questions, why is this? I presume lots of people are using the one access point rendering it (in the opinion of my Note 3) slow, and can I stop my Note 3 expressing it's opinion and not connecting?

Your presumption is correct. Most people will connect to the strongest signal. And if you're sitting where a lot of people congregate, a lot of people are going to be using phones, laptops, etc. Next time, try sitting at the opposite corner of the mall - as far as you can get from where you're having the problem. (As long as that's not another congregation point.) You'll probably find a faster connection.

The food court at my local mall, on Saturday afternoons, is like being on the moon - the speeds are so slow that a Commodore 64 would die. Sit there on a Wednesday morning, when it's almost empty, and the same signal is about as fast as the one I get at home.

Oh, and no. If the signal is too slow it's going to disconnect.

 

[dynomot]

I don't know which is worse my Note 3 disconnecting or my SGS4 (now happy with a new owner) connecting and waiting for a web page to render taking for ever due to stupidly slow speeds.

 

[Vigasan]

You can stop your phone from automatically switching networks if it's slow. Go to WIFI settings, touch the soft touch MENU button, tap on ADVANCED, then uncheck AUTO NETWORK SWITCH.

 

[Rukbat]

I think this is REALLY a case of "you get what you pay for" and free wifi is sometimes useless wifi.

Starbucks works pretty well. Sam's Club is pretty slow, but painfully usable.

Now - be stuck in a hospital for 12 hours (my wife was admitted from the ER about a week ago - she's home now) - with about 20 wifi signals, some of them pretty strong, ALL of them secured. And not ONE SINGLE unsecured signal. I was playing Solitaire most of the time, so I didn't need an internet connection, but she plays online games and, other than the times they were sticking needles into her and such things, her main disease was "should I use data or find something else to do?"

 

[dynomot]

I think this is REALLY a case of "you get what you pay for" and free wifi is sometimes useless wifi.

Starbucks works pretty well. Sam's Club is pretty slow, but painfully usable.

Now - be stuck in a hospital for 12 hours (my wife was admitted from the ER about a week ago - she's home now) - with about 20 wifi signals, some of them pretty strong, ALL of them secured. And not ONE SINGLE unsecured signal. I was playing Solitaire most of the time, so I didn't need an internet connection, but she plays online games and, other than the times they were sticking needles into her and such things, her main disease was "should I use data or find something else to do?"

Ah hospitals, land of lots of wifi, all secured and uninformed uniformed individuals who insist that using your mobile to relieve the boredom of being in traction (been there, done that) will stop "Mr. Smith's" automatic syringe driver and probably kill him. Or even better it might produce a spark and ignite the piped oxygen (I kid you not). Fortunately a friendly nurse compromised the Wi-Fi by giving me the WPA key, no special favours really she was allowed to, it was a network for patients. Mind you viewing a Web page via an N95 was "interesting".

Seriously (the above is real), yes I know Free Wi-Fi often equates to "we'll spam the email you provide, and if by the way if there are more than two of you using the one SSID, forget about it."- I know it's garbage mostly, but I could live with it being fairly slow, I just wanted my phone not to express it's own opinion by disconnecting it, due to awful speeds.

 

[bv22]

Suppoose I'm already at home!?? ) Just moved from Original Note 1 to a Note 3. Wi-fi signal strength is Strong but it connects/disconnects seemingly at random!? At times the speed is fast but usually its slow - in fact even slower than the Note 1. Prblem Only seems to affect my Note(s) as my laptop & desktop on the same Wi-Fi seem to have normal speeds. As do other smartphones in the house. Also doesnt seem to matter whether I'm the only one on or if others are on as well.
Any idea what the problem is and hw to fix it?

Thanks!

 

[Note3owner]

Step 1 Go to the dialler
Step 2 dial *#0011#
Step 3 go to wifi
Step 4 turn power saving off
Step 5 thank me forsolving your problem😊

 

[metsnfins]

Step 1 Go to the dialler
Step 2 dial *#0011#
Step 3 go to wifi
Step 4 turn power saving off
Step 5 thank me forsolving your problem😊

Didn't work with Verizon

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Suppoose I'm already at home!?? ) Just moved from Original Note 1 to a Note 3. Wi-fi signal strength is Strong but it connects/disconnects seemingly at random!? At times the speed is fast but usually its slow - in fact even slower than the Note 1. Prblem Only seems to affect my Note(s) as my laptop & desktop on the same Wi-Fi seem to have normal speeds. As do other smartphones in the house. Also doesnt seem to matter whether I'm the only one on or if others are on as well.
Any idea what the problem is and hw to fix it?

Thanks!

If it is your home network, try rebooting your router. If there are still issues, power cycle you're entire network. That generally should fix Wi-Fi issues with speed, weak/unstable connections, etc.

Edit: power cycle involves shutting down all users and peripherals first. The router second and the modem last. Then power on the modem first (wait for it to fully power on), then the router (again, wait for it to fully power on). Then the users and peripherals.

 

[Note3owner]

Then is your router outdated?
Buying a nrw router helped a lot of people.
The galaxy note 3 is too advanced for most routers. Or something like that.

 

[dynomot]

Then is your router outdated?
Buying a nrw router helped a lot of people.
The galaxy note 3 is too advanced for most routers. Or something like that.

No it is not "too advanced for most routers". Even an old Wi-Fi router should work with a Note 3. A Note 3 is just compatible with all routers. It can take a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz Wi-Fi signal as well as 802.11a/b/g/n/ac protocols.

 

[Note3owner]

Lol i was just kidding with that last comment. Jeez. Anyway i was just trying to say that buying a new one somehow miraculously cured those note 3 users of their deprivation of working network. Maybe you have to reset your router. I woulsnt know cause I didn't have to go to that step.

 

[NeoGrandizer]

Lol i was just kidding with that last comment. Jeez. Anyway i was just trying to say that buying a new one somehow miraculously cured those note 3 users of their deprivation of working network. Maybe you have to reset your router. I woulsnt know cause I didn't have to go to that step.

Why I don't rely on wireless to begin with. Too many variables and factors that can mess it up so quickly with no quick fix. Could be security settings, interference, network congestion, range, etc.

If only Samsung would allow USB to Ethernet connectivity; then I'll be very happy.

 

[Joshuah22a]

My s3 would connect to my job wifi and stay on it all day but with my note 3 it would take alot longer to connect to my wifi because tgebwifi speed is too slow...kinda annoying when i just want to connect to it regardless of speed...

 

[dynomot]

Lol i was just kidding with that last comment. Jeez. Anyway i was just trying to say that buying a new one somehow miraculously cured those note 3 users of their deprivation of working network. Maybe you have to reset your router. I woulsnt know cause I didn't have to go to that step.

Fair enough, but tone of voice and face to face communication don't come through in posts. Somebody else could have taken you seriously, spent cash on a new wireless router, and had no real need to.

I'm not a kill joy, and enjoy a laugh (see some of the comments and posts in the SGS4 root forum), but primarily we have to share the knowledge we have. This is what this place is about.

 

[dan330]

You can stop your phone from automatically switching networks if it's slow. Go to WIFI settings, touch the soft touch MENU button, tap on ADVANCED, then uncheck AUTO NETWORK SWITCH.

yeah.. i just say this today.. at home wifi. one person on ruko, other on VPN to work.. i am on HULU and youtube... and a few phones too.

my ATT Note3.. disconnects from the wfi.. because too slow!!

if i do the above wifi setting change..
i think that will affect the auto change/switch both directions.
right?

 

[Note3owner]

Fair enough, but tone of voice and face to face communication don't come through in posts. Somebody else could have taken you seriously, spent cash on a new wireless router, and had no real need to.

I'm not a kill joy, and enjoy a laugh (see some of the comments and posts in the SGS4 root forum), but primarily we have to share the knowledge we have. This is what this place is about.

Sorry. Good pount there.

 

[Rukbat]

If only Samsung would allow USB to Ethernet connectivity; then I'll be very happy.

OTG cable. USB Ethernet adapter. Voila!

That said, my N3 had absolutely no problem connecting to my Linksys - which was one of the original G routers. Probably about 12 years old. The router finally gave up the ghost. The only advantage I have now is a slightly greater range and WPS (which the N3 loves).

I was in Sam's Club today and figured I'd try their app. You can scan the barcodes as you put things in the cart, and when you check out, you're checking out 1 item - your total. It connects to SOME wifi (I didn't look to see if it's their in-house AT&T or something else), because when I tried to access something on it from the other end of the parking lot, the app complained that it had no network connection. Since I've already connected to AT&T, and it's unsecured, the thing probably connected to AT&T while it was in my pocket.

(No joy, though - they're having problems with the system. The app worked, their in-house computer didn't.)

The supermarket I shopped at when I was back in NY had scanners and an app to use on an Android (and never enough charged scanners). It's a great way to shop. Fill 2 shopping baskets and checkout in the express line with one item. I just hope more stores start using things like that.

But bottom line - I've never had an Android not connect to a properly set up wifi signal. I have had MANY Windows computers not connect easily back in 98 days, but 7 and 8 will connect unless the router isn't set up right. About the only problem is security. Unless you want to run a RADIUS server, almost anyone can crack your password these days. And many people in the - shall we say "shady" professions? - can read https like an open book.

If it's not connected, it can't be hacked. One of these days I expect to see someone hacking a computer not connected to the outside world - through its power cable plugged into the wall. (I grew up with prop-driven airliners, now I carry a computer in my shirt pocket that's many times more powerful than the first network server I set up.)

 

[Vigasan]

yeah.. i just say this today.. at home wifi. one person on ruko, other on VPN to work.. i am on HULU and youtube... and a few phones too.

my ATT Note3.. disconnects from the wfi.. because too slow!!

if i do the above wifi setting change..
i think that will affect the auto change/switch both directions.
right?

No the phone will still switch if needed. For example if you turn off AUTO NETWORK SWITCH and come home from work, it'll still automatically connect to your home wifi. Make note that sometimes you have to turn AUTO NETWORK SWITCH off for each wifi you connect to that's slow.

 

[Note3owner]

The disabling of auto network switch means that your note will not connect to another wifi when already CONNECTED.
It doesn't mean it wont scan for others when out of range

 

[Vigasan]

The disabling of auto network switch means that your note will not connect to another wifi when already CONNECTED.
It doesn't mean it wont scan for others when out of range

It also prevents your Note from connecting to LTE if the WIFI is slow.

 

[Note3owner]

True

 

[NeoGrandizer]

OTG cable. USB Ethernet adapter. Voila!

LOL. If that were only true. Samsung doesn't support it (at least for the Note, Note 2 and Note 10.1). Yeah, I've tried with Megabit and Gigabit USB Ethernet adapters.... It's a no go. Although the Asus Transformer works fine with it.

 

[dynomot]

LOL. If that were only true. Samsung doesn't support it (at least for the Note, Note 2 and Note 10.1). Yeah, I've tried with Megabit and Gigabit USB Ethernet adapters.... It's a no go. Although the Asus Transformer works fine with it.

Has anyone tried with a Note 3 though? I am tomorrow just to see, I need to buy an Ethernet to USB adaptor. I wonder if my daughter would be up for videoing the attempt? I'll post what happens even though I reckon it'll be a bigger fail since an ex. Microsoft exec was hired as CEO of Nokia.