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S5 dropping wi-fi and data signal

davybhoy

Lurker
Apr 14, 2014
5
0
Hi everyone :)

I was always an iPhone user and thought I'd go for a change so got the S5 on launch day. It worked fine all weekend except yesterday and today I have noticed a problem. For some reason, randomly, it will drop wi-fi signal when I know it should pick it up and the data signal goes with it. When it does this, I pull the menu down from the top of the screen and the wi-fi icon is sort of dull and no matter how many times I press it, it doesn't re-connect to wi-fi. Throughout all of this I also have no internet signal through 3G, 4G etc. when again, I know there is good signal and it should pick it up. The only way I can regain any sort of internet signal is to restart my phone and then both wi-fi and data signal are fine.

Has anyone ever heard of this or could guess at what's wrong?

Thanks
 
I know from my experience that when the Wifi symbol gets dim, it's either trying to connect or there was an error. Usually it's just attempting a connect and failing. I would try factory resetting it as it may just be a bug, but if that doesn't help it I'd try to exchange it for a new one.

I had it replaced and it did it once which was rectified after I turned airplane mode on and off. The funny things is, not only do I not know what caused it, but it happened on 2 brand new handsets and no one else has posted about it. Also, the Internet still worked this time even without the 4G symbol showing up, but no wifi would turn on. It's so is!
 
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Is this only happening in one specific are, like your home or office. The issues could be caused because the WiFi signal is getting dropped and the handset is taking a moment try try and re authenticate before switching over to cellular data.

If it is possible I would suggest taking a look at the router. Start by performing a simple restart of the router. Keep in mind, even if you have many other devices working fine with the router, a single device can still have issues, which a reboot of the router may resolve.

If that does not work download an app from the play store called WiFi analyzer. After it's installed open it and look at the signal screen and see if there are other WiFi networks on the same channel. If there are try to change the channel on the router to a channel that does not show any other wireless signals on it.
 
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Yep, my wife has also experienced wifi problems on her first S5.
Constantly dropped the wifi and wouldn't automatically reconnect. A symbol appeared in top left telling her to sign in again???
A quick press and it reconnected ok.
Not happy with this as no other phone in the house suffered the problem we exchanged it for a new one.
This is when the fun began.

This afternoon the second S5 appeared to have a mind of its own, swiping screens all over the place, then started to play media.
The funniest thing for us though was when our son started shouting about his xbox trying to play songs on its own as well.
Somehow the S5 had managed to connect to the xbox media centre???
The staff in Tesco Phone Shop appeared disbelieving until the phone went wild in their hands when it started to perform random actions, taking screenshots.
After a factory reset the phone restarted then froze and the language screen totally ignoring any attempts at screen selections.

Here's hoping the third S5 is the lucky one that actually works.
 
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Is this only happening in one specific are, like your home or office. The issues could be caused because the WiFi signal is getting dropped and the handset is taking a moment try try and re authenticate before switching over to cellular data.

If it is possible I would suggest taking a look at the router. Start by performing a simple restart of the router. Keep in mind, even if you have many other devices working fine with the router, a single device can still have issues, which a reboot of the router may resolve.

If that does not work download an app from the play store called WiFi analyzer. After it's installed open it and look at the signal screen and see if there are other WiFi networks on the same channel. If there are try to change the channel on the router to a channel that does not show any other wireless signals on it.

Kinda glad it's not just mine that's messing up regarding this I downloaded the wifi analyser like you said and it said that mine was on the best channel. Most of the others it picked up were on channel 1 or 2 whereas mine was on 6 so I left it alone. I shall monitor it and see if it happens again because it hasn't happened since the once after I had my handset replaced...
 
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Kinda glad it's not just mine that's messing up regarding this I downloaded the wifi analyser like you said and it said that mine was on the best channel. Most of the others it picked up were on channel 1 or 2 whereas mine was on 6 so I left it alone. I shall monitor it and see if it happens again because it hasn't happened since the once after I had my handset replaced...

I'm sure it must be software related as when this happens I'm still connected to my wifi.
 
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I had a similar problem. It would connect to my wifi network just fine, but then after downloading a couple MB, it would just stop, and then give connection errors. When data was flowing, it was exceptionally slow (I get 25 Mbps through my ISP, and it was taking about 3 minutes to download a 4MB app).

I read a "fix" that said to set the wifi up under a static IP, and that would solve it. It... worked. Switching to a static IP isn't supposed to work, though, that means that it was trying to reconnect to my network over and over again with different IP addresses after it had already connected, and the lagtime was in the acquiring of new addresses.

... I think there's a problem with the wifi radios, if that's the case. Either they aren't working in tandem, or something.

Also, my router that I was using in my home *was* about 8 years old. I had a new router waiting in the wings for that one to die, so I just switched it out early. Since then, I don't have as many dropping problems, on DCHP or static, but the dropping problem still shows up periodically.

It's just frustrating to know the DL speeds this thing is capable of, and sit through speeds and connection issues similar to dial-up of the 90's.
 
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Hopefully they become aware of it and release a fix. Is a fix likely? I've always been an apple person and there would have been the likes of iOS 7.0.1 as an update to iOS 7.0 in order to fix issues such as this. Do Samsung/Android do the same?

Performed a factory restore (not from backup) and all has been fine for the last 24 hours. A bit of a pain having to set up my phone from scratch but worth it if it solves the problem.

*fingers crossed*
 
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I am having this same exact issue with my one week old S5. Once or twice a day my phone will drop WiFi and cell signal. I won't know until I notice I have no wifi. I go to turn on wifi and have same issue as the original poster. The wifi button is grey'd out and no matter how many times I press it it won't turn on. Also, my cell signal drops and none of the messages I send go out, but it acts like they do. Once I reset my phone it then tells me none of the previous texts I attempted to send worked, and it then sends them. I am on tmobile. This is really frustrating as I am missing important work callso and emails. I really hope they get a fix for this STAT. Anyone have any updates on this issue? I don't download apps or play games on this phone as its a work phone
 
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So this is obviously either a Software or Hardware issue, not carrier. So how do we go about letting Samsung and Android know that multiple people are having the same issue? The fact that the M8 is also having it leads me to believe its a KitKat issue. This just happened again for me today, SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!
 
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When I found that the S5 supports 5 GHz 802.11n, I figured I could push our two S5's onto that band and leave the 2.4 GHz band free for everything else. However, just walking down the stairs 10-15 feet away from the router causes the 5 GHz network to disappear completely while the 2.4 GHz comes in strong almost anywhere in the house.

5 GHz does tend to have a shorter range than 2.4, but it seems pretty ridiculous that it essentially only works in the same room as the router. Not sure if this is a problem in the S5's 5 GHz radio or the router and unfortunately I don't have any other 5GHz devices to test against. Anyway, this is definitely something to keep in mind if you are troubleshooting Wifi issues.
 
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When I found that the S5 supports 5 GHz 802.11n, I figured I could push our two S5's onto that band and leave the 2.4 GHz band free for everything else. However, just walking down the stairs 10-15 feet away from the router causes the 5 GHz network to disappear completely while the 2.4 GHz comes in strong almost anywhere in the house.

5 GHz does tend to have a shorter range than 2.4, but it seems pretty ridiculous that it essentially only works in the same room as the router. Not sure if this is a problem in the S5's 5 GHz radio or the router and unfortunately I don't have any other 5GHz devices to test against. Anyway, this is definitely something to keep in mind if you are troubleshooting Wifi issues.

It's the same way in my house. Not only does the 5 Ghz band have a much shorter range, but it seems to be less reliable and drops connection fairly often while the 2.4 Ghz band is still going strong. This applies to the 4 devices in my house that can use the 5 Ghz band.
 
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Hello, I think I may have found the problem at least for Verizon customers.

Let me begin by saying I got my new S5 yesterday, loaded it all up and started noticing during that time that it would drop the wifi. Didn't think much of it until my wife said it was doing it the next morning and said we need to get that fixed. Hour and a half later, I've exhausted all of tech supports knowledge, and I get out of the guy that he sees there are other reports of this. I said "Yeah, do a search and these forums know all about it and are saying unless you carriers inform Samsung, they won't know there is a problem. " So we get Samsung on the line, and I am still flabbergasted that an employee of the company, being given this knowledge, says they can't do anything other than take the phone in for 9-11 days to repair it. I said " How are you going to repair it if you won't acknowledge you know there is a problem? There is evidence on this three way call from the carrier saying there are other reports... " ...long story short, I'm not waiting for a fix from Samsung any time soon.

Here is what I found when I went to exchange my phone at the Verizon store. The guy set it up, we had connection, and it held. I went home and loaded all my apps, and WHEN I WENT TO ACCESS THE MY VERIZON ICON, to put it on my home screen, it immediately kicked over and said "switcing to mobile data" and started the process of dropping and reconnecting to my wifi every couple of minutes.
I did a factory restart, loaded everything on my phone that I wanted, but did not touch, nor will I ever touch, the My Verizon icon, and I have not lost a connection yet. I have informed Verizon of this development, and they say they have noted it in the account. Sigh...

Anyway, I hope this helps, and leads to a fix one day...!
 
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FWIW, My Verizon has ALWAYS forced you to use the DATA connection. It has been that for 15 years and I do NOT think it will ever be changed.

I personally have not had a problem with the WiFi connection..... but.... I habitually turn it OFF every time I am not using it.

When I need WIFI, I turn it ON and don't have any issues at all downloading apps, browsing the internet, etc... I have used it all evening at home on my router's WIFI and it never unhooks.

But, I do NOT use My Verizon either. That info can be had on the web via the home PC...
 
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The phone naturally drops wifi when you leave the area and comes back on normally now. It's only when I went to activate the My Verizon icon that it started kicking off and on every few minutes. Happy to say it is the next day, and still no dropped connection. There is something buggy about the My Verizon app when it works in conjunction with this S5 phone is my conclusion.
 
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The phone naturally drops wifi when you leave the area and comes back on normally now. It's only when I went to activate the My Verizon icon that it started kicking off and on every few minutes. Happy to say it is the next day, and still no dropped connection. There is something buggy about the My Verizon app when it works in conjunction with this S5 phone is my conclusion.

IMO you will be better off to Disable "My Verizon" app so it don't get activated by mistake. I did.
 
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I have the My Verizon widget permanently on one of the home screens and it stays updated with data usage. It works over Wifi and doesn't switch over to 4G (the 4G icon stays disabled), so it's not a universal problem. Wifi auto-connects at home and it uses cell data outside the house.

It's possible there is a bug on how MyVzw handles some plans - I'm currently on the 'share everything' plan. Worth checking.
 
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