Teething issues.

[microserfs]

Hey everyone.

About six days ago, I finally got my HTC Desire. I haven't had a whole bunch of problems with it, but a couple issues have come to surface, I want to know if anyone else has had any issues such as mine or if there's a way to fix.

Firstly, the battery life on the Desire seems really bad... I've read briefly on this forum before that it takes a while for the battery to reach its full potential..? My Desire will only handle a day at the most at present. What did you do to maximise the amount of time the battery will stay alive??? I haven't even been using 3G that much... :\

The other problem I'm having is connecting to the wifi at home. I was away in London over the last week and I managed to connect fine to a Sky router back where I was staying.. was using wifi without any problems. I come home to my Netgear router on Virgin broadband and cannot connect for the life of me. I know it's not a problem with the phone, yet I call Virgin and they tell me it must be since I can connect to the router fine with my laptop. I ring technical support for the insurance company I have a policy with for the phone, and they suggest it's probably the router. Has anyone else had problems with wifi or with Virgin in particular? I was suggested to change the "channel number" on router settings but doing so hasn't made a difference.

What do you think? Would appreciate any advise guys, thanks

 

[nicmel]

What security protocol does the virgin router use, and have you changed the security settings of the sky router? Sky routers use WPA-PSK by default, and I have no trouble connecting to sky routers using WPA-PSK at work nor do I have issues connecting via WEP at home, also on a sky router.

Just to eliminate potentional issues, you could maybe try changing the security settings of the virgin router to the same protocol as the sky one and see if you can connect then?

 

[microserfs]

Well, I know that the Virgin router is WPA-PSK. Not sure about the Sky router, it was used back in London (my partners familys home) and I don't have access to it here. I'm pretty sure it is probably the same, but instead of being password protected it uses the router key (SSID?) to connect... where as with Virgin we set up a password and although entering the right password six times it still won't connect.

 

[Kendoji]

When it comes to battery life it's partly a matter of expectations. If you expect your (powerful) smartphone to only last one day, then there's no problem. You won't find other similar phones that last much longer.

For the rest, there are several long recent threads about battery life with plenty of tips. And it does get better over the first week or two.

Mine lasts about 24 hours, which is fine for me. I'll get a Proporta Turbocharger for when I'm on the road.

 

[microserfs]

I guess in a way since it is such an advanced smartphone and uses alot of power I can't expect the battery life to be the same as previous phones I've had (standard phones without 3G etc) but it's really confusing that it only lasts 24 hours... I suppose it's an idea to get a turbocharger, I just hate being out and then realising I've got very little batt life left and I've got someone important to meet etc.

 

[Nodders]

Re the battery, while training an app called Battery Left (which involves running the battery completely down a couple of times) I noticed a significant increase in battery life. What was just under one day now is well over a day - and this with wifi/gps/3G enabled (but not necessarily used). I know absolutely nothing about battery technology so don't know if it coincidence but certainly either time or cycling the battery through complete charge does wonders for its endurance.

Re your router - what precise WPA PSK mode does your router run in TKIP or AES and are you trying to connect the phone using the same mode

 

[microserfs]

Where can I find this out? I looked under the wireless settings of my router but I dont know where it says it... :\

On the firewall settings it's set to allow outgoing and block any incoming services.. but since my ipod touch can connect fine I'm not sure its to do with that.

I don't wanna fiddle around too much since I know nothing about settings

 

[nicmel]

...but instead of being password protected it uses the router key (SSID?) to connect... where as with Virgin we set up a password and although entering the right password six times it still won't connect.

This is the issue.

Both appear to be set to WPA-PSK. The way this normally works is the user creates a password and the protocol then generates 4 "keys" based on this password. I say "up to" because if the password you use is rather short then 2 or more of the keys will be the same. On the Virgin router someone chose a password and it generated the keys, it is likely this was left on the default "key 1", you then entered the password on the wireless device and selected the correct key, or again it was defaulted on "key 1".

You'll need to enter "key 1" on the desire, not the password you created.
If you enter the SSID (ie the name of the network) and the password on this website it should tell you the correct keys.

Wireshark WPA PSK Generator

Hope this helps

 

[Nodders]

Right, digging about it appears as though the VM Netgear router is a WNR2000, so apologies if I'm wrong and the following makes no sense. Assuming I'm right, and using this netgear page as a guide there should be a Security settings section under the Wireless Setting page which should detail TKIP/AES settings in more detail.

 

[microserfs]

So would the name of my network be Virgin? Or would the SSID be Netgear? Just to be sure..

and the passphrase is 'key 1?' or is it the password I set up with virgin at home?

It's a bit puzzling but thanks for your help so far.. I'm really hoping to crack this!

Nodders - As for the battery, I guess I could try that app.. though I think the phone runs itself down enough without it haha. I'll take a look through some threads I guess for tips. I think maybe it'll be a matter of time, if everyone's aware of the short battery life when you first get one then it can't be a problem with the phone in particular, I imagine it must get better as it gets more and more charges.

 

[Nodders]

Just reread your posts - ignore my bleatings about TKIP/AES. I didn't realise you had never connected before in which case the phone will work it out for you.

For your question about SSID - you should see it in the phones wireless options if it is on transmit (no reason these days for it not to be).

 

[microserfs]

Right, digging about it appears as though the VM Netgear router is a WNR2000, so apologies if I'm wrong and the following makes no sense. Assuming I'm right, and using this netgear page as a guide there should be a Security settings section under the Wireless Setting page which should detail TKIP/AES settings in more detail.

The model of my router is a Netgear DG834G.. and it's an ADSL2+ router. Not sure of the settings, looked for a security section but there's nothing that screams out to me.

I can give you a list of the categories though if you want...?

 

[Nodders]

Naah - don't worry about it. I was sending you off on a wild goose chase through my reading posts too quickly.

 

[microserfs]

Just reread your posts - ignore my bleatings about TKIP/AES. I didn't realise you had never connected before in which case the phone will work it out for you.

For your question about SSID - you should see it in the phones wireless options if it is on transmit (no reason these days for it not to be).

Oh okay, haha. I've connected to a different router but not to my Virgin (netgear) router at home. However, can't be sure where to find the SSID on the phone.. the wireless settings seem to have nothing about it.

Man I'm not normally this bad, I promise.

 

[Nodders]

Just to check... For the phone you should find it under Menu>Settings>Wireless & networks > Wi-fi settings. It should be listed towards the bottom of the list (under Wi-Fi networks) if SSID broadcast is enabled.

 

[microserfs]

Hm... weird. I have nothing past Add Wi-fi Network. I have Wi-fi (Disconnected), Network Notification, then a list of Wi-fi Networks then Add Wi-fi Network.. nothing else though. Is this the problem?

 

[Nodders]

That is OK - it is the list of Wi-fi networks you mention that is the interesting bit. Is there anything in there that mentions Virgin or netgear or anything that looks like it might be your router?

 

[nicmel]

If you are on the VM connection just now, and can access the router settings (usually by browsing to 192.168.0.1) and entering the deault username and password) then one of the first links of the left hand menu is "Wireless Settings" click this. The first box at the top containts the SSID, take a note of this, and further down it tells you the network key, take a note of this.

with Wifi turn on, go to Settings, Wireless and Networks, Wi-Fi Settings. Under Wi-Fi networks you'll have a list of the availible networks. In my case I have my own SKY12345 and BTHomeHub-E3B2 (these are the SSIDs). Under each SSID it will either say something like "open network" (no password needed) or it will tell you it is "Secured with" and either WEP/WPA/WPA-PSK.

Select the SSID that you noted from your router page, and when prompted enter the network key.

remember that the key IS case sensitive so will need to be capitalised.

Hope this helps!

 

[microserfs]

If you are on the VM connection just now, and can access the router settings (usually by browsing to 192.168.0.1) and entering the deault username and password) then one of the first links of the left hand menu is "Wireless Settings" click this. The first box at the top containts the SSID, take a note of this, and further down it tells you the network key, take a note of this.

with Wifi turn on, go to Settings, Wireless and Networks, Wi-Fi Settings. Under Wi-Fi networks you'll have a list of the availible networks. In my case I have my own SKY12345 and BTHomeHub-E3B2 (these are the SSIDs). Under each SSID it will either say something like "open network" (no password needed) or it will tell you it is "Secured with" and either WEP/WPA/WPA-PSK.

Select the SSID that you noted from your router page, and when prompted enter the network key.

remember that the key IS case sensitive so will need to be capitalised.

Hope this helps!

I know my passphrase (which I'll assume is the network key). I know the SSID is virgin broadband. It's secured with WPA-PSK.

Whenever I try to connect nothing happens, it doesn't connect at all. Even though I've tried forgetting and then re-entering the password etc.. nothing at all.

 

[microserfs]

That is OK - it is the list of Wi-fi networks you mention that is the interesting bit. Is there anything in there that mentions Virgin or netgear or anything that looks like it might be your router?

Yeah Virgin comes up. I've tried connecting to it loads of times with the correct passphrase but.. I get nothing.

I'll imagine it's a problem with the router compatibility then, though why a netgear router would have that sort of issue I don't know

It's happened before when my friend was using his nokia on our internet.. he couldn't get it working either so maybe it has some issues. My ipod, computer, laptop, wii and xbox 360 all connect fine.

 

[Nodders]

[oops - you posted exactly the same time I did]

Not sure about the compatibility thing - the router should use a standard and so to the devices it uses it is no different from any other router. when you say yo get nothing, what precisely happens. I've just tried on my network and when I use a wrong parameter a tiny little "unable to connect to network" appears for a couple of seconds at the bottom. When I am successful then the bit under the network cycles through "obtaining address" etc and then "connected". Anything like this happen or does it literally give you no feedback whatsoever?

P.S. looking on google I found a post on some decadent site or other which notes that another user had no problems with their HTC Hero on the same router so I think it must be a settings thing or the router is borked. It connects fine with your laptop though?

 

[nicmel]

I don't recommend doing this indefinately but try removing the security on the router and connecting then?

The "passphrase" and "network key" are 2 different things.

If you have WPA security then you don't use a "passphrase" only a "network key".

If you use WEP you have both - a "passphrase" which you enter in the router to then generate 1-4 "network keys". It's this "Network Key" that is generally used to access the connection on other devices.

I want to highlight the difference because if your router page shows "passphrase" then it seems like you are using WEP and not WPA.

EDIT: I'm using the Netgear DG834GT on Sky Broadband right now, and connected on my Desire with no issues. It seems to me like a security issue.

 

[microserfs]

When I connected to the SKY router (whilst away) it used to say obtaining address and then connected.

With the netgear on virgin I literally get no feedback. It's like it doesn't even try or something. I get nothing at all. I press connect and nothing happens. When I press the SSID again it comes up with connect, forget and cancel again, like I didn't even try previously, and the Wi-Fi stays on Disconnected.

Frustrating!! I wondered if I was missing something in the settings but I can't find a thing.

 

[microserfs]

I don't recommend doing this indefinately but try removing the security on the router and connecting then?

The "passphrase" and "network key" are 2 different things.

If you have WPA security then you don't use a "passphrase" only a "network key".

If you use WEP you have both - a "passphrase" which you enter in the router to then generate 1-4 "network keys". It's this "Network Key" that is generally used to access the connection on other devices.

I want to highlight the difference because if your router page shows "passphrase" then it seems like you are using WEP and not WPA.

EDIT: I'm using the Netgear DG834GT on Sky Broadband right now, and connected on my Desire with no issues. It seems to me like a security issue.

That's really odd. It says I'm secured with WPA-PSK yet I only use a passphrase. The passphrase is a password we set up with virgin initially. How do I disable the security? Just in settings? If I have no problems enabling it after maybe I should try this, so I know it's not a phone issue.

I wish I had Sky... Virgin's given nothing but problems.

 

[Nodders]

When you tap on the SSID on the networks does a little dialogue come up with a wireless password entry box (or similar)? The reason I ask is that if it does it is a matter of getting the password right - the phone is talking to the router just not letting you in. If no password comes up then, given that the router is set up to use WPA there is a problem connecting at all.