Help Connect to Home wifi without internet

[Jameson Harbottle]

First post. I have a home wifi network with no Internet connection (rural area) I use it to watch movies, back up device photos at night, etc. I just upgraded to 5.1.1 from KitKat. Now, wifi will connect to home network for 30 sec then disconnect because of no Internet connection. It will then revert to mobile data. Tried turning off mobile data but no luck. Wifi still disconnects. Looked through advanced wifi options but no luck there either. Thanks for any help!

 

[Digital Controller]

Welcome to the forums. Thanks for visiting our site, I am going to try my best to assist you with your issue.

If you didn't perform a factory reset you might want to because lingering issues can arise, even when your manufacturer says they won't.

Otherwise you can always reset your router as well, unless this is an ongoing issue that happens with all internet connections.

 

[El Presidente]

What device do you own?

Do you have Developer Options enabled? If yes, head to Settings - Developer Options. Is Aggressive WiFi to Cellular handover checked?

 

[Jameson Harbottle]

Kyocera Duraforce
Android 5.1.1
Aggressive wifi cellular handover=off

 

[AZgl1500]

I have 5.1.1 on my S5 and my Note 4, and I can say that both of them stay connected to the WiFi even when the router has no internet available....

I am in a rural area, and the ADSL cotton thread gets broken in the wind every day.
yet, the phones stay hooked up, I can transfer files to my PC server just fine.

 

[Jameson Harbottle]

Any specific settings i should try?

You can see from the screen shot that I have wifi on and Charlie has a poor internet connection. the mobile data is still active and the phone refuses to stay connected to the wifi network.

 

[El Presidente]

If you long press on Charlie, it should give you any some additional options. Is there an option for auto connect?

Failing that, have a look at a 3rd Party App to manage the connection for you: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=wifi auto connect&c=apps

Tasker might do the job too.

 

[svim]

I'm wondering if your problem is with your phone or your home WiFi network. Does your Kyocera have problems connecting and holding to other WiFi networks like at work or a public WiFi service such as a library or restaurant? Also what's your home WiFi based on, something like a Comcast cable modem/router, or do you have a cable or DSL modem and your own wireless router? If it's your own route, what make/model? When your phone drops its WiFi connection, are you in the same room as the router? When you stated '...no Internet connection...' is it a matter of your Kyocera losing its IP address from your router or do you still have its IP address but just no Internet? (Any wireless router will still keep your LAN - Local Area Network - running and all your devices connected to your LAN will still be networked whether you have a connection to the Internet or not.)

 

[Lordvincent 90]

I'm wondering if you have the "connection optimizer" app.

Try settings> more> mobile networks> and look for connection optimizer and turn it off

 

[girolez]

Hi

At the top of your list of available networks or anywhere in your wifi settings , is there an option to turn off "smart network switch"? If so turn it off.

 

[AZgl1500]

Hi

At the top of your list of available networks or anywhere in your wifi settings , is there an option to turn off "smart network switch"? If so turn it off.

I'm thinking this is his culprit, it is defaulted to ON

 

[Alexandre Picquot]

I am facing the same problem on a Pixel 2: if wifi is connected to a local network without internet AND cellular data is enabled, it fails to connect to local address. If cellular data is turned off, it works ! I am guessing that the dns goes thru cellular when wifi has no internet and hence it does not accept a local ip address or even local hostname. Beside turning off the cellular data, is there any smart way to force the phone to look for the address on the wifi first ?

 

[steiny180]

Turn off "Scanning always avail..." and "Wi-fi frequency band."

For the later select a frequency which works the best for you.