Database Info

Wifi SLower than should be..

I have a linksys wifi N router at home and my laptop connects at around 144mbps, however my phone only connects at around 72mbps..
Also my laptop always sits on my coffee table which is about 15' from my router (through one wall) and has excellent signal. But my phone usually only has good signal in the same spot. It only usually lights up like two of the wifi indicators.
Does everyone else have this issue? Are the wifi chips just not strong in the phone or what?

My laptop is currently saying that it is recieving at 54mbps, my mesmerize is showing the same speed. Although my laptop is stating that I have excellent strength, and my phone is showing fair strength. I think the wifi is only so-so in this phone, I rooted last night and just got wifi tethering going. With the phone broadcasting a hostspot next to the laptop it only gave a fair signal strength. I'm not sure if the strength of a wifi hotspot has anything to do with the recieving end of the signal though.

elijahblake said:
I have a linksys wifi N router at home and my laptop connects at around 150mbps, however my phone only connects at around 75mbps..
Also my laptop always sits on my coffee table which is about 15' from my router (through one wall) and has excellent signal. But my phone usually only has good signal in the same spot. It only usually lights up like two of the wifi indicators.
Does everyone else have this issue? Are the wifi chips just not strong in the phone or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had this issue with both my droid and my blackberry (when I used my blackberry). I think that the wifi capabilities in phones are not as good as they are in computers.

but the reason I'm asking this is this phone is supposed to have wifi N radio in it.. Older phones only had G antennas which are only capable of 54mbps.. wifi N is theoretically capable of up to 300mbps, I've never seen anything actually connect at that speed, but it would seem that my phone which is brand new should atleast connect at the same speed as a 2 year old wifi N laptop???

imyp said:
My laptop is currently saying that it is recieving at 54mbps, my mesmerize is showing the same speed. Although my laptop is stating that I have excellent strength, and my phone is showing fair strength. I think the wifi is only so-so in this phone, I rooted last night and just got wifi tethering going. With the phone broadcasting a hostspot next to the laptop it only gave a fair signal strength. I'm not sure if the strength of a wifi hotspot has anything to do with the recieving end of the signal though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your router is only G that's the max speed you will get?

Wifi is a pain in general to troubleshoot, as there could be many, many reasons why it is slow or not working at all.
General questions to be asked are:
Do you have security enabled wifi?
What kind of encryption are you using?
How many devices are connected to the network? (Wired or wireless)
Is the router set to send a wireless N signal? (most routers have that optioned, but not always running as most devices are not wireless N compatible)
I've had my phone connected at several wifi's (I travel a lot for work and am in hotels all the time) and my connection speed varies. At home I have great connection and speed test to 5megs a second download (wireless N--it connects) currently at a hotel in Colorado, 1480kbps download (wireless G)
I still stick by my thoughts as far as the wifi on the phones will never be as good as the wifi in a computer, be it a laptop or a desktop. Phones just don't have the battery power to hold a super strong/fast wifi signal.

I have wifi speed problems also but my first gen ipod touch does not seem to have issues
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

skitzo_inc said:
Wifi is a pain in general to troubleshoot, as there could be many, many reasons why it is slow or not working at all.
General questions to be asked are:
Do you have security enabled wifi?
What kind of encryption are you using?
How many devices are connected to the network? (Wired or wireless)
Is the router set to send a wireless N signal? (most routers have that optioned, but not always running as most devices are not wireless N compatible)
I've had my phone connected at several wifi's (I travel a lot for work and am in hotels all the time) and my connection speed varies. At home I have great connection and speed test to 5megs a second download (wireless N--it connects) currently at a hotel in Colorado, 1480kbps download (wireless G)
I still stick by my thoughts as far as the wifi on the phones will never be as good as the wifi in a computer, be it a laptop or a desktop. Phones just don't have the battery power to hold a super strong/fast wifi signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, the router is set to wifi N or actually it's set to all!!! I have security enabled..
There's only two devices running wifi (laptop/cell phone)
I get fast download speeds like 5000kbps down/2500kbps up when using the speedtest.net app..
But when I go to wifi settings and click on my router once it's connected whether I have Good (usually) or excellent it's only connected to my router at 72Mbps.. I have a static IP set for it..
I guess mobile phone wifi chips just aren't up to par with laptop chips

msird said:
I have wifi speed problems also but my first gen ipod touch does not seem to have issues
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My little brothers touch has the same issues with speed.
elijahblake said:
yes, the router is set to wifi N or actually it's set to all!!! I have security enabled..
There's only two devices running wifi (laptop/cell phone)
I get fast download speeds like 5000kbps down/2500kbps up when using the speedtest.net app..
But when I go to wifi settings and click on my router once it's connected but whether I have Good (usually) or excellent it's only connected to my router at 72Mbps.. I have a static IP set for it..
I guess mobile phone wifi chips just aren't up to par with laptop chips
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are my sentiments exactly. Even with it not being as fast, it's plenty fast for everything I need it to do, but 3g is fast enough for me generally. I only connect to wireless when I'm not in good cell service.

[SOLVED] Wifi issue, wifi on and off :)

Well, one thing that I really hate with Nexus S is its wifi hardware. The signal reception is weak, weaker than my HTC Desire.
Often, the wifi signal got disconnected suddenly and reconnected again autmatically.
This is sucks, especially if you play online game or streaming.
I don't think there is a way, software wise to fix this because I read that Samsung is using cheap low powered wifi hardware.
It is good to conserve battery, but the experience sucks.
So, what did I do?
I replaced my wifi access point!
Yeah ... that's, a quick and simple solution.
I just added a new wifi access point, Sitecom Wireless N Access Point. Place it in a good position. And whoala! No more wifi disconnect I found it is much better signal strength compared to the SpeedTouch router (B/G mode only).
There you go, certain wifi access point could potentially cause this auto-disconnect.
So happy now, although I must spent 69 euro + some more for long extension power cable (need this to reach that good position so I got decent signal from my bedroom + living room).
Happy happy happy ... fast enough (900+ KBytes/sec), steady and reliable wifi connection! No more disconnect!

I did the same. Installed apple airport extreme and all is well now.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I will try changing my wifi antenna . I have realized that the signal is a lot better when I connect to routers that has 2 antennas (300 mbps). Mine is just 150mbps and the signal its medium worth laptops in the end of the house. So I think Ill stay like this. Thanks to samsung!!!

[Q] Nexus S extremely poor wifi

Hello there,
i know that this topic has been already debated several times but I couldn't find any solution to it.
I'm running MIUI 1.8.19, android version 2.3.5, kernel version 2.6.35.7-g3cc95e3, baseband I9023XXKB3.
Wifi signal is extremely weak, few meters away from any router and the connection becomes extremely unstable making the wifi experience a total nightmare.
I've been previously tried NSCollab and also different baseband configuration files but nothing seems to get things better.
For what is worth (even though the wifi is bad anywhere and with any router) my router is a Linksys WRT150N running on DD-WRT.
The Nexus S wifi thing seems to be a little bit controversial. Some users seem having no problem with it, some other experience the same problems i do.
Question #1: is that a hardware, software or both kind of problem?
question #2 : is there any workaround that would allow me at least to comfortably browse the internet from my bedroom (5-6 mts away from my router) without getting disconnected every other 30 sec?
Thank you in advance,
D.

You kept a phone that can't hold a wifi connection over a distance of 5m? I'd have returned it on day 1.
It's normal that the distance of WIFI on smartphones is less than say a laptop or pc, but 5m is definitly not normal.
Verify w/ other wifi networks, same problem = return it. If not, bad luck, might be the combination of your phone + the router not working properly.
You can try changing radios to see of that improves your situation, for some it did.

Yes, it is normal having a weaker wi-fi but my blackberry has no problem at all. it is the nexus and it seems to be quite a widespread problem around the globe.
Well i was abroad on business and couldnt return it. Just looking for clues....

I know that netarchy's kernel uses updated wifi drivers, you can try flashing that and see if it does anything.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

Hi there,
i tried several kernels: netarchy, matrix and also installed MIUI and also tried the MIUI Brainmaster ROM. Same result: in my bedroom the wifi signal score a miserable -85/90 db. Is there any kernel out there optimized for wifi? I mean, it seems that the wifi weakness on the nexus S is a common problem.
Thank you in advance.

It sounds as though you have a hardware problem or a router problem. I have to go to a room in the other side of my house to get -90 db and even then it doesn't disconnect. I have to get about 200 feet away before it disconnects.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Also it might have something to do with interference on whatever channel you are connecting on but I don't really know enough about wireless networking to help you troubleshoot that.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

What i'm wondering is wheter Samsung uses different wifi chipset on the same phone cause i'm not the only one complaining about it. just google "nexus s weak wifi" and you'll see hundreds of people with the same problem.
still wondering if there's a software solution to it.

caravaggio971 said:
What i'm wondering is wheter Samsung uses different wifi chipset on the same phone cause i'm not the only one complaining about it. just google "nexus s weak wifi" and you'll see hundreds of people with the same problem.
still wondering if there's a software solution to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has been documented that the Nexus S uses an under powered wifi chip. The chip uses less power but with that comes a weaker signal.

mine seems to be weaker than average...

Yours does seem weaker than normal, but no nexus s has decent wifi range.
What I have done is purchase 2 old linksys wrt54gl routers, have them both loaded up with DD-WRT and then link them (bridged mode or WDS if you prefer) and situate the routers in either end of my house. I have a decent sized 3 bed detached house, with a 70ft garden, I can now get a reliable wifi connection near the end of my garden on my nexus, where as previously I couldnt get to the back door

Might be an old thread, but I just traded my trusty HD2 for a Nexus S and god I hate the WIFI reception on this thing.
I am on stock 2.3.4 Rooted with KD1 radio and 2.6.35.14(Pete's) kernel. Tried just about anything out there, and nothing worked out.
Being a Pure Google experience phone, I was expecting a lot more happening for this phone, but it seems that my 2009 released HD2 was way better for all it had to offer.
Subscribing to this thread!

WIFI is fine for me, same as with HTC Desire, and stronger than iPhone 3G...

Its terrible on my Sprint Nexus.
Where I have an Ipod touch and a LG Optimus, they get an 'excellent' connection anywhere in the house. The Nexus drops the connection all the time, shows a 'poor' 5Mbps connection.
Will swapping the phone do any good?

OK.
I bought my Nexus S yesterday and I was soooo disappointed because of its poor wifi reception... But...
I am a network Administrator and a few minutes ago i just couldn't beleive that about 10 meters away from our Cisco Antennas i had about 89db signal so i started playing... and guess what i now have 55dbs at the same spot! What i found out is that Nexus S doesn't work well with High Frequencies so I disabled channels 8-13 and my AP had to work on the low channels and BAM! everything works fine now (My phone is in stock FW)
I hope I helped

Gorbi_gr said:
OK.
I bought my Nexus S yesterday and I was soooo disappointed because of its poor wifi reception... But...
I am a network Administrator and a few minutes ago i just couldn't beleive that about 10 meters away from our Cisco Antennas i had about 89db signal so i started playing... and guess what i now have 55dbs at the same spot! What i found out is that Nexus S doesn't work well with High Frequencies so I disabled channels 8-13 and my AP had to work on the low channels and BAM! everything works fine now (My phone is in stock FW)
I hope I helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome tip! Thank you so much

I found this channel number which it uses to make no difference to the wifi performance.
I tried channels 1,6,11, no difference.
The phone just has poor wifi.
As a note, usually I don't use the low channel '1', as this gets interference from microwaves more than the upper channels.

just bought a Nexus and and experiencing heavy wifi issues.
I tried changing AP channel but doesn't fix.
Testing signal strenght with a LG Optimus one for comparison:
1- LG: -72db. stable
2- Nexus S: -85db web pages loading fails quite often.
Tomorrow my NS will return to the store. Bye Bye

[Q] Weak Wifi anyone?

Getting weak Wifi-signal on a friends One S, attached are screenshots from Wifi Analyzer comparing reception with ye olde Desire running Sandvolds ICS. The One S consistently is quite a bit worse off by ~20 dBm and sees far fewer networks at any given location. Another old Desire running stock gingerbread also outperforms the One S.
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?

My One S gets 5-10 dBm worse than my Xperia X10 on CM7

frdd said:
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comparing my old Desire (AMOLED, CM7) to my One S the signal strengths are about the same.
But whereas they are stable on the One S they oscillate on the Desire, and the One S is more sensitive, means it shows more different signals in shorter time. The Desire doesn't show them at all or at least less signals, maybe due to the oscillation.

Oh good gosh.
The sensation had the grip of death.
The amaze has a WiFi problem now so does the HTC One S.
The hell HTC? Fix the WiFi issue.

Had my one s for a day now. Been at the same locations around my home as my old desire. It shows far better WiFi reception than the desire both when it was running runnymede and leedroid gb with different kernels.
No WiFi trouble at all.

My sensation was appalling for signal (wifi, 2g/3g) i complained to my provider and thats why i now have the One S.
I must admit, Its not perfect but its a whole lot better. Only had it working a few days so cant be 100% sure, But im getting signals is places i couldnt with the Sensation..
Im happy i can use it as a phone, I would have like it to be alot better but thats life i guess.
It works so i cant complain.

No issues for me... WiFi reception is just as good as the old Desire had. Didn't test it with any apps, but I can get reception everywhere in the house and even outside the front door, which I think the Desire couldn't.

Good thing its not a very common problem so far, maybe HTC spilled some of the micro arc oxidation stuff on the antennas of this One S then It has problems connecting and speeds are bad where multiple other devices work fine. Please keep the anecdotes coming!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA

No wifi issues here. At least as much signal as my old Desire

i can't complain about my wifi. Even though i get 5-10 dBm worse signal compared to my Xperia X10 i can still connect everywhere inside of the house as well as on the street ~15 meters away from my house. I also get much better speeds with my One S. We have a 30/30 mb/s connection but my Xperia could only use 10-15. The One S on the other hand gets 30/30 every time

The phone in first post is on its way to HTC to be fixed or replaced. Attached screenshots of firmware and radio versions in case someone needs it

My One S wifi signal is around 10 to 12 dBm weaker than my Motorola Defy+ but it still works very well so no issue. Mobile data signal is a good 16dBm and more, weaker (as mentioned elsewhere on this forum) than the Defy+ which is somewhat of a problem. Contacted HTC but awaiting a response.

I have weaker WiFi only when the router is in distance. My incredible s could get one or two bars so does one s, but it can not connect to anything.
When near the router, they all work very well mo problem.
From WiFi analyser the signal strength are similar.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA

When in my room, i always loose wifi connection when a finger is over the thing you can take off to insert sim. i noticed it because i always loose wifi connection when holding it in landscape
can only compare to iphone 3G which was a little better in keeping connection and had no specific grip of death.

I came here to ask this same question. I don't get a full wifi signal when I'm literally right next to my router. You can forget about it just 20 feet down the hall. really poor. Much worse than on my G2. And I only get edge speeds at my house. Really, I get edge speeds in my den where the tv is but i get 4g in other parts of the house.

This is soooooooo upsetting!!!! Am having wifi issues too. My phone randomly jumps on and off my Wifi while I'm in my room. Mean time my laptop's @ 90% to 100% signal.

I am actually getting much better wifi (using rooted stock) than I did with my HTC glacier running CM7.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium

frdd said:
Getting weak Wifi-signal on a friends One S, attached are screenshots from Wifi Analyzer comparing reception with ye olde Desire running Sandvolds ICS. The One S consistently is quite a bit worse off by ~20 dBm and sees far fewer networks at any given location. Another old Desire running stock gingerbread also outperforms the One S.
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure that your SIM access cover is snapped in place.
It happened to me with the WiFi signal - The phone was losing signal, and had low signal 1 foot away from the router.
I 'pinched' the top-right corner of the access cover (thumb on the glass, index finger on the back cover) - I heard a 'click' and suddenly my WiFi was at full strength. I believe that the WiFi antenna is not connected unless it snaps together.

I haven't had any WiFi issues other than low signal at moderate distances from the access point. Once I turned on Best WiFi Performance in the phone's settings though, even that minor issue went away. Couldn't be happier with the WiFi performance, especially after all the WiFi issues the NS4G had.

Check to see that best wifi performance is checked in advanced settings. Not knowing any better, I turned this ON when I first got my phone. A few days later I decided to turn it off to see if it helped battery life. With it off, I got the constant signal drop that someone else mentioned. My son got a One S at the same time I did. He was complaining about occasional reboots. There was a thread on the T-Mobile support site that pointed to a wifi issue. I had him turn best wifi performance ON, and his reboots went away.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U

Unusable wifi

I'm loving my z3 but for the life of me I cannot get a tidy wifi connection.it doesn't drop the actually connection but just freezes or slows down to an unusable amount.it's not my wifi as I have tested my note 3 on the same connection and it's the same on other networks.does anyone else have this problem or a solution

simon.n.jonez said:
I'm loving my z3 but for the life of me I cannot get a tidy wifi connection.it doesn't drop the actually connection but just freezes or slows down to an unusable amount.it's not my wifi as I have tested my note 3 on the same connection and it's the same on other networks.does anyone else have this problem or a solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am struggling with Wifi speeds on mine. I am having to switch to 4g regularly.
I am not too worried yet as I have 8gb data, but eventually i'll be worried as it runs out lol/
The speed tests show a good speed and ping, but it disconnects or slows down/freezes a lot.
I'm waiting on updates.

Thanks for the reply.I get data fine over 4G too.the chappy wifi is annoying as I have wifi everywhere I go...but no 4G signal at home

simon.n.jonez said:
... I cannot get a tidy wifi connection.it doesn't drop the actually connection but just freezes or slows down to an unusable amount.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed, same experienced here.

Didn't the z1 have this problem

That may depend on the router or its settings. Had the same "freeze" issue when connected to my AVM 7490 router set to use channel 100 for 5GHz. Ever since I changed it to channel 48 no more such problems so far.

My bluetooth is similarly awful, in both range and functionality.
WiFi constantly drops and freezes, always has a weak connection compared to my other devices.
Sony have always cheaped out on wireless chips for any of its hardware products, especially things like playstation products (PS4 wifi is the worst I've ever seen), but I didn't expect it for a £500 smartphone!

Ditto. Great 4G on a 10GB cap.
But shocking wifi. It won't connect to I my router half the time, and the other half drops the connection after 10 minutes.
Out of various devices it's the only one, and I've had more devices on.
I'll change the chanel, clear dhcp allocations and usual stuff and see if there is any difference
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

Mine seems to have sorted itself out.had excellent wifi at home and up the parents.

Yeah for all their positives sony do pass on some crud wifi chips. Ps4 good example.
Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

I seem to of narrowed my problems down to the router at work so Yaay lol.
As for Ps4, I think they're getting some unfair stick. I have mine connected to crappy BT home hub and the wifi connection is excellent.

mega_bite said:
But shocking wifi. It won't connect to I my router half the time, and the other half drops the connection after 10 minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swapped it for another router (I got a random duplicate from my isp, glad I kept it) and the problems gone. Mostly. still drops from time to time. but usable

Jonathan-H said:
I seem to of narrowed my problems down to the router at work so Yaay lol.
As for Ps4, I think they're getting some unfair stick. I have mine connected to crappy BT home hub and the wifi connection is excellent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to be random. My mate has a launch day model like me, and his WiFi is excellent to his 6 year old Sky wireless G router.
I have the newest homehub, one of the best rated routers on the market right now, and the connection from my PS4 to it is incredibly unstable. Every online game lags horrendously, especially BF4. Plus on my 80mb connection it allows for 3MB/s downloads at most. With an wired connection, no lag at all, and the download speed hits max every time.
The same thing seems to apply to the Z3. So its a sony thing. My first Z3 the wifi and BT were unusable. 3rd Z3, and wifi is the best I've ever used on a mobile device, and I havent even connected to my AC network yet to try. Bluetooth I've yet to try though.

istrikerx said:
I have the newest homehub, one of the best rated routers on the market right now, and the connection from my PS4 to it is incredibly unstable. Every online game lags horrendously, especially BF4. Plus on my 80mb connection it allows for 3MB/s downloads at most. With an wired connection, no lag at all, and the download speed hits max every time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AVM Fritz!Box here, newest model, got it when I moved because I'm on a business contract, even though I didn't want it. Has a multiuser NAS, SmartHome and whatnot, and one app for everything.
But when on WiFi with my MacBook Pro, ping times sometimes go up to over 250 ms, then back down to the usual 12. I have no idea why, it doesn't happen when connected to it via Ethernet. Bandwidth itself never seemed to be an issue though, and the Z3 performs great with it though.
TL;DR: Trying a different router can make a huge difference.

I was having the same wifi issues...my network was saved, I kept re typing my password thinking maybe I entered it in incorrectly but kept getting the "Authentication Failed" message. I was able to get the phone connected to my home wifi buy simply hitting the "Forget" option...then it automatically read the IP address and accessed the network...smh hopefully this helps for Everybody else....or some at least