• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Connected but no communication, 4G&WiFI

keepitsimpleengr

keepitsimpleengr

Lurker
From time to time with increasing frequency the phone stops communicating with WiFi or 4G. Cannot ping the gateway router on local LAN or ping google.com on 4G. Power cycling the phone restores connection and communication.

Access point show connection. Gateway router shows connection.

This occurs w/o notification as both WiFi and 4G icons indicate connection. Do not know if telephony is affected.

This behavior is relatively recent.

No apparent action seems to start the behavior. I use MightyTextPro and the PC app to Phone is troublesome when there there is communication.

Any suggestions... .. ?
 
Thom said:
Welcome to android Forums.

What phone? What version of Android? Is it root-ed?

... Thom
Click to expand...

Motorola Droid Maxx, 4.4.4, unrooted... .. .

-and-

finally found out how to reach Motorola Customer Service.

He had me Reset app preferences after clearing the cache didn't reduce the cache size. Will take some time to find out if it worked... .. .

I'm optimistic... .. .
 
keepitsimpleengr said:
Motorola Droid Maxx, 4.4.4, unrooted... .. .

-and-

finally found out how to reach Motorola Customer Service.

He had me Reset app preferences after clearing the cache didn't reduce the cache size. Will take some time to find out if it worked... .. .

I'm optimistic... .. .
Click to expand...

Over optimistic, the phone has failed communication four time since the Reset app treatment.
 
My MAXX has done that on WIFI multiple times sine the last system update. I have not dug into things that deeply yet, just haven't had time. Am tempted to do a FDR and see if it helps.
 
Mine turned out to be the CVS app.
With that app installed, if I had WIFI and BT turned on at the same time, WIFI would fail to scan or connect 90% of the time. Turn of BT, WIFI would connect.
Uninstall CVS app, both BT and WIFI working together just fine.
Have had that app installed for some time, must be a recent update that broke things.\

EDIT:
Just looked at recent feedback on the app and apparently this is a known thing.
CVS is now trying to stream BT ads to the app when you are in store.
The result is increased background BT activity (low power, but still...), battery drain and a non-working WIFI connection.
IMHO, this makes the CVS app malware. AVOID THIS APP!!!
 
Last edited:
keepitsimpleengr said:
Over optimistic, the phone has failed communication four time since the Reset app treatment.
Click to expand...

Removed the apparently offending app, ShutApp (YirgaLab) which reduced the WiFi lapse frequency from daily to once every few days.

Final resolution: discarded the increasingly problematic device and replaced it with a hopefully more reliable Samsung Galaxy s5.

It was my third DROID MAXX, none of them lasted more than a year, which is strange, because all of them were in protective cases and all of them spent 98% of their life sitting on a desk or side table.
 
Well, my first suggestion for your Galaxy S5 is stop using apps like ShutApp.

Good luck with the new phone.
 
So I got my new Galaxy S5 and immediately had WiFi connectivity problems, this time it would indiscriminately drop then reestablish the connection. Played havoc with SSH connections and MightyText SMS app. After 2 months of machinations with Verizon, they replaced the phone with a new one and now I finally have a phone that works.
I am lucky that the "smart phone" it not a vital part of my life... .. .
 
keepitsimpleengr said:
So I got my new Galaxy S5 and immediately had WiFi connectivity problems, this time it would indiscriminately drop then reestablish the connection. Played havoc with SSH connections and MightyText SMS app. After 2 months of machinations with Verizon, they replaced the phone with a new one and now I finally have a phone that works.
I am lucky that the "smart phone" it not a vital part of my life... .. .
Click to expand...
From experience "smart phones" are usually OK, although we don't have to deal with Verizon.
 
Last edited:
mikedt said:
From experience "smart phones" are usually OK, although we don't have to deal with Verizon.
Click to expand...
I've been a Verizon customer since the Dead Sea was just sick. I spent more time on this than I spent buying hundreds of thousand dollars of equipment. If I was not retired I would have called the whole thing a "tarper" (phase used in the construction business describing the boss returning from a convention with a new gizmo, which nobody can get to work, so it ends up in a shed covered by a tarpaulin ;)) Hint: best results obtained when contacting them Monday mornings. I agree with the OK, occasionally useful but thankfully not vital.
 
Verizon is a mixed bag.

Best coverage and customer service.

Piss poor at allowing us to choose to upgrade or not.

many of my apps and features have been broken and not repairable with OS upgrades.

Only by rooting are we able to ignore Verizon.
 
I admit to being a little confused.

If you run in Safe Mode do you have these problems? If not then you installed an app that is causing it. Figure out which one and uninstall it.

... Thom
 
Thom said:
I admit to being a little confused.
If you run in Safe Mode do you have these problems? If not then you installed an app that is causing it. Figure out which one and uninstall it.
... Thom
Click to expand...
You are not the only one confused. All the problems occurred in the safe mode, just not as frequently, leading to the preliminary and erroneous conclusion that it was not the phone itself.

The big problem with Verizon is that the S5 was out of stock and they kept canceling the "order" for a replacement, then charged me double, cut off my service temporarily for non-payment, and occasionally I got the talk-fast-and-don't-take-no-for-an-answer treatment, but finally I exceeded the quota of broken promises and they followed through. In any case, as long as there isn't a hiccough, Verizon does O.K. and when dealing with their technicians, those experiences have been good, in all fairness.

If I were still in business and not retired, Verizon would be an unpleasant memory and ancient history. A friend who I assist with his Windows "confuser" says I have the patience of any three fellas. It helped that I did all this sitting at my computer with occasionally an adult beverage at hand. Very useful are printouts of computer "chats".
 
So if I follow ... you went through three Droid Maxx and two S5s ... all for them had the problem ... and it is on both 4G and WiFi.

You use Verizon for 4G. Does it drop to 3G or does it just disappear?

What service are you using for WiFi?

... Thom
 
Thom said:
So if I follow ... you went through three Droid Maxx and two S5s ... all for them had the problem ... and it is on both 4G and WiFi.
You use Verizon for 4G. Does it drop to 3G or does it just disappear?
What service are you using for WiFi?
Click to expand...
Let me elucidate... .. .

MAXX #1 Fell from armchair side table (24") in its protective case (Verizon) and the screen shattered.
MAXX #2 A refurbished unit, would show connection to WiFi but would not actually communicate, got worse over time.
MAXX #3 A refurbished unit, began to exhibit the same symptoms as #2.

Galaxy S5 #1 A new unit, continually dropped and reinstated WiFi connections, this played havoc with SMS app MightyText and SSH app JuiceSSH, which happen to be two of the most used apps. SSH is used for remote operation of servers. When in Safe Mode, the dropping occurred less frequently.
Galaxy S5 #2 A new unit also drops the WiFi connection but has not happened while its being used and does not wreck MightyText or JuiceSSH.

Where I live I get two bars on 4G but never had any data/phone connectivity problems that I am aware of. The S5 uses more data than the MAXX, but since I'm only away from WiFi a few hours a month I have never come close to my low limit. At the moment I getting -104 dBm *36 ASU from Verizon LTE with the phone sitting in it's cradle on my desk in my home office.

BTW battery life of the Galaxy S5 beats the MAXX, which is a surprise. 60% per day for the MAXX, 25% per day with the S5 with very occasional big jumps to 80%.
& after Maxx #1 succumbed, I dust binned the Verizon case and got an OtterBox
& a friend who bought a MAXX the same time I did has had no problems, and doesn't use a case.

The WiFi access point was originally tuned for VOIP, but this was backed out, with some small improvement.
The access point is a Linksys WRT54GL running DD-WRT v24-sp2 (07/22/09) VoIP (SVN revision 12548M NEWD Eko), I have two. My LAN is behind a bastion firewall running untangle 12.1.0.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom