I hate 5G

[puppykickr]

Yes, both the 5 and 2.4 are on the same SSID, so ignore one and they are both gone.

Now devices are linking up and saying NO INTERNET even though other devices are linked and online.

Rebooting does nothing.

5G is just a way to make xonnection more difficult.

This isa perfect example of why I never bothered with computers throughout the 80's, 90's, 00's, 10's, and 20's.

This intangible connection crap is imaginery and always was.

It didnt work then, and it doesnt work now.

Any so called 'advancements' are pipedreams with pricetags- and little to no payoff- unless frustration and aggrevation are the goals.

If that is true, then the system works perfectly as designed.

 

[puppykickr]

Photo taken of separate device, with a device connected to the same network.

Photo sent with same network.

 

[puppykickr]

Not more than 10 feet away, and 3 out of 4 bars.
(of unuseable 'service')

still sound good?

that single bar is 25% of the signal!
that is unacceptable loss at that short range!

do i need to lay the device on top of the router in order to maintain full signal?

i guess it makes no difference if its not going to have internet anyway.

 

[nickdalzell]

I've found that a good 99% of the time Android/iOS/Windows/Linux thinks there is 'no internet' it is actually working fine. I can't tell you how often my PC or phone claims incorrectly there's no internet when it works perfectly fine (some apps might break but web browsing and Play Store would work). That 'no internet' or 'wifi has no internet access' or even the oddball 'you must sign in to use this wifi network' errors only come up because the OS is looking at a specific internet address (a server address, like Gstatic.net or AWS.com) to tell if there is internet access for the noobs who don't know how technology works. If it cannot reach those servers (say you blocked them at the router, via Pihole, or the server is just down!) it will flag it as having 'no internet' but it will work fine. If you got a real IP and not an APIPA address (if your IP is 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x you're fine; if you got something like 169.254.x.x you are not).

Also, I've discovered IPv6 can cause internet issues and network connectivity issues. It's not 'trendy' to suggest this but disabling IPv6 will improve connectivity a ton. It did for me. But there's a lot of detractors out there claiming 'LIES! IPv6 is the future!! We will run out of IP addresses because of you FOOLS!' in suggesting it today. IPv6 is a setting on your router you can disable and it's also sometimes possible to disable it on a phone or laptop. Not always though. Depends on the OS/skin.

A lack of DNS connectivity also causes this. You might get an IP from the router, but your DNS is '0.0.0.0' for some reason. I just set everything to static and that way I avoid DHCP voodoo.

 

[puppykickr]

So now it has come to pass that I can no longer transfer files from device to device via wi-fi, or even over the internet.

I cannot help but wonder if this is due to Google's recent (horrible) change to how files can be accessed by (third party) apps or if it is due to this turd on a stick 5G wi-fi, or both.

I have spent at least the cost of another device trying OTG (worthless) and various card readers and cords.

Since nothing works, I have to resort to snail slow and error prone bluetooth to send files from one device to another.

Looks like my Android adventure stops at Android 9 and 10, because 11 is a complete disaster as far as access to files and sharing them.

Even 10 makes this very difficult.

As I cannot even make normal cellular calls 90% of the time (Thanks, T-Mobile!) I can see where this is going.

Connectivity will dwindle ever more until devices are nothing more than a way to play solitaire (offline, of course).

Basically I am already half way there.

 

[puppykickr]

NitroShare, Sharik, and TrebleShot all fail to send anything to my Android 11- no matter whatever method is tried.

This is ridiculous!

 

[nickdalzell]

You're lucky you made it to 9-10. I stopped after Android 2.3 and occasionally 4.4.4. I can't stand 'modern' Android, Windows or even Linux (even they weren't spared the flat UI treatment!)

If you already hate 11, don't even bother with Android 12, "1970's edition". Its entire UI design, from the clock widgets to the bubbly looking notifications are right out of the 1970s era.

Groovy, man! This is Android 12's home screen. Goes right with your avocado fridge and woodgrain interiors!

Ain't no shame in sticking to what works best for you. Don't let the 'futurists' out there influence your choices.

 

[puppykickr]

Actually, I like the 70"s stuff.

What I don't like is how this wi-fi is giving a 'fair', (meaning crappy) signal at 10 ft from the router, and no way to turn the worthless 5G off on the damn phones.

I get better reception at 20 ft away, because THEN it switches to the 2.4G, which actually works.

But that means that I have to leave my room.

 

[kate]

I get better reception at 20 ft away, because THEN it switches to the 2.4G, which actually works.
It is not my router to mess with...
...it would have to be done by an Xfinity tech

If the router is from Xfinity and you don't know how to access the settings, call them and have them guide you (or the account owner) through disabling 5Ghz WiFi. Or ask to have the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi on different SSIDs as recommended above.

Based on this pic from Xfinity support you can separate 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz:
https://secure.xfinity.com/anon.comcastonline2/support/help/faqs/xfinity_wifi/HOW11646_022619_02.png

 

[nickdalzell]

Perhaps I'm just used to old routers but my router has a separate SSID for the 5G (the same name as the 2.4, with -5G appended to it). Just forget the 5GHz and connect only to the 2.4GHz side.

So my home wifi is two networks:

Home Router
Home Router-5G

 

[puppykickr]

I am completely computer illiterate.

I hate the things, and I always have.
Until they work like an Android, I always will.

Nothing makes any sense of them for me.
Someone can show me time and time again- but if it makes no sense to me I will not remember a thing, except for my frustration and continued hatred for that which has made life miserable repeatedly.

I guess I am just screwed until some phone manufacturer makes an affordable device that allows the user to switch off the worthless 5G crap that struggles to maintain a signal 10 feet away.

My God, why in the hell would anyone even want that?!?

The least that manufacturers could do if they must continue to go down this path of unuseable frequencies is to give us back retractable antennas to try to grab whatever minuscle signal there may be!

 

[nickdalzell]

I can't help you sadly but my tech is so old (but it doesn't feel old. Compared to the homogenized, boring mess that modern tech is today it feels new!) that nothing connecting to my Wifi even knows what 5GHz even is. So that band of my router is just empty at the moment.

But if it helps, I still buy shows/movies on physical media and while the kids out there assume I'm too behind the times, I will be the one still enjoying my TV shows/movies post apocalypse since their 'streaming' crap requires internet access.

 

[puppykickr]

I can't help you sadly but my tech is so old (but it doesn't feel old. Compared to the homogenized, boring mess that modern tech is today it feels new!) that nothing connecting to my Wifi even knows what 5GHz even is. So that band of my router is just empty at the moment.

But if it helps, I still buy shows/movies on physical media and while the kids out there assume I'm too behind the times, I will be the one still enjoying my TV shows/movies post apocalypse since their 'streaming' crap requires internet access.

Sadly, the damn 'disc' crap that destroyed the tape industry also destroyed any hope of physical media.

Disc players are the weak link, and the vast majority of them were and are absolute junk.

They barely last a few years, whereas our first VCR lasted more than 20!

 

[mikedt]

You're lucky you made it to 9-10. I stopped after Android 2.3 and occasionally 4.4.4. I can't stand 'modern' Android, Windows or even Linux (even they weren't spared the flat UI treatment!)

If you already hate 11, don't even bother with Android 12, "1970's edition". Its entire UI design, from the clock widgets to the bubbly looking notifications are right out of the 1970s era.

View attachment 163187
Groovy, man! This is Android 12's home screen. Goes right with your avocado fridge and woodgrain interiors!

Ain't no shame in sticking to what works best for you. Don't let the 'futurists' out there influence your choices.

I liked the avocado bathroom suite our family used to have. But anyway, I've got Android 12 and it doesn't look anything like that, so I guess it's just some custom skin and isn't necessarily Android version specific.

 

[mikedt]

Perhaps I'm just used to old routers but my router has a separate SSID for the 5G (the same name as the 2.4, with -5G appended to it). Just forget the 5GHz and connect only to the 2.4GHz side.

So my home wifi is two networks:

Home Router
Home Router-5G

That's the same as I have here, although it's the school WiFi network I use as I live on campus. But most other WiFi networks I've seen, do have separate SSIDs for their 2.4 and 5GHz channels.

 

[mikedt]

I can't help you sadly but my tech is so old (but it doesn't feel old. Compared to the homogenized, boring mess that modern tech is today it feels new!) that nothing connecting to my Wifi even knows what 5GHz even is. So that band of my router is just empty at the moment.

But if it helps, I still buy shows/movies on physical media and while the kids out there assume I'm too behind the times, I will be the one still enjoying my TV shows/movies post apocalypse since their 'streaming' crap requires internet access.

FWIW I've bought a few things on DVD and CD(physical media) in the last couple of years, although it's because I couldn't find them online for download.

 

[mikedt]

Sadly, the damn 'disc' crap that destroyed the tape industry also destroyed any hope of physical media.

Think where I am "disc" has always been a thing, whether it be vinyl records, CDs, VCDs, or DVDs. And the only tape format that was really big here was cassettes.

Disc players are the weak link, and the vast majority of them were and are absolute junk.

They barely last a few years, whereas our first VCR lasted more than 20!

I had VHS right from the early 80s through to 2008, but that was in the UK, before I moved to China. But from what I've seen home VCRs were never really a thing in SE Asian countries. Apparently it was because videotape with helical scanning heads didn't tend to play so well in hot tropical environments, unlike video formats based on discs, like Laserdisc, VCD, DVD.

I've never seen anything of Blu-ray Disc, as players and discs are only really available as expensive grey-market imports here.

 

[nickdalzell]

VCRs have always been notoriously unreliable in my experience. Too many moving parts, ate tapes, and rubber 'tires' falling apart. At best a VCR has lasted 20 years, but it took tons of repair to last that long.

DVD players have never failed me. The only part that fails is the belt that operates the tray. The oldest DVD player in my home is from 2001. It makes horrendous noises loading a disc but still works fine.

I cling to both. But you want a totally unreliable pile of junk? Try Laserdisc. Also, avoid blu-ray. HDCP is hell.

 

[mikedt]

VCRs have always been notoriously unreliable in my experience. Too many moving parts, ate tapes, and rubber 'tires' falling apart. At best a VCR has lasted 20 years, but it took tons of repair to last that long.

I know the early VHSs(and Betamaxs) were huge heavy things. We rented ours from Granada until about 1990, and the engineer did have to come out a few times to fix it. But the last VHS I had for about 10 years, and never gave any trouble, then I sold in it 2008. Where I am now, the only VHS I can recall seeing was in a museum. A Grundig machine, that was probably imported from Germany(China and Germany both used the same PAL standard).

DVD players have never failed me. The only part that fails is the belt that operates the tray. The oldest DVD player in my home is from 2001. It makes horrendous noises loading a disc but still works fine.

I cling to both. But you want a totally unreliable pile of junk? Try Laserdisc. Also, avoid blu-ray. HDCP is hell.

In the UK the only Laserdisc I saw was in about 1981, in Woolworths. Plus a couple of coin-op machines that used them, like Dragon's Lair. I have two DVD drives here now, one I bought and the other was given to me.

 

[Fox Mulder]

From your description it sounds like there may be something wrong with your router. It's true that 5GHz wifi has a shorter range than 2.4GHz due to the higher frequency, but it should go further than that. I have no problem with my 5GHz signal anywhere in the house including a streaming stick on the TV a few rooms away from the router which streams HD and 4K content easily.
Since your router is provided by your ISP and you can't/don't want to go into the settings, I'd suggest asking them to replace it and see if the situation improves. You're paying them a rental fee for it every month, why not get your money's worth instead of accepting a possibly defective unit? If you get a replacement router and it doesn't improve the 5GHz performance then more troubleshooting may be needed, but this should still be on the ISP since it's their router.

 

[nickdalzell]

In the UK the only Laserdisc I saw was in about 1981, in Woolworths. Plus a couple of coin-op machines that used them, like Dragon's Lair. I have two DVD drives here now, one I bought and the other was given to me.

LaserDisc was around actually from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. I only saw them for sale at the Kmart until 1991 then they fizzled out. Don't recall many movies sold for them in Owensboro.Slow loading times, needing to 'flip the disc over' mid-movie, and tray and laser emitter failures were so common the players just ended up being a quick fad that faded fast.

Fun bit of trivia: Dragon's Lair's 'movie' was animated by Don Bluth, famous for the first American Tale, first Land Before Time, and movies such as the Secret of Nimh and All Dogs go to Heaven.

 

[Trom]

I know this thread is old, but ..

I just spent the last four days at a hotel in the downtown area of a major city. My phone, a pixel 6, would indicate at least 50% bars in 5g mode, but most of the time, data would just time out, and using my work computer from my laptop with the phone as a hotspot, which is the normal mo, was next to impossible, I just gave up. Why the @@@@ can't we manually drop it back to 4g? The ookla speed test if it connected at all, was well under 1m. Fricken 300 baud modem is faster

 

[Hadron]

Surely by definition a 300 baud modem is also well under 1Mbit?

Sounds like your problem there may have been network congestion - I know signal bars aren't comparable between phones, and I'm on different networks to you and almost certainly different 5G bands, but I can generally get a perfectly usable connection with just 1 bar 5G showing.

Anyway can't you just change the connection to 2G/3G/4G (or whatever it's called on your particular phone)? It takes a couple of steps to get there, and may or may not help, but the option should be there.

 

[Trom]

300 baud modem was used on my first BBS on a c64. That would've been in the mid 80's.

I've been doing this for awhile. I was writing code before writing code was a term.

My phone does not give me the option to drop to 4g.

 

[Hadron]

My phone does not give me the option to drop to 4g.

Which is just weird. Is this one of those "carriers being control freaks and removing things from the software" things? I've never met a phone without that option (apart from those that don't have 5G in the first place).