Dropping WiFi on Galaxy S6 (and S5 with Lollipop)

[calee4nyaboy]

Hi everyone,

I just got my new S6 yesterday and have had a horrible time with its WiFi connectivity. I noticed that intermittently all throughout the day, things like browsing, downloading, or doing anything on WiFi would be hit and miss. It is driving me crazy. Then a message near the bottom of the screen would say "You are now connected to [insert your SSID here]" This message was popping up ALL day. As if I had disconnected when I didn't. I'm a network engineer and have a solid network here and all my previous smart phones have been rock solid on it for over three years. Not even the slightest hiccup in three years! It is *not* the network as I was even sitting eight feet from the access point.

So with 5 minutes of googling, I find I am not the only one. Here are two articles about the issue:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s5/419768-galaxy-s5-keeps-disconnecting-wifi.html

http://droidsolve.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-wifi-disconnecting-and-dropping-how-to-fix-the-issue

So here's the deal. It looks like this boils down to the fact that these phones have Lollipop on them. S5 users said they never had any problem when running 4.4 for all that time and as soon as they migrated to 5.0, their WiFi started acting up and their battery drained way quicker than before. (Their batteries drain quickly because Smart Network Switch invokes high CPU in Lollipop) I'm having the same problem on the S6 (which also has 5.0 on it)

So the way to fix it is to DISABLE "Smart Network Switch". Well, in my cricket S6, they have REMOVED that setting!!! It's not under WiFi > Advanced!!! I can NOT fix my phone!!!

This is a MAJOR problem and will be affecting LOTS of people. How can we get this fixed?!?! Why did AT&T/cricket decide to not allow their customers to disable this? Other S6 users on different carriers can change this setting! If I can't run my WiFi reliably, what good is having a freakin' smart phone?

 

[DonB]

I don't have a S6, but a few searches say that feature is still there, so not sure, you can try and see again, other then that sorry couldn't be of more help.

http://ee.co.uk/help/phones-and-dev...6---enable-or-disable-smart-network-switching

http://droidsolve.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-wont-connect-to-wifi-or-internet-fix/

 

[calee4nyaboy]

Yeah, just an update on this. For the smart network switch option to show, you have to have your mobile data and wifi enabled. i dont use my mobile data so to conserve battery, i always have it turned off. So the option didn't show. However, when i got it to finally show, it was already disabled, by default. So the question remains, why is my wifi intermittent? My other two smart phones and other wireless devices in the house haven't had even one hiccup in 3 years since i set up this network. Yet the phone is exhibiting the same behavior many of the other S6 users complain about. But, most other users say they disable smart network switch to resolve it. But for me, it did not resolve the intermittent wifi.

 

[JamesMK]

Galaxy S6 Did everything above plus cleared phone cache, soft re-boot and still the phone loses the Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi symbol is active and the arrows working but no program can connect. On the phone I have to turn Wi-Fi off then on to re-establish the connection. Application will connect and I can use it. After I am done and try to use another application the cycle starts over again. Have the phone since the end of April and this just started a week or so ago. Taking it back to Verizon.

 

[paulej]

The Wi-Fi symbol is active and the arrows working but no program can connect. On the phone I have to turn Wi-Fi off then on to re-establish the connection.

I am having the exact same issue with the S6 I just got yesterday. I'm connected to an enterprise-class wireless Cisco AP. Watching the logs, I can see the AP does not think the phone disconnected, but data sure as heck is not flowing. No other phones, tablets, PCs, or other devices on the network exhibit this problem. I also have two other phones with 5.1.1 installed (both Nexus 5s) and they have never exhibited this problem.

Oddly, I only see this when Google Play is updating applications... especially large ones like Microsoft Word. I don't think Google Play is the culprit, but something it's doing is triggering it. Is there a bandwidth throttle somewhere in the S6 I have not found?

Add to that the stupid connect/disconnect problem I see with the Qi charger and I have to question whether Samsung knows how to make a phone or not. Pretty pathetic for a flagship phone, IMO.

Frustrating, indeed.

 

[Shelly42873]

MOVE YOUR ROUTER! I had this issue too. I upgraded from S5 to S6 and could barely use wifi at home with S6. I scoured the Internet and tried everything even a factory reset. Nothing worked. I then read about improving wifi. I moved my comcast router from the shelf under my TV to a bookcase higher beside it. That did the trick. The S6 is working great now. I wish it wasn't so finicky about the wifi though. I love the S6 but one advantage the S5 has is that it wasn't so as touchy when it came to wifi connection.

Hi everyone,

I just got my new S6 yesterday and have had a horrible time with its WiFi connectivity. I noticed that intermittently all throughout the day, things like browsing, downloading, or doing anything on WiFi would be hit and miss. It is driving me crazy. Then a message near the bottom of the screen would say "You are now connected to [insert your SSID here]" This message was popping up ALL day. As if I had disconnected when I didn't. I'm a network engineer and have a solid network here and all my previous smart phones have been rock solid on it for over three years. Not even the slightest hiccup in three years! It is *not* the network as I was even sitting eight feet from the access point.

So with 5 minutes of googling, I find I am not the only one. Here are two articles about the issue:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s5/419768-galaxy-s5-keeps-disconnecting-wifi.html

http://droidsolve.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-wifi-disconnecting-and-dropping-how-to-fix-the-issue

So here's the deal. It looks like this boils down to the fact that these phones have Lollipop on them. S5 users said they never had any problem when running 4.4 for all that time and as soon as they migrated to 5.0, their WiFi started acting up and their battery drained way quicker than before. (Their batteries drain quickly because Smart Network Switch invokes high CPU in Lollipop) I'm having the same problem on the S6 (which also has 5.0 on it)

So the way to fix it is to DISABLE "Smart Network Switch". Well, in my cricket S6, they have REMOVED that setting!!! It's not under WiFi > Advanced!!! I can NOT fix my phone!!!

This is a MAJOR problem and will be affecting LOTS of people. How can we get this fixed?!?! Why did AT&T/cricket decide to not allow their customers to disable this? Other S6 users on different carriers can change this setting! If I can't run my WiFi reliably, what good is having a freakin' smart phone?

 

[wuyiL]

You may need to disable the smart connect in your settings. My phone connects 4G LTE sometimes automatically when it detects your cellular data is much faster than your WIFI.

 

[Jeff Allen]

MOVE YOUR ROUTER!

Are you serious? Didn't you see comments from multiple people saying that all the devices in their house are working fine and have been working fine for years. It's the G6, not the router location.

 

[Jeff Allen]

You may need to disable the smart connect in your settings.

Thanks for the effort but this tip is useless without telling us exactly where this setting is.

 

[Jeff Allen]

...most other users say they disable smart network switch to resolve it. But for me, it did not resolve the intermittent wifi.

This is about the only post that makes any sense!

Like you, my "Smart network switch" is and has always been OFF but I can't stay connected to my home network. I am usually sitting 3 feet away from the router and I have multiple devices (including my old Note 3) here that all have had stable connections for many years.

Just curious ... did you ever resolve your issue?

 

[Wildhouse]

Well, I have the same problem with my 3 week old S6 and Vodafone refuse to replace it as it is 6 days past the 14 day cut-off period. So frustrating - paying a lot of money each month for a lovely new super Smart phone - brilliant in all other respects but more and more I need to receive emails on my phone, and although I can receive them, only if I keep hitting the wifi button every now and then - not practical to turn wifi on every 10 minutes or so (all settings as they should be - have wifi on when sleeping enabled, checked the Smart network switch and it was off, have turned router on and off (can't do this at work - wifi there services over 1000 people);all other devices work both at home and at work without any problems.

 

[armcro]

same issue on Galaxy S4 lollipop 5.0.1
it's months that I am frustrated by this problem. I never related this problem with the lollipop upgrade but I am sure that it was working fine before.
Smart network has always been OFF.
I'm sure I'm going to throw the phone away out the window one of these days.
bye bye Samsung

 

[sixt3denied]

I have the EXACT same problem with my S6 Edge! I am so sorry i bought this phone. My wifi constantly connects and drops all day long every few minutes and i am only about 10 feet from my wifi router at home and maybe 15 feet away at work. I have tried all of the usual fixes recommended such as turning off smart switch, making sure "Keep wi-fi on during sleep" is on. The phone simply cant stay connected to a wifi network for more then about 3 minutes. After this experience i will NEVER buy a Samsung phone again - not to mention the phone cant even surf the internet over cellular while receiving a phone call. This was a standard feature with the Galaxy S4 and Note II. I cant believe the S6 is incapable of this. And the Edge feature is a complete joke. Samsung really screwed us with this phone.

 

[dgoodnaz]

I have posted on a few other boards with the same issue and so far no one has been able to supply a solution to this problem. I have a Samsung S6 with Android 5.1.1 and with the Smart Networking switched off and standing right on top of my router. The signal disappears, the wi-fi disconnects and a few seconds later comes back and reconnects. I did not have any issues with the Samsung S5 that I replaced. Sooo frustrating that I have to turn off wi-fi in order to make my battery last more than 10 hours.