Visitor

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2 Messages

Saturday, March 4th, 2023 3:35 AM

Closed

android suddenly connecting without internet to home network

My phone and my main home network are locked in a very strange combat. I have had NO problems with my phone's connections or the router until now, and I also have no idea if the problem is the phone or the router/modem. My galaxy s9 Android device has suddenly starting connecting to my home wifi, but is unable to get internet (mostly). I can use the xfinitywifi guest wifi, but for obvious reasons I don't prefer that. The network is not acting up with any other devices, and it's connected to three phones, four laptops, and two TVs. When I connect my android to the home network, it says it's connected, but can't get internet.

Some weirder things: If I unplug my router/modem and then turn it back on, my phone can use it to get internet for a couple minutes, then gets blocked again. This happens whether I restart my phone or not. Also, if I connect to a network that requires a browser login, and then go back and connect to my home network, it works, BUT if I disconnect, I can't get it back, even if I connect to the xfinitywifi in between, now that xfinitywifi remembers me and doesn't require a browser login. This whole thing seems to coincide with the router losing internet for a minute for no apparent reason. All the other devices reconnected just fine, though.

Things I've tried:

restarting my phone (a dozen times)

turning off the wifi on my phone, and then back on (MANY times)

resetting all wifi/bluetooth/general connection settings on my phone

manually plugging in the google dns thing

restarting the router/modem multiple times

going into the firmware to see if something somehow got blocked. My device appears, but not as a currently connected device, even if it is connected to the network. nothing is blocked, as far as I can tell

adding my phone's MAC address thing to the firmware, which my phone suggested I do.

moving my phone very close to the router to see if the signal is just weak. It's not.

Things I haven't tried yet and am hoping to get advice first:

full factory reset of phone

full factory reset of router

wifi reset of router, or basically anything in the list of reset options in the firmware

unplugging some sort of extender thing we have in the basement?? is that a thing I should try?

throwing my hands up and getting a new phone

Does anyone have any ideas?

Contributor

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72 Messages

2 years ago

If you are using your phone's MAC address to make sure that the firewall recognizes it, make sure that your phone is not using a randomized MAC address. (Randomized MAC address is often the default.)

Go to Settings --> Connections --> WiFi (On the left, not on the on/off toggle) --> Gear icon to the right of your current wireless network --> Advanced --> MAC address type --> Phone MAC (rather than Randomized MAC).

You don't happen to have an older router that has the same network ID (aka SSID) somewhere do you? That might be broadcasting the same SSID, but not connecting to the Internet properly.

I would try unplugging the extender.

You might want to try logging into the router and changing the SSID of your network to something new. At the same time, change the password to something long and complex. If that works, you will need to go to every device that is using the wireless network and update them with the new SSID and password.

Maybe your phone is trying to tell you something.

Visitor

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2 Messages

2 years ago

Huh. We do, in fact, have the same name as our former router, which is not plugged in, but I know sometimes the new network differentiates itself by adding "2" and sometimes it doesn't! I will try that solution in the morning. Thank you!

Problem Solver

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909 Messages

Hello, @lighthou5e. I wanted to check in with you. Did the above suggestions help with getting your phone connected properly? 

I no longer work for Comcast.

Contributor

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72 Messages

2 years ago

Something that just came to mind. Do you happen to have a neighbor that has recently gotten Xfinity service (with an Xfinity router) or perhaps moved their modem router closer to your home. If so, their network name might be the same as yours, which would collide with yours (but the password would be different). Changing the SSID would help in that case. You can't change or disable the xfinitywifi SSID though.

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