Unable to connect wirelessly with an Android smartphone

This article will guide you on how to resolve wireless connectivity issues with your Android™ smartphone.

Solution 1: Powercycle your router

Why this works: Wireless connectivity issues with Android smartphones may have something to do with your wireless router. The easiest way to resolve these is to perform a powercycle. To do this, power OFF the router by unplugging the power cord and wait for 10 seconds before plugging it back in.

Unplug power cord > wait for 10 seconds > plug power cord back

If the problem still persists after performing a powercycle, you may then proceed with the other workarounds listed below.

NOTE: A Sony Ericsson Xperia™ Arc is used as an example in this article.

Solution 2: Power OFF your Android smartphone

Why this works: A quick reboot of your mobile device might just solve the issue immediately, so it is recommended to give this fix a try before proceeding with other troubleshooting steps.

Solution 3: Disable then re-enable the Wi-Fi feature of your smartphone

Why this works: Doing this will renew the IP address that the router is assigning to your smartphone.

Step 1:
Tap the icon.

Step 2:
Select Settings.

Step 3:
Tap Wireless & networks.

Step 4:
Under Wireless and networks tab, tap Wi-Fi. This will disable the Wi-Fi feature of the device, as indicated by the Turn on Wi-Fi text and this icon. Tap Wi-Fi again to re-enable the feature.

Solution 4: Forget the network and re-create the wireless connection

Why this works: Forgetting the network will cause your Android smartphone to forget the old wireless settings of your network.

QUICK TIP: Before you continue, make sure to take note of the following:

•      Wireless network name (SSID)
•      Wireless security key or Passphrase
•      Encryption type (WEP, WPA, WPA2)

NOTE: If you do not know your router’s wireless settings, click here to learn how to retrieve it.

Step 1:
Tap the icon.

Step 2:
Select Settings.

Step 3:
Tap Wireless & networks.

Step 4:
Select Wi-Fi settings.

Step 5:
Tap the name of your wireless network, then tap the Forget button.

QUICK TIP: Your Android tablet cannot forget a wireless network that is within range, so make sure to get out of the range of the network.

Step 6:
At this point, you need to manually reconnect your Android smartphone to your wireless network. Tap on the name of your wireless network again, then enter your network’s password.

IMPORTANT: Ensure that the wireless password that you are using to connect is correct as some security types are case-sensitive.

Step 7:
Tap Connect.

Solution 5: Disable the Wi-Fi sleep policy

Why this works: The Wi-Fi sleep policy allows you to disable the smartphone’s Wi-Fi feature once the phone goes to sleep mode. With this, disabling the Wi-Fi sleep policy allows you to be consistently connected to the wireless network.

QUICK TIP: This workaround would translate to using more battery power since the Wi-Fi feature is constantly enabled (unless manually disabled).

Step 1:
Tap the icon.