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Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

Sadie
Grafter
Posts: 64
Registered: ‎13-12-2011

Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

Hi - hope somebody can help please.
I have a Huawei smartphone.  When I go to the wireless settings and select to connect via Plusnet, I get 'remembered', it then says 'authenticating'.  It then goes back and forth between 'scanning', 'connected', 'disconnected' then 'connected' again, until there's a green tick in the WiFi box.
I then press  the back button to get back to the home screen, select the browser and get a 'no internet connection' message.
I have absolutely no wireless internet connection problems with my laptop.
TIA for any assistance.
12 REPLIES 12
MsDizzie
Grafter
Posts: 132
Registered: ‎21-11-2012

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

and you were you prompted to put in a password for the network?  Huh
w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
Thanks: 96
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

Try selecting the Plusnet wi-fi then select 'forget' then re-scan and set the connection again - for some reason this often works.
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
Sadie
Grafter
Posts: 64
Registered: ‎13-12-2011

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

I tried 'forgetting', and then had to re-enter the password, and with the same end result.
When I look at the wireless settings  menu the PlusnetWireless entry says first all 'authenticating', then 'PlusnetWireless25E9E4, remembered, secured with WPA/WPA2 PSK'.  When I press 'connect'  the WiFi box gets a green tick in it and it briefly says 'scanning' and then if I don't press the back button but stay on that settings page, the remembered eventually changes to disabled, but the WiFi box is still ticked.
w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
Thanks: 96
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

Have you tried restarting the phone (power off then back on)?
Do you know if the phone is working OK on other wi-fi networks?
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
MsDizzie
Grafter
Posts: 132
Registered: ‎21-11-2012

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

OK... I think I have it figured. Have there been any changes to the router?
I'm guessing you are using a Plusnet router?
If so check the settings
Home > Home Network > Interfaces > WLAN: PlusnetWireless25E9E4
Check the security settings:
Security
Broadcast Network Name: Yes
Allow New Devices: New stations are not allowed
Security Mode: WPA-PSK
WPA-PSK Preshared Key: aKey12345A
WPA-PSK Encryption: TKIP&AES
WPA-PSK Version: WPA&WPA2
You might have something similar to this set up, if so set Allow New Devices: New stations are allowed (automatically) and try again
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,919
Thanks: 9,536
Fixes: 157
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

Sadie,
Is this in relation to a PN supplied TG582n router?  If yes, this sounds like it might be related to another problem I am currently investigating with PN.
Can you take a look at the router admin pages - look at the network page and see if you can identifiy an IP address allocated to your smart phone.  You might need to know the phone's MAC address - sorry I do not know how to find that on your phone.
The symptons of the problem I am looking at is the device successfully connects to the WiFi carrier network, but is not successfule in acquiring a IP network address.  Examination of the router configuration shows that one has been allocated, but the requesting device did not recieve / configure it.
Does your phone indicate if an IP address has been acquired?  Some devices treat the connection to the WiFi carrier and the acquision of an IP address as a unified action.  The connection to the WiFi network is confirmed, however when no IP address allocation is received the whole process is ripped down and restarted - WiFi connectivity is dropped and retried adinfinitum!
As a temporary measure I have usually found that restarting the router "fixes" the issue.  If restarting the router fixes the issue for you, then all should be fine for a number of days until it happens again.  Can you please report back if a reboot "fixes" the issue, with the firmware version of your router.
I'm going to try the latest firmware update for the TG582n sometime later this week.

Note: MsDizzie's suggestion might be applicable, however that is not the default setting (so you would have had to explicitly alter that previously) and I believe that if a MAC acl is in place, you'd not get as far as being requested to enter the network security code - I could though be wrong!  ALso (thinking about it) you would have previously expressly identified all WiFi devices permitted to access the network.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Sadie
Grafter
Posts: 64
Registered: ‎13-12-2011

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

I checked and found that the Allow New Devices is allowed automatically.
I have no means of checking other networks.
I have tried switching off the router and on again, but no luck.
There is an IP address under the section headed WLAN.
The router is Thomson TG585V8 - is V8 the firmware version?
I've no idea what a MAC address is or where to find it.  I have had a root round in the settings in my phone and I did find something about Syncing and I did try to enable that for Google but I just got a message that there was no internet connection.
Sorry - I'm completely at a loss, I don't think I should have joined this technology age Embarrassed
penfold
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 2,280
Thanks: 25
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

@townman...
Could this be the issue with my problem with my android tablet...http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,121278.0.html
I wonder if so, is the router dropping the ip, but the tablet seems to think its still connected. The tablet can stil contact the router though.
MsDizzie
Grafter
Posts: 132
Registered: ‎21-11-2012

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

I'm not sure if its the same for all Android phones, but on mine if I go to Settings > About Phone > Status
you should find the Wi-Fi MAC address it should look something like 84:00:ab:01:ab
Make a note of it.
On your phone, make it "forget" your network (so we can start with a clean sheet).
Log in as admin on your Thomson TG585V8 (V8 isn't the firmware version by the way just a model number).
Go to Home > Home Network > Devices
and look for an entry that matches your phone's MAC address.
Delete that entry.
Then fire up the Wi-Fi connection on your phone, and see what happens next.
Have you tried using your phone's Wi-Fi in pubs, coffee shops, etc with any success?

w23
Pro
Posts: 6,347
Thanks: 96
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎08-01-2008

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

With the TG585v8 it's often worth disabling the 'n' mode in the wi-fi (set it to 'b/g' only), there was a thread a couple of years ago about that.
[Edit] Found this: http://community.plus.net/library/hardware/fixing-wireless-compatibility-problems-with-the-thomson-5... (gives instructions for disabling 'n' mode).
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
pmarti22
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎22-11-2013

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

I had a similar issue with mine and my wife's Blackberry phones, although the Thomson router was actually better at holding the connection than my previous Netgear.  I had to allow the MAC address and ports used for the Blackberry messaging and internet service to the setup.  Not sure, but I think it was through the same section as the gaming port setup (will confirm later when I can have a look).  Although my phone was connected to the wi-fi, it would not do anything other than give the error 'Server not found'. 
You can find and rename the MAC address for your phone in the network devices.  If you turn off any wi-fi device and then clear the list, you can then easily spot the phone on the network and allow it direct access.
You may also be able to restrict the wi-fi band directly on your phone as well (you can with Blackberry's), just in case that is causing the drop-outs due to incompatibility issues.
I must say, I did end up replacing both the Netgear and TG585v8 with the TG582n router that was supplied FOC due to this.  It was discussed a good few years back about difficulties with wi-fi upload delays on the TG585 that were solved by the TG582.  Since then, I have had no issues connecting any device to it.
Thanks
PeeGee
Pro
Posts: 1,217
Thanks: 84
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎05-04-2009

Re: Smartphone won't stay connected to Plusnet wireless

My Huawei claims to connect to 11n300 channels 13+9, but repeatedly drops and reconnects. Using 1+5 it works flawlessly. Conclusion, don't use channels 12 and 13 Shocked
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.