[ron_e_e]

Hi Guys,

I'm a network engineer, have been using Blackberry devices for a long time.

Recently I decided that a touch screen, no matter how good just slows me down. I'm very fast on mobile devices with decent physical keyboards and my primary use for my mobile device is work -- therefore I went for the Blackberry Q10.

Anyway, I was disappointed to see that wifi connectivity on the device is extremely unstable -- specifically wifi would drop after about 5 minutes or less. Disabling and re-enabling the wifi results in another connection for another few minutes.

This issue has been discussed before in various bits and pieces but not very thoroughly. I think I have read the majority of what is out there on forums and what have you on this particular issue.

Note that I confirmed that this is not a problem with the wifi network itself and I did verify that connectivity really does drop to the Q10 only even though the Q10 claims it is still connected.

This issue persisted through multiple versions of the OS.

I decided to open a ticket with my carrier who eventually got me over to RIM.

One suggestion was to enable inter-access point handover which is one of the advanced options, however this made no difference.

I went through various other troubleshooting on this and tweaked various other settings both on wifi radio and on the device with resolution.

RIM ultimately decided the next step was to replace the device.

In the meantime I found a workaround which is to change the wifi radio from ng mode to bg mode. This had to be done on the radio not the device. This seems to have worked around the problem. Obviously not a viable solution since there's no way to predict when one may run into a wifi network configured this way...

I'm posting here to check and see if anyone knows more about this issue than I do.

What I'd like to find out is if this is a general issue with all current BB10 devices, whether it is a software bug that one might think will hopefully be fixed soon, etc.... It would also be interesting to hear whether someone has figured out a way to work around the issue using device settings only.

Looking forward to useful comments.

Also maybe the above workaround will be helpful to others.

[twstd.reality]

what kind of encryption are you using? and is this a home or work network?

I've found that my blackberry devices don't like wep very much and switching to wpa helped me. I've also got a laptop that specifically doesn't like wpa-tkip and will only connect on wpa-aes. so now, I always use the highest encryption my router will allow.

I, too, have a somewhat similar issue with my work wifi - it will constantly get disabled. doesn't bother me as much though, because I am at work and not really downloading a boat load of data.

[Surago]

I seem to have a similar issue. I've had two Internet(wifi) connections disable themselves at random.

I'm on a z10, att, running a leaked 10.2. I had this issue before the leak though.

It seemed like to me, my wifi simply didn't want to have more than 3 wifi connections saved and enabled.

Thou art posted from z10

[sickyute]

Thought I was the only one experiencing this issue...hmm

Posted via CB10

[serbanescu]

Did you check this thread - http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...akdown-877367/?

I had the wifi problem and solved it by setting "11g only" on the wifi router.

--------------------

Pic Tagger for BB10 and PlayBook

[HotFix]

I have a similar problem at work, but it's because we have multiple hot spots where they are supposed to pass the Auth back and forth and don't.

My home network works fine.

Posted via CB10

[Surago]

This is on multiple networks not just one

Thou art posted from z10

[benny4u_06]

Me too having the same problem. Sometimes the home Wifi gets disabled and doesn't connect automatically. I have to manually connect the wifi.. I am on os 10.2.1.1055..

Posted via CB10

[qwerty4ever]

I cannot speak to the performance of the BlackBerry Q10 but my BlackBerry Z10 works flawlessly on the wireless carrier network and WiFi. The only time WiFi ever disconnects, a rare event I assure you, is when a neighbour turns on their WiFi AP and it interferes with my WiFi AP because they seem to share the same channel. My BlackBerry PlayBook and Acer Aspire notebook are similarly affected. Fortunately, I have three means to connect to "the global network": Eastlink cable modem, Bell Mobility 3G/HSPA+ wireless router, Rogers Wireless 4G/LTE wireless router. When travelling between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia my BlackBerry Z10 maintains a strong, at least three bars, connection to the wireless carrier network.

In your situation we need more information before narrowing the root cause to hardware, software, or signal interference.

[AnimalPak200]

I have two Z10s in the house and they also drop my Wifi intermittently, and it becomes a 'disabled' profile. It's set for WEP so it's likely (as noted above) that these devices just don't play well with WEP. I haven't gotten around to shifting from WEP mainly because there are around 20 wifi devices floating about (plus already configured frequent visitors) and I've just been too lazy.

Posted via CB10

[qwerty4ever]

what kind of encryption are you using? and is this a home or work network?

I've found that my blackberry devices don't like wep very much and switching to wpa helped me. I've also got a laptop that specifically doesn't like wpa-tkip and will only connect on wpa-aes. so now, I always use the highest encryption my router will allow.

I, too, have a somewhat similar issue with my work wifi - it will constantly get disabled. doesn't bother me as much though, because I am at work and not really downloading a boat load of data.

Anyone using WEP is foolish for the simple reason that the traffic is relatively easy to decrypt in real-time. As for WPA you should use WPA2 whenever possible although there are reports that this encryption scheme has been compromised albeit the process takes much longer. The disabled WiFi profiles should be reported to BlackBerry. The only times I have experienced disabled WiFi profiles has been with the earlier releases of BlackBerry Tablet OS on my BlackBerry PlayBook. The apparent quality control issues between each series of BlackBerry 10 smartphone is disconcerting for a company in serious need of getting it perfect out of the gate.

[MiSsY_]

I have a similar problem at work, but it's because we have multiple hot spots where they are supposed to pass the Auth back and forth and don't.

My home network works fine.

Posted via CB10

Technically checking inter-access point handover option should fix your problem.


For the OP many places have mentioned dropping the N, if your router is even capable of it, and switching to b/g only.
And this has been relevant for a number of devices connecting to wifi, not only BlackBerry.
I've seen the same with the router in our office, numerous SSIDs with a range of mobile devices, laptops and pcs connected.
Often random devices will just loose the wifi connection, if the individuals issue is not resolved by them turning their wifi on and off, the wifi at the router gets turned on and off and everything reconnects.
Someone had suggested turning off N-mode and the connections would be more stable and true story, it worked like a charm. Run on b/g mode and devices weren't losing connection anymore.
Switched N back on for testing, so using b/g/n and devices started disconnecting again.
My ISP also advised it, so maybe there is some truth to it

Posted via CB10 from my Z30

[nevertoofar]

Experiencing the same ussue.

BBM rocks, WhatsApp sucks!

[HotFix]

Technically checking inter-access point handover option should fix your problem.

I had no idea about that setting so thank you very much! Hopefully it helps.

Posted via CB10

[AnimalPak200]

Anyone using WEP is foolish for the simple reason that the traffic is relatively easy to decrypt in real-time. As for WPA you should use WPA2 whenever possible although there are reports that this encryption scheme has been compromised albeit the process takes much longer.

Agreed, but I have a few acres in between our neighbors and my Wifi signal fizzles halfway through my yard. If (when) I upgrade our router, which presumably will be stronger, I'll probably go ahead and change over to WPA.

Posted via CB10

[i_hiker]

There have been several types of documented issues with the WiFi on OS 10 devices. Some (but not all) of the issues and fixes have been discussed in this thread. We can only seriously get this addressed if those experiencing problems call Technical Support and report the issue and get an Incident Number. Once you have an incident number you can do the following if you cannot connect to a hotspot:

- turn off Mobile Network connection
- connect to the Hotspot; please note the exact time (e.g. 1:02 PM EDT)
- attempt to browse to www.google.com; please note the exact time (e.g. 1:03 PM EDT)
- wait approximately one minute while device attempts to load the site; if the site does not load, proceed with the remaining steps

- close the browser
- open the Help application on the home screen (looks like a yellow notebook with a "?" on it)
- tap the "Home" button at bottom left
- tap "Support"
- tap "Create report"
- in the Email address field, enter Your email address.
- in the Incident number field, enter assigned incident number.
- tap "Create" at top right

- if using your own device tap "Submit"

- if using a different device, using "Submit" will not work as they would be sent from a different PIN than is associated with the case; instead the logs can be emailed manually:
- close the Help application
- compose a new email:
- To: "[email protected]"
- Subject: case number…when you have one (if there is any typo in the subject, the email will not be delivered correctly)
- attach the log file to the email; the log file will be located at Device/documents/logs, and will be named similar to "xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-assigned incident number.pb"
- you can include the requested timestamps in the body of the email
- send the email

You can reply to this email with the timestamps requested above (e.g. what time you connected to the Hotspot, and what time you attempted to browse to Google.

BlackBerry Technical Support
BlackBerry
Tel:
NA Toll Free: 1-877-255-2377
UK Toll Free: 0808 100 7466
Europe: +44 1753 558400
Worldwide: +1-647-426-1108
Email: [email protected]
Web: Cell Phones, Smartphones & Mobile Phones from BlackBerry.com

The above scenario can be modified for other WiFi issues but we can seriously be part of a solution if we report our WiFi issues, get an incident number, and supply log reports. Also, if would be great if a sticky were dedicated to WiFi issues and fixes. As mentioned in this thread, there have been many (threads), and the symptoms and fixes are spread all over the place.

[i_hiker]

If your Home Router is giving you problems there are some other potential fixes in addition to those already mentioned. Make sure you're running the latest firmware on your router. We update our phones, don't we? Do the same for you router to make sure you're getting the best performance out of it.

If a neighbor is on the same channel you're on, just change it. The default is usually channel 6. You can use a WiFi channel scanner like inSSIDer (free download) and know exactly who is using what channel. 1 and 11 are usually the best to use other than 6.

If you're on a dual band router and range and/or signal strength is an issue you can try turning off the 5GHz (more speed, less range) and go with the 2.4GHz that has greater range and works fine for browsing.

There are a lot of fixes for WiFi Issues. The problem is finding the fix or combination of fixes that works for you. If all of the posted info was in one sticky that would be a huge help and possibly provide supporting evidence for stating the case that OS10 needs a WiFi fix. I know that I have run into issues with my Z10 when other branded devices did not!

[ron_e_e]

Thanks for all the input.

I'm going to attempt to quickly respond to the various comments:

- First, I'm a network engineer by profession, I didn't list out everything I did but assume that the wifi network is reliable, there are no known firmware bugs in the radio, I have already ruled out interference, etc. The concerned wifi network is running on business grade wifi gear.

- I don't use WEP or WPA because it's foolish to do so in this day and age. Furthermore, my workaround did not require changing the wifi encryption nor would I consider doing it if that was required.

- Thanks for the link to the thread called "wifi breakdown" however this describes a different issue.

I do have an open ticket with Blackberry support and I'm currently escalating it to see what else is known and/or can be confirmed.





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[ron_e_e]

I ask for as many of you as possible that can -- to test any Blackberry 10 device as follows:

- configure your wifi network for 802.11g/n operation rather than g only or bg, this would be done on your wifi access point or router, or locate a wifi network configure in the above manner

- connect to such a network in g/n mode

- see if you get dropped every 5 minutes or so -- a simple way to verify this is a wifi drop is to temporarily turn off all other radios on the device (other than the wifi radio) and ping the network gateway or some other reachable address on the lan every so often, if the problem exists it will happen pretty quick and pings will fail after a few minutes and no networking access will be possible - web browsing, etc., until the wifi radio is turned off and back on

I would be extremely interested in hearing back results to better determine the nature and extent of this.

Thanks very much

[sinnar]

I think i have a similar issue with my q10 but from what i can tell my phone is not connecting at 80211N at all when my router is in bgn mode. I havent looked or noticed any drops though. Ive tried everything i can think of but my router reports my phone connecting at wireless G. Im using wpa2/aes on my router on 2.4ghz
On the latest official firmware from bell 1803 i believe.

Posted via Blackberry Q10

[ron_e_e]

That's fine, no need to confirm it's connecting in n mode, just connect to the network as is and see how long the device stays online before it drops. Ensure you disable all other radios to ensure only the wifi is a factor.

Thanks

[geekwu]

I am having an issue with some of my wifi profiles getting disabled due to a connection failed error. Trouble is I can not re-enable the profile even if I edit the profile and manually slide the "Enable Connection" switch to ON, then save it. Seems as long as the error state exists it will not enable, even if I am currently connected to the network. The profile still has the error message associated with it and it seems as long as that is true I can not re-enable the profile.

The only way I have found to re-enable such a profile is to delete it and have the device recreate it!

[Goniff]

I have same problem. Seems like it cropped up only recently.

Posted via CB10

[Grumblegrumble]

Can we Confirm the OS and model revision that everyone is running and is experiencing this problem?

Note: This issue only just started on my device since 10.2.1.1055 leak.
It seems to happen while the phone sits idle for a few minutes- possible low power state not properly waking?
Z10 STL100-1
10.2.1.1925

[asinshesq]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread, but I'm wondering if there has been any progress on the b/g/n issue.

My z10 doesn't work through my wifi network (wpa2) when my access points are set for b/g/n, but when I dummy down my access points to b/g the z10 works fine. I hate lowering my wifi setup to b/g...so is there some new workaround, and if not is there a way to tell my bb z10 to only connect via b/g so I can turn b/g/n back on on my access points?

In case relevant (and this strikes me as odd), when I go into settings/software update I see that my o/s version is 10.2.1.2179, but when I go into settings/networks and connections/wifi/advanced and click device information, it says my o/s version is 10.2.1.2273. What's up with that??

Thanks.