Router password crashes Kindle Fire?

[bert501]

Oh, I feel so stupid!

Here's the deal: I got my new Kindle Fire last week and followed the excellent tips on Mobileread to charge it and get started reading!! (thanks by the way!)

But, right away I noticed it would just shut itself off for no reason. Read 4 or 5 pages and blip off it would go to the black splash screen then go dark and completely shut down, Middle of Angry Birds-off, listen to 1/2 a song and off, etc etc no matter what I was doing...back to black.

Searched all over these forums for help and tried all the reset advice and charging battery ALL night and holding the button then turning back on but to no avail.

So, since I cheaped out and got the refurb to save $20 I figured well, that's the trouble right there and called Amazon for a Kindle customer service rep who said the actual problem with my Fire is because my router has no password, it's unsecured and that knocks the Fire out of whack causing it to shut itself off.

Now the reason I feel stupid is because, well, that sounds pretty reasonable and she was so nice and explained it all in little bitty words LOL but is it? Does that make sense to any of you computery folks?

It's a really big deal to get the guy to come all the way out here to set up the password for me so before I jump into all that mess, please give me your thoughts!! Thanks!!!

[ApK]

No, it does not sound reasonable at all. One of the main things folks do wifi devices like the fire is connect to all the free non-passworded hot spots all over the place.

Make sure you do not have the fire set to sleep after a few minutes, then call kindle support and get them to replace it.

[Jessica Lares]

Have you tried resetting your router? Ours times out a lot because we have like 10 devices hooked to it via ethernet and wifi.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by bert501

Oh, I feel so stupid!

Here's the deal: I got my new Kindle Fire last week and followed the excellent tips on Mobileread to charge it and get started reading!! (thanks by the way!)

But, right away I noticed it would just shut itself off for no reason. Read 4 or 5 pages and blip off it would go to the black splash screen then go dark and completely shut down, Middle of Angry Birds-off, listen to 1/2 a song and off, etc etc no matter what I was doing...back to black.

Searched all over these forums for help and tried all the reset advice and charging battery ALL night and holding the button then turning back on but to no avail.

So, since I cheaped out and got the refurb to save $20 I figured well, that's the trouble right there and called Amazon for a Kindle customer service rep who said the actual problem with my Fire is because my router has no password, it's unsecured and that knocks the Fire out of whack causing it to shut itself off.

Now the reason I feel stupid is because, well, that sounds pretty reasonable and she was so nice and explained it all in little bitty words LOL but is it? Does that make sense to any of you computery folks?

It's a really big deal to get the guy to come all the way out here to set up the password for me so before I jump into all that mess, please give me your thoughts!! Thanks!!!

I think the person you talk to is clueless! You KF should not be doing that. I can't believe the response they gave you. If this was really the problem keeping WiFi off would solve it. Does it still do these things with WiFi off? Still I don't see it. There are plenty of hotspots out there that are unsecured and I've never heard of such of thing. I am rolling my eyes at the person you talk to. Make sure when you click feedback link on the email you tell them the person did not know what they were talking about.

Try this. Do a factory reset and if the problem persists call them again and tell them it's defective and you need it replaced.

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by bert501

So, since I cheaped out and got the refurb to save $20 I figured well, that's the trouble right there and called Amazon for a Kindle customer service rep who said the actual problem with my Fire is because my router has no password, it's unsecured and that knocks the Fire out of whack causing it to shut itself off.

Now the reason I feel stupid is because, well, that sounds pretty reasonable and she was so nice and explained it all in little bitty words LOL but is it? Does that make sense to any of you computery folks?

It's a really big deal to get the guy to come all the way out here to set up the password for me so before I jump into all that mess, please give me your thoughts!! Thanks!!!

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Using your Fire on an open network (not password protected) will NOT cause the problems you are having. BTW, I just happen to be a computery kind of guy who is CompTIA A+, Network +, and Security + certified. The only one who sounds stupid here is the Service Rep that tried to feed you this line of bull. You obviously got a refurbished Fire that may be defective. This problem has nothing to do with your router. I agree with Blossom. Try a Factory Reset and if that doesn't solve your problem call Amazon and request a replacement.

[Hope]

This happened to me after I had to reset the device and it turned out the Screen Timeout was set to 1 minute. Drove me nuts until I discovered what was wrong. The device was probably reset before you received it.
To fix it, tap on the gear in the top right of the screen (to the left of the battery indicator) and click on More..., then click on Display and change the Screen Timeout to 30 minutes or something.
I have no password on my router either (live on top of a mountain) so that should not be an issue at all. My KF works fine.

[bert501]

Thanks, folks-my replacement Kindle Fire is on the way.

The rep wouldn't go out on a limb and say my refurbished Fire was defective lol but he did admit there are problems with the way the Fire interacts with "some wi-fi and different routers" and that "the engineers are looking at it".

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by bert501

Thanks, folks-my replacement Kindle Fire is on the way.

The rep wouldn't go out on a limb and say my refurbished Fire was defective lol but he did admit there are problems with the way the Fire interacts with "some wi-fi and different routers" and that "the engineers are looking at it".

Well in your case it had nothing to do with WiFi. I hope your new Fire works great! I do say the time out should remain at default 5 Minutes, anything shorter and it doesn't work right.

I got a refurbished Fire as a replacement to my new one. It arrived dirty but it works better than my old and one once I cleaned it up it looked shiny.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I got a refurbished Fire as a replacement to my new one. It arrived dirty

That would be unacceptable to me. "Refurbished" is supposed to mean they made it like new. Not just take a dirty used one and stick it in a box.

I would have returned it (and then told Harry T. about it so he could accuse me of abusing the return policy.)

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by ApK

That would be unacceptable to me. "Refurbished" is supposed to mean they made it like new. Not just take a dirty used one and stick it in a box.

I would have returned it (and then told Harry T. about it so he could accuse me of abusing the return policy.)

I was upset about it but it works better than my first one.
The sides at the top had gunk on them and the back was dirty.
I originally thought the black shiny stuff rubbed off by someone's case. I was so relieved when it I realized it was dirt that I just clean it up and it looked brand new. After inspecting the screen and seeing it was flawless and that it was faster and more responsive then my previous Fire. I decided a little dirt was not going to make me return it.