Wifi Problems...I need advice

[grammyles]

I have had my Fire since Nov. I have a continuous issue with it dropping my wifi. It is not a wifi hardware problem because we have other computers running which never drop off. I assumed it was a Kindle issue but friends have told me they never lose theirs. I have totally shut down several times to see if it would help. Any ideas?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by grammyles

I have had my Fire since Nov. I have a continuous issue with it dropping my wifi. It is not a wifi hardware problem because we have other computers running which never drop off. I assumed it was a Kindle issue but friends have told me they never lose theirs. I have totally shut down several times to see if it would help. Any ideas?

It could be a router compatibility issue but at this point I would call Kindle support and ask for a replacement. If the replacement does the same you will know it's the router.

One thing you could try is changing the channel on your router to a stronger one

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by grammyles

I have had my Fire since Nov. I have a continuous issue with it dropping my wifi. It is not a wifi hardware problem because we have other computers running which never drop off. I assumed it was a Kindle issue but friends have told me they never lose theirs. I have totally shut down several times to see if it would help. Any ideas?

When I tried shutting down WiFi for long periods of time to save battery energy, I had the same problem. It would disconnect on its own, be hard to reconnect and operate very slow.

Now I leave WiFi on all the time and have no problems. Before I had started shutting down WiFi on my own it also had no problems.

[carld]

How do you set WiFi to stay on all the time? Or do you mean whenever it's in use? With mine, if it goes to sleep for more than a few seconds WiFi shuts off on its own.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by carld

How do you set WiFi to stay on all the time? Or do you mean whenever it's in use? With mine, if it goes to sleep for more than a few seconds WiFi shuts off on its own.

When one goes into Sleep Mode, the WiFi goes inactive but it is not shut down. It draws very little power but will accept firmware upgrades, app upgrade notices and syncing of books.

It draws very little power doing this so it is not necessary to turn it off.

When in Wake Mode, WiFi draws almost as much power as the Screen. However, I've made the judgement for myself that I will keep it open all the time to avoid those problems you've described and which I experienced as well.

[cvkemp]

I have noticed that my WIFI sometimes drops out. It seems to do so when I am not using the WIFI to save the battery

[semillon]

My husband & I both had trouble with our KFs not wanting to connect to the network at times. We ended up assigning them fixed IPs on the network and that solved the problem.

It might be worth a try for you.

[johnpoz]

I shut off my wifi all the time, so that ads do not display in games mostly vs any saving of battery power.

And yet to have any issues with reconnection or drop offs when turn it back on. I have done this at home, at work, at sons home and my mother in laws quite often and never an issue. That is 4 different wifi networks that I use on a some what regular basis and never once have I had an issue with connection or drop outs of the wireless.

What wifi settings are you using? Just because you don't notice issues with your other devices does not mean its not related to your wifi setup.

Could be location of the other devices in relation to your KF, could be KF does not like your settings? Could be issue with your dhcp?

Are you running B, G or N? Are you running mixed mode? WPA or WPA2, using tkip or aes or allowing for both... This kind of info is great in determining what could be the problem. What specific wireless router do you have? Is your SSID unique and broadcasting? You can have issues with same SSID in the same area, especially if one is hidden and one is broadcast.

Unless you have specific devices that do not support WPA2 AES, this is what you should be using, along with broadcasting your UNIQUE SSID. Are you using mac filtering? If so WHY? etc..

Its not like I have I connected to hundreds of wifi networks with my KF yet, but sofar I have been very happy with its performance and fast connection and reconnection from an disabled state. From disabled to enabled it connects in less than a couple of seconds. And have had no issues with it from anywhere in my home, even from outside on the patio connection has been rock solid.

Its quite possible there is something wrong with your KF wifi -- but without some details its hard to track down where your problem might be. But you should be able to disable and enable on the fly and not have any issues that is for sure. I would for starters suggest you grab the great wifi analyzer app and take a look to the details of your network and other wifi networks in the area - what kind of strength does your KF see?

[salsaguy]

I agree. You should not have to leave wifi on all the time for fear of losing connection next time. It should always reconnect. Mine does with no issues wheteher coming out if sleep mode or WiFi mode off completely.

Id say you need to adjust your router settings as prescribed

[sirmaru]

Some of us less technically adept had better just keep WiFi on all the time. The other adjustment methods may be beyond most folks.

[johnpoz]

"The other adjustment methods may be beyond most folks. "

Adjustment methods? What setting a channel or not to be mixed or what security method used be it WPA2 AES or tkip+aes, etc.

These settings are simple drop downs in your wireless routers. You do not need to be a Network Engineer for any of these things.

And I am quite sure plenty of people willing to walk even the lay of the layman through any questions they might have.

Leaving your wifi on all the time is some weird advice. That like saying I should leave my car running 24/7 because not sure it will start tmrw

More than happy to help explain question(s) you might have about wireless networking. But basic understanding should be a must for anyone running one. If you own the wireless router in your home, then you should be able to log into it and make some simple changes - or atleast understand what the different settings mean

edit: especially if your having issues with yours

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by johnpoz

"The other adjustment methods may be beyond most folks. "

Adjustment methods? What setting a channel or not to be mixed or what security method used be it WPA2 AES or tkip+aes, etc.

I use an ATT Residential Gateway. It is a combination WiFi router, TV Cable Modem and Internet Cable Modem.

Changing any parameter on it could cripple TV and the Internet. Its best to leave that one alone.

Since there are millions of ATT TV users, there could be a lot of them here.

What you are saying is like telling someone to change their own car battery, test and then install spark plugs, etc. Yes a qualified car mechanic could do that. The vast majority had better never go near those kinds of adjustments.

The Kindle Fire is rated for 7 hours of battery use. If one charges from a level of 15% to 30%, then one can only get 4.5 to 5.5 hours of use. I leave my WiFi on all the time and get those hours. I doubt if there could be much improvement by shutting down WiFi. In fact I did shut down WiFi for a time trying to get some battery improvement and noticed NONE.

Naturally, if one shuts off WiFi and goes down to zero percent for a charge, then I'm sure battery energy use would be improved but I'm also sure some damage could result to the Lithium battery.

Finally, keeping WiFi on allows syncing between my Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Fire and Kindle 4 PC. Shutting WiFi down would end the syncing, automatic firmware upgrades and Android app upgrades.

I use Badass Battery Monitor Pro and have also noticed that, when I go into Sleep Mode, BOTH the Screen and WiFi do not use any measurable battery energy. Thus, without shutting down WiFi at all its inactive state does not use much energy.

What you may be confusing is, when using cell phones, shutting down the 3G or 4G does save significant energy. That is true. I always shut down my cell phone when not in use.

[hn333]

It might just be that your router is crap. I'm running WPA2 AES + TKIP on an old Linksys router and I've never had a problem with losing connection on any of my devices.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by hn333

It might just be that your router is crap. I'm running WPA2 AES + TKIP on an old Linksys router and I've never had a problem with losing connection on any of my devices.

Same here! Good ole Linksys.

[sirmaru]

Originally Posted by hn333

It might just be that your router is crap. I'm running WPA2 AES + TKIP on an old Linksys router and I've never had a problem with losing connection on any of my devices.

I never lose connections either as long as all my devices STAY connected to the WiFi without erratic manual shut downs. I have a Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Fire and 3 Aluratek Internet radios. All work just fine if I do not keep shutting them down and then connecting them again.

If you get ATT TV, you are required to use their Residential Gateway. There are no choices.

There is no logical reason to keep manually disconneting devices from the network. In fact erratic manual shut downs lose eBook syncs, firmware upgrades and App upgrades. Why would anyone want to cause those problems?