Aura HD Kobo Aura HD always forgets its WiFi networks

[ReadsWithWolves]

So my Kobo worked nicely for a month. Classic... now, just slightly past its return period, and it screws up. I have tried hard resets, etc. Firmware is up to date, AFAIK.

Here's the problem: WiFi is enabled but it no longer automatically re-connects to my home network, which it "knew" yesterday. Okay, I look its known networks. Empty. Again.

So I select my home network *again* and painfully re-enter my long WPA password. It connects. Great. Syncs up with Pocket or whatever.

Later that day... forgotten. Rinse, lather, repeat. Often multiple times per day.

So frustratating. Anyone else experiencing this or have a suggestion? I have emailed Kobo Customer Care and I'll post if they suggest anything helpful.

[Mostly Math]

I have had my Aura HD since they first came out and I don't recall ever having wifi issues with it. It seems to sync just fine every night. Sorry that is probably not much help.

Sarah

[TechniSol]

Search for other posts dealing with WiFi. I believe the current solution is to stay with strictly alphanumeric characters and no special characters in passwords, and there may be an issue with WPA or WPA2, I forget which.

Just as an observation, most people having these problems tend to complain of long elaborate password re-entry. If that is anecdotal or related I cannot say, but I have observed just such a complaint over and over by those having problems. Perhaps it would be worth staying with alphanumerics only and trying a short password to investigate the issue further.

Best of luck. Personally, I live in the boonies and rely on a MAC Address list with no problems. Not high security, but then opportunity for theft is minimal.

I believe others have indicated Kobo is working on the problem.

[ReadsWithWolves]

Thanks for the replies. I will search again for WPA or WPA2 issues here on the Kobo forum, thank you.

Yes, my WPA2 password is strictly alphanumeric, 32 characters long. I cringe to think that any new-on-the-market WiFi-connected device would barf on a 32 character password in 2014, but if a shorter password would actually solve my problems, then I'd definitely consider it as a temporary solution. I'll leave that as a last resort -- many other network devices get disrupted with each password change! It's not a crazy theory though, so thank you!

And I'll let you all know if Kobo Customer Service comes through with anything.

[ReadsWithWolves]

An update... Kobo Customer Care responded within 3 days and requested photos of my device, proof of purchase, etc. That information has been sent now, so we'll see...

I have experienced fast responses from Kobo Customer Care previously, with other devices. So that much is appreciated. Unfortunately, I have *needed* to use Kobo Customer Care previously, with other devices.

[ReadsWithWolves]

Not going well with Kobo Customer Care. In six days, responding immediately to each of their requests for information, I have given them everything they wanted: e.g. Photos from all sides of the device. Serial #, device information screen, version. Proof of purchase, store I purchased it in, my mailing address for a device exchange, etc. This is what they have been asking for. Sounds good.

NOW... they ask me to please do a reset and/or factory reset again to see if that fixes the problem. Magically. WTF. Full circle.

Ok. I'll do that. AGAIN.

[dentateck]

Congratulations, you've encountered the famous Wi-Fi bug that many people including myself have since Kobo updated firmware from 2.x to 3.x. No amount of hard resets or anything else to that matter will cure it until it will be fixed in the future firmware upgrades. I hoped that 3.2.0 update would fix that but it didn't. So the way I see it you have 2 choices:
1) Bite the bullet and connect to Wi-Fi once per reboot (or turn it off altogether like I did)
2) Convince Kobo people to return it, then check this forum form time to time ans when it's fixed (and it will be fixed sooner or later) buy it again. Either way, it's one of those problems that just don't go away with quick workaround like changing passwords (You can even turn password off and the problem still stays) and can only be solved deeper on firmware level in one of the updates.
Good luck!

[ReadsWithWolves]

Frustrating. Eight days ago, Kobo Customer Care said they would send a new unit out to me. Nothing yet. I guess the Kobo sled dog delivery teams are having difficulty with the spring thaw.

Thanks for the suggestion. Appreciate it. But it's useless to me without WiFi -- I need this to stay in sync through the day because I do my article reading offline on e-ink. (I'm a heavy user of the Pocket service -- it's what tipped my buying decision in favor of Kobo.) I paid a premium for a device that claims to do this, and after working well for a month it is now a paperweight.

[ReadsWithWolves]

UPDATE:

I received a new Kobo Aura HD yesterday, from Kobo Customer Care. I still have the old one, which I will send back in the return packaging.

Great! Reloaded all my books, connected to WiFi, re-synced my Pocket articles. AND... it's frozen. Frozen on some menus. Unresponsive. No on-screen buttons work, can't choose "home" or "menu" or any book or article. Power button does nothing. Backlight button not responding.

WTF. So dissappointing. So do I go another round of "try this", "now try this", etc. Reboot, factory reset, rinse, lather, repeat? No, I don't think so. I think it's reasonable for me to send both units back now and just ask for a refund and cut my losses with Kobo.

I'm sad about this. The screen is awesome. The form factor is awesome. The ease of sideloading is awesome. But if this thing can't be a no-hassle reading *appliance* that reliably works then it has failed in its primary mission for me.

Anyways, I have shared my brief Kobo experience here in case it resonates with someone else. I wish I could post more Kobo "good news" but I just don't have any. In case I don't return, I wish you all well with your Kobos.

[paola]

perhaps this is a superfluous question, but are you sure the battery is fully charged? And you have tried a pinhole reset I presume?
If you don't like the device, fine, but there may be something really trivial that is going wrong, which may take little effort to fix. Just a thought.

[ReadsWithWolves]

Thanks. Good thinking, to eliminate the simple things first. Unfortunately in this case, the battery is/was at 95% when it froze.

[dentateck]

Did you send it back already? If not, try upgrading your first *responsive* unit's firmware to the latest 3.3.0 I've seen in another thread that Wi-Fi issue might be resolved in it, you have nothing to loose now, try it one last time, either update it automatically or if your unit doesn't pick up update yet, go to Developer's Corner of this forum and click on the first thread named Direct Links to Kobo firmware, find link to Aura HD 3.3.0 somewhere in the middle of the first page, sideload it and upgrade. Test it with Wi-Fi and if it's still not working you can send both units back knowing that you did everything possible. I hear you about Pocket, I've been enjoying it for that purpose too, well minus the hassle of turning it off and on again and entering my long secure Wi-Fi password.
Anyway, hope you get lucky...

[ReadsWithWolves]

Thank you. Out of the box, I connected it up and the device did its upgrades before anything else and it ended up at 3.3.

So while 3.3 *might* have solved the original WiFi problem, I wouldn't know because it hung itself before I had much chance to use it!

I haven't sent the two devices back yet... I'm waiting for Kobo Customer Care's confirmation that I can proceed with a refund after all this #$@!.

[dentateck]

Well, I'm happy to report that I myself upgraded to 3.3 and Wi-Fi bug has indeed been solved! Like long forgotten days of 2.x it connects and reconnects without any problems. As for Pocket functionality initially it wouldn't synch any changes from my Pocket account but after signing out of Pocket on Kobo HD and signing back in, it's been synching normally without issues. Plus a major point for me, on 3.3 CoolReader works perfectly well again, not sideways like it was on 3.2.
All in all so far I'm a happy camper, it connects to Wi-Fi, opens books in CoolReader and synchs my Pocket articles and that's all I want from my ebook reader. Hope it works out in your case, such a shame to abandon this beautiful hardware because of a buggy software

[TechniSol]

You might try plugging it in then holding the power switch for twenty seconds if need be to ensure it shuts down if still on then trying a reset. It might just be stuck processing a file or something. You might also have a corrupt eBook file.

Good luck.