Galaxy S8 Wifi Issues

[Holybob]

So I am posting here because after research I do not see anyone with this issue and wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on what to do to attempt to fix it. 

What will happen is my phone will lose internet connection while connected to my Wifi. As shown in the screen shots below it has the Wifi Symbol along with an exclamation mark. When I go to the Wifi settings it states "Internet may not be available"

The only way to fix the issue is to turn the wifi off then back on. Now keep in mind that this does not happen all the time as It will happen spoardically throughout the day and there does not seem to be a specific app that causes this. This has happened while browsing the internet on multiple different browsers and it has happened while watching videos in applications such as Youtube, Twitch, Netflix, Hulu, etc.... This issue only seems to be affecting my galaxy S8 as the other devices on my network does not have this issue including my old Samsung S7 Edge.

What I have tried is the following in no particular order 

• Turned the phone off/on
• Cleared browser cache
• Cleared the cache partition
• Reset my wifi connections
• Factory reset my phone
• Reset my router
• Verified my Router Firmware was up to date
• Had Verizion send me a replacement phone. Same issue happens

My Router is the Google Onhub

[user85uwAjhRoJ]

I've been using the "Guest" network workaround for 4 days now as suggested by Sorven. I have not seen any WiFi disconnects in that time. Clearly this works - but why? My "Guest" network is squawking on the same 2.4 and 5 Ghz channels, with the same power (I assume) from the same firmware, but the GS8+ doesn't disconnect from it. Again, why?

[uservM8bSlmxx8]

I have a new S8 and an Orbi RBK50 router setup.  I have been having the same exact problem with the exclamation mark in the wifi indicator on my S8 since i got it a few weeks ago.  after reading through these messages i decided to test out some settings.  on my phone I have removed all previously saved Wifi networks and turned smart network switch off.  On the Orbi i started by only running the router and NOT connecting the satelite to remove any issues that transfering between the two units might be causing.  i have done a factory reset and did not change any of the inital settins so running 2.4ghz channel auto and 5 ghz channel 48, with a pasword set using WPA2-PSK [AES], ssid broadcast for both 2.4 and 5 ghz networks are on, 20/40 mhz co-existance is on, WMM is enabled for both channels, and implicit beamforming and MU-MIMO are off.  I started with these conditions before spending the afternoon testing the following.  I disabled the SSID of the 5ghz channel, it did not affect the problem.  I disabled the 2.4ghz SSID, no change.  I disabled both SSID's, no good results.  Disableing WMM is not advisable as it does not seem to affect the wifi issue on the S8 but it does limit the max transfer speed to 54mbps.  I enabled beamforming and MU-MIMO but these seemed to make the problem worse.  I woud not recommend turning these on.  I then turned on the guest network as suggested in these messages.  I enabled SSID broadcast and to allow guests to see eachother and put a password on this network using WPA2-PSK [AES].  this did not seem to correct the issue.  i removed the password from the guest network and proceeded to test the wifi stability on my S8.  i was using the netgear wifi analytics apt to check which frequency i was connected to and the wifi sweetspots app to view the signal strength and speed in real time as i walked arround the house.  The main Orbi router is located in my basement in the middle of a 1300sqft house so the main unit should be pretty good for coverage.  i was able to walk arround the basement and all of the 1st floor execpt the far corner of one bedroom without any issue.  the signal automatically switched from 5G to 2.4 in this room and as i got to the corner the speed droped down to zero and then i got the exclamation point.  Based on this testing it looks like the issue is in how either the S8 or Orbi is switching between the signals and also checking the password.  As i walk back to the router in the basement my phone refused to switch back to the 5G signal, but i think that is for another post.  not having a password on the guest network with local network access on is not very "secure" so i thought i would start wtih disabeling SSID broadcast for the guest network.  It worked for the regular network, you just have to manually specify the network you want to connect to.  It does not apper to work for the guest network as i was not able to connect to the hidden network.  I re-enabled the SSID broadcast for the guest network and then made my way to the security/access control page of the router.  i turned this feature on, removed the guest network from my S8, removed my S8 from the list of allowed devices not currently connected to the network and selected block all new devices from connecting.  i reconnected to the guest network from my S8 and got the "you may not have access to the internet" banner warning at the top of the screen as well as the exclamation mark in the wifi symbol.  I tried to go to multiple websites and none would load.  i tried to go to the router IP address to access the settings and the router gave an error page stating this device was not allowed access to the netowork.  so good news, the security access control features of the Orbi work!  I then selected my S8 in the access control screen and "allowed" it onto the network and now have regular secured access to the guest network without needing a password.  If this method is going to be used all of the devices mac numbers will need to be added or "allowed" on this screen to give them access to the network.  this setting will affect both the regular and guest networks.  I then proceeded to test the stability throught the house again, and found similar resutls as the first time.  finally, i added the satelite unit to the network, near the one bedroom that was giving me trouble, and i can now walk throught my house without dropped wifi on my S8 with full speed and some level of network security.  I have only done these tests today, so i will continue to check this over the weekend and coming weeks.  My phone will still not switch back to the 5G signal after it gets onto the 2.4g signal but alteast i will still have wifi that doesnt drop in the house.  I did not try this setup on the main wifi, as opposed to the guest network, as i was so excited to get it to work i didnt want to mess with it, but it might be worth a try.  Based on this testing, it seems there is something with the way the Orbi and the S8 are communicating the transition between the 2.4 and 5G networks when there is a password that is causing the issue.  I dont know if this will work for anyone else, or if it will be stable for me, but i hope this information can be useful toward troubleshooting the underlying cause and coming up with a permanent solution!

Good luck!

[user85uwAjhRoJ]

I have a password on my Guest network. It's the same password as the regular network. I use a dynamic IP and have both networks configured in WiFi settings. Using WiFi analytics, I see both sets of networks simultaneously showing as WPA2 secured. The only difference from your description is that I have 2 satellites and don't let either 2.4 or 5G select an auto channel. Now that I have been exclamation point free for a week, I'm tempted to switch back to the regular network and see if the problem reappears.

[uservM8bSlmxx8]

As you are walking around your house and you are switching between the 3 access points are you always on the 5G signal?  With the second satelite you may be able to stay on 5G and not have to switch to the 2.4G signal.  That is where I believe the problem with the password comes in.  If you do switch down to 2.4G with a password without a problem that would be interesting to know.

Update: I have not had any isses with my setup since my post yesterday.  I will be leaving the house today and i will be interested to see if traveling in and out of wifi range causes any issues.  If i find anything i will post.

[user85uwAjhRoJ]

How can I tell which band the GS8 is using?

[uservM8bSlmxx8]

If you are using the netgear wifi analytics app and you go to the chanel interface tab at the bottom you can see what chanel you are currently connected to.  1-11 is 2.4g and 36-48 is 5g.  As you walk around keep pressing the refresh button and see what chanels you jump between.

Alternatively, if you look in the network status tab and select your ssid you can see all the mac #s for each of the chanels for each of your ap's.  If you have wifi sweet spots app the look at the top as you are walking around and it will tell you which mac # you are currently connected to.  Also, the transfer speed in this app is a good indication which band you are connected to.  2.4 maxs out at about 200 to 250 mbps in my experience but the 5g gets up into the 500 - 700 range depending on distance.

[user85uwAjhRoJ]

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the "current channel" line on the Netgear app. I started out on 5G right in front satellite #1. It switched to 2.4G when I was about 25 feet away. Walking right up to satellite #2, the phone stayed on 2.4G. I assume it would have eventually switched to 5G there, but I was getting bored waiting. I walked out to the router (it's in AP mode, not really a router). There it did switch back to 5G. Walking back to satellite #1 where I started, it switched back to 2.4G where it remained throughout this posting. No exclamation points anywhere on the journey.

[uservM8bSlmxx8]

Oh, i didnt realize you arent using the orbi as your actual router.  From other posts i have read when the orbi system is in ap mode and is not performing the routing functions it does not seem to cause the same issues, although i have not tried this myself.  I am running the orbi system as my router directly connected to the modem.  I think this may be part of the equation.  Anyone else attempt the solution i posted?  I am hoping to get some feedback from multiple people that can be used by samsung and/or netgear to help come up with an actual solution to this issue and not a work arround.

My system has been functioning perfectly with my s8, except it wont switch back to 5g once it gets on 2.4, since i set it up friday.  I have left the house multiple time and been in both airplane and regular mode with no issues.

[Dkashman]

Same issue here. I updated the firmware yesterday to the AQG2 (unlocked phone) firmware and that is when the problem started. Everything worked totally fine for the 2 months I have had the phone prior to this update. I am using the Orbi router as well. It appears this is a software issue with the S8+. I would prefer not to give up on Samsung as I love the phone overall. 

[userUHCQ8zEUNy]

I'm having the same issue. I'm on Verizon, bought my S8 directly from Samsung and have a 3 unit Netgear Orbi running the latest firmware. My S8's WiFi was working fine on my Orbi network from apx. May 5, until I installed the last update last week, apx. July 26. I haven't tried any of the workarounds yet (disabling 2.4Ghz, disabling 5Gh or connecting to the Guest network).