Android 11 WiFi disconnest/reconnect

Technology Technology: Chat / Discussions
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I’m not requesting help. Just adding this with my findings should others who encounter this problem.

I had an email from Lebara saying 5G was available at no extra cost. Checking my area there is coverage nearby and I expect that will be getting expanded. My current phone is aging and doesn’t support 5G so I decided to get one that did. Looking at budget options I picked a Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G on Amazon. It arrived and I set it all up. It kept disconnecting and reconnecting on WiFi.

So check on google for Redmi Note 10 5G WiFi disconnect and there are umpteen hits with loads of suggestions from clearing the cache partition to lots of WiFi settings to turn off. I tried them all and the problem persisted so I sent the wretched thing back as faulty.

That was nearly the end of it but I had bumped my Lebara SIM from its old Uswitch deal at £4.95 with 2GB data to 10GB for £6.99 in anticipation of maybe using more data so I looked again. I found a Samsung Galaxy A22 5G on Argos. Dearer but a well known brand. Setup was less seamless as Samsung use some proprietory app to clone the old phone rather that just using the google backup and some app settings were lost. It had the same problem. Again lots of different google hits but with essentially the same sort of things to try which once again didn’t work.

So is my WiFi duff? Well no it works just fine with everything else. It is a TP-Link Deco mesh system which has 3 units. From what the phone was doing and bits I had picked up on a hunch I turned 2 off. I already have 2.4GHz and 5GHz on different SSIDs as a strong (non WiFi) signal makes 2.4GHz unusable at times regardless of the signal strength and I don’t want to use it on anything that supports 5GHz. The problem went away. Clearly both phones are attempting to switch between the available access points. I have now added an old AP on a different SSID just for the phone so I can bring the 2 mesh nodes back up.

So where is the fault?
Well…
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G
Android 11
Chipset MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G

Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
Android 11
MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G

So common there is the chipset and Android 11.
Back to Google where I find
Samsung Galaxy S10e
Android 9.0 (Pie), upgradable to Android 11
Exynos 9820
Has the same problem. Most seem to mention after upgade.

So Android 11 will keep switching signals if it finds 2 known signals in range. I’m guessing that could easily be where a router has been setup with the same SSID on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

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I’ve been using Android 11 for some time now and I have two dual-band wifi routers (long story) that cross as I move through the house, and switching signals hasn’t been a problem for me across two different SSIDS but both putting out 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals.
As you say, it might be a problem where more than one signal is being broadcast on the same wavelength with the same SSID which given how many people nowadays use range extenders of one form or another is handy to know and be aware of.
Let’s hope that Android patch the problem.

3

Yes I hadn’t thought of range extenders. They are common and could well explain why there are so many reporting problems while Mesh systems are rarer. I don’t know if same frequency is relevant or not as my Mesh setup gives me no choice - it has three all using the same frequency. I run the 2.4GHz as a guest network still on the main subnet so I can used a different SSID. With all of my other kit I get a seamless switch between the 5GHz APs. I was only guessing on 2.4/5Ghz using the same SSID as because of the interference here I keep the bands seperated. I only have three pieces of 2.4GHz only equipment - a weather station and printers