New Smart 4 Mini has suddenly stopped connecting to home wi-fi

[Marrea]

I have a Vodafone Smart 4 Mini running Android 4.2.2 purchased just over a week ago.  I was initially able to connect to my home wi-fi router with no problems.  Strangely though a couple of days ago it started refusing to connect, showing an “Authentication problem”.  I have tried re-entering the password by making it forget the network - by going out of range and pressing Forget Network and then returning within range and re-entering the password but it still refuses to connect to the router. 

Any ideas why it should have worked when I first had the phone but is refusing to do so now? 

The router is a Netgear N300 WNR2200 and all the other computers in the house plus my Kindle connect to it with no problems at all.

[Marrea]

To add further information to my post above, I have been trying to think what might have caused the problem and it may have started after I tried to download the free OS MapFinder app.  I used my computer’s browser (which is on a wired connection) to select the app for download from Google Play and then it started downloading on to my phone using wi-fi.  After about two and a half hours the phone was still showing the downloading arrow in the top left-hand corner.  I’ve got 20 meg broadband so thought it would have downloaded the app by then (OS described it as “large” although I couldn’t find the exact size on their site) so at that stage I thought I had better find out what size the app was.

A newspaper review I found said it was 411MB so I wondered if the download had somehow been prevented by Vodafone as I only have a £10 Freedom Freebee with a data allowance of 250MB.  So I decided to cancel the download by turning off the phone.  When I turned the phone back on there was no sign of the app in my applications list so it had obviously not completed the download.  Being completely new to smartphones (this is my first one) I have now discovered that if I use my own home wi-fi, there will be no Vodafone data charges - so I assume the fact that the MapFinder app was larger than 250MB would have no bearing on this?  But could my turning off the phone off during the download have caused the phone and router to stop talking to each other now?

Incidentally I don’t think there is a problem with the phone’s wi-fi hardware as I can connect to a open BTWiFi connection which shows up on the phone.

[Marrea · Accepted solution]

I've finally managed to get it to connect.

1.  I did a factory reset.  That made no difference.

2.  I went into the router settings and temporarily removed security altogether.  Then the phone connected. 

3.  I went back into the router settings and turned the security back on.  Then the phone wouldn't connect.

4.  I turned the wireless and WPS off via the router's buttons.  Turned them on again.  I told the phone to forget the router.  Then when it showed up again on the list of available networks I selected it and re-entered the password.  This time it connected.

How long this will last I don't know.  Fingers crossed! 

[hrym]

I wonder whether the device isn't compatible with WPS?   The security on that isn't very strong (to put it mildly) and you should really be using WPA2.   If you switch to that, does it work then?

[Marrea]

Hi hrym

Thank you for your interest.

I’ve always used WPA2-PSK[AES] on my Netgear router.  When I first had my Smart 4 Mini it connected to the router with no problems whatsoever.  It was only last week that it suddenly wouldn’t connect, reporting an “Authentication problem” error.

After I went into the router’s security options and temporarily changed “WPA2” to “None” the phone connected.  I then went back into the security options and re-set it to WPA2 which resulted in the phone once again refusing to connect.

When I said I turned the wireless and WPS off via the router’s buttons I was referring to the push buttons on the front of the router.  Strangely (and worringly), on the Netgear WNR2200 these two buttons are linked.  If you have one on, you have to have the other on as well.  If you turn one off, the other automatically turns off as well.  So if I want to connect one of my devices to the router wirelessly I have to have both the wireless button and the WPS button turned on.

This concerned me when I first had the router because I had read a lot about security risks with WPS but I couldn’t find a way to turn it off without also losing the wireless capability of the router (which rather defeated the object of having a wireless router!).  However Netgear state on their website that they defend WiFi Protected Setup PIN against brute force vulnerability by recommending that the Router PIN is disabled.  So that is what I did under the WPS settings.

For your information, this is part of the exchange I had with Netgear at the time:

"Netgear   8/16/2013 1:34:00 PM

Thank you for choosing NETGEAR. My name is Mark.

I will do my best to answer your support questions with the least amount of email exchanges, the more information and detail you can provide will help us to expedite your case to resolution.

I have reviewed your case and I understand that you need assistance in disabling the WPS function of the router.

For your query about the WPS function:

The WPS will be enabled automatically if the security is set to WPA, thus disabled when using WEP (54 Mbps). The Push Button will still work even though you have disabled the PIN on the settings. Only the use of the PIN will be disabled.

Me   8/16/2013 8:34:00 PM

Thank you for your response.

So if I have security set to WPA (which is what I do in fact have it set to as it is the most secure) I cannot turn WPS off completely? The only way I can turn WPS off completely is by setting the security to WEP, which is not safe. If this is correct, I shall just have to leave WPS enabled but at least I have the router PIN disabled. I have absolutely no use for WPS whatsoever and that is why I wanted to disable it completely but it looks as if that is not going to be possible.

Netgear  8/17/2013 10:24:00 PM

My name is Erika and I will further assist you on this case.

After reviewing the information that you provided, I think I have a better understanding of your case.

I am aware that you would like to confirm if changing the security into WEP is the only way to completely disable the WPS function of your NETGEAR WNR2200.

In response to your inquiry - yes, as of now, the only way to completely disable WPS is by changing the security into WEP. We have taken note of your comments though and we will try to come up with a firmware that will enable users to completely disable WPS."

So I have always used WPA2.  To begin with my phone connected fine with this setting.  Then it wouldn’t.  After doing the fiddling described in my previous post it did connect again and is still connecting at the moment.  I have  no idea why it should have had that hiccup for a few days.