Strange wifi problem

Peter_145

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Jul 2, 2016
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I bought a Netgear r7000 1 week ago and Im having an issue with the wifi. I have two old android (2.2) phones that connect to the network but the internet doesnt work. The weird thing is if I log into the router settings suddenly the internet starts working on the phones. And when I log out the internet stops. It's as if logging into the router settings triggers something. When the phones do connect properly to the network (rarely) as soon as I reboot them or turn wifi off/on then the same issue comes back.

Also I have two more modern devices (phone + laptop) that are connected to the wifi and have no problems at all. Also there is 1 pc cable connected with no issues. Have done factory reset and tried 2 different firmwares, no luck. I'm wondering if the the phones' hardware is too outdated (yet they worked fine with my old billion 7800n). And if this is the case why does logging into the router settings change the connectivity?
 
Solution
I applaud your fine detective work but have to agree with Kanewolf. Android 2.2 is so insecure on its own that IMO it should not be used, but that is largely constrained to the device. However to combine that with a rollback on the router firmware that compromises wifi security seems too risky to me. Good luck.

Pooneil

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Apr 15, 2013
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It is possibly a incompatibility in the phone's encryption capabilities of the phones with the router settings.

I suggest you turn off the encryption. Then, reinstate the settings from most compatible to the most secure and restart the router until you find the culprit.

Using TKIP and WPA are the less secure settings but may work better with older devices. Whereas, the most secure settings are WPA2 with AES.

 

Peter_145

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Jul 2, 2016
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Thanks for your replies.

SSID is not disabled. I have tried all the different encryption settings, including an open network and still no change.
I'm starting to think it's a firmware issue which would probably explain why the internet suddenly works whenever I log into the router settings. My guess is either these old phones were never compatible with the router to begin with or somewhere along the line one of the firmware releases caused an incompatibility and since the phones are outdated it never came up as viable issue to be resolved (for netgear) since the number of people reporting the problem would be small to none. I think there's only like 0.1% people who still use android 2.2 so there's a good chance other branded routers would have the same problem for these devices. I'll install the oldest firmware to see if that works. My old router was on its way out but I may use that for the time being as a short term solution. To be honest this is a good excuse to get rid of those old annoying phones anyway :)
 

Peter_145

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Jul 2, 2016
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OK so I installed an older firmware (V1.0.2.194_1.0.15) and the issue is now resolved. I can confirm that any firmware updates beyond this will not solve the issue. Therefore from firmware update V1.0.3.24_1.1.20 onwards they have inadvertently created a bug for Android 2.2 when trying to join wifi. This issue is unlikely to be resolved with any future firmware updates since the number of android 2.2 users is so small it couldn't possibly warrant the necessary attention. I am updating my post in case any one else has this same problem in the future. I hope I don't have other issues now by rolling back since there have been 35+ bugs resolved since this firmware I'm now using.
 

Pooneil

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Apr 15, 2013
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I applaud your fine detective work but have to agree with Kanewolf. Android 2.2 is so insecure on its own that IMO it should not be used, but that is largely constrained to the device. However to combine that with a rollback on the router firmware that compromises wifi security seems too risky to me. Good luck.
 
Solution

Peter_145

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Jul 2, 2016
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Yes you're right, rolling back to such an old firmware is not ideal. I have been in contact with Netgear about this issue and they told me the next firmware update will correct this problem. To be honest I've wanted to replace those old phones for a long time so this is a good excuse to do so. Thanks for the feedback.