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Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

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31–40 of 48 posts

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#31

I dunno. When my new Nexus 7 tablet got "upgraded" to Android 5 it felt like a downgrade. WiFi worked OK before but now it is slow and unreliable on any network I try. Also the full disk encryption makes EVERYTHING slow. Lots of vendors are releasing new tablets with Android 4.4 because the user experience is so much better. And don't get me started on the "Material Design" fanbois who just have to have their car and…

Do you have the original Nexus 7 or the 2013 model? The two 2013s we have here are just fine after the upgrade to Lollypop(EDIT: striking the .1 because I have no idea what point version is on there now) but the previous model was practically unusable.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#32

I dunno. When my new Nexus 7 tablet got "upgraded" to Android 5 it felt like a downgrade. WiFi worked OK before but now it is slow and unreliable on any network I try. Also the full disk encryption makes EVERYTHING slow. Lots of vendors are releasing new tablets with Android 4.4 because the user experience is so much better. And don't get me started on the "Material Design" fanbois who just have to have their car and…

Same here, but 5.1 made it much better I was getting system error popups every 30 seconds from various apps on 5.0.

on my n5, it feels waay snappier on 5.1. battery is better too.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#33

This was one of the reasons I left AT&T. They have hotspots everywhere that my phone would connect to and they inevitably either sucked or were located just far enough away from the store I was visiting that the phone could connect but not get usable internet. I'd have to keep turning wi-fi off in order to use the internet, then naturally I'd forget to turn it back on. Between the removal of unlimited data plans and…

Couldn't you just delete the AT&T WiFi data from your phone so it never tries connecting?

If there was an option not to connect to AT&T wifi hotspots I couldn't find it. Unlike most wireless routers it wouldn't only automatically connect to ones I've used before, it would eagerly connect to any AT&T hotspot.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't you just delete the AT&T WiFi data from your phone so it never tries connecting?

If there was an option not to connect to AT&T wifi hotspots I couldn't find it. Unlike most wireless routers it wouldn't only automatically connect to ones I've used before, it would eagerly connect to any AT&T hotspot.

There is no way to remove it via the UI. You sadly need a rooted phone to remove it.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#37

This was one of the reasons I left AT&T. They have hotspots everywhere that my phone would connect to and they inevitably either sucked or were located just far enough away from the store I was visiting that the phone could connect but not get usable internet. I'd have to keep turning wi-fi off in order to use the internet, then naturally I'd forget to turn it back on. Between the removal of unlimited data plans and…

Windows Phone has a nice idea when turning off WiFi: it's got options to disable it for a limited time, which is basically what everyone wants went disabling WiFi.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#38
post #14

As someone who still has a plan with a "adorably small data cap", I'm happy and worried at the same time. I'm happy because, as most other people, I too have had to disconnect from hotspots with captive portals manually, in order to get the phone to switch to mobile data. But I'm also worried that this fancy new algorithm will choose 3G instead of WiFi much often and sometimes against my will, effectively reaching th…

It's worse when the "poor" connection is because you're in the edge of its coverage area, so you move right next to the router... and it still won't connect, because it decided that this network was a "poor" connection and memorized that decision. Happened to me a few days ago. Luckily, leaving it alone for a few minutes cured that and it connected.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#39
What would have been better, though perhaps not technically possible, was to try WiFi while keeping the mobile data active, only switching if the WiFi worked well. Not sure it's possible to run both at the same time, though.

Re: Android 5.1 Fixes a Wi-Fi Annoyance

#40
post #38
post #14

As someone who still has a plan with a "adorably small data cap", I'm happy and worried at the same time. I'm happy because, as most other people, I too have had to disconnect from hotspots with captive portals manually, in order to get the phone to switch to mobile data. But I'm also worried that this fancy new algorithm will choose 3G instead of WiFi much often and sometimes against my will, effectively reaching th…

It's worse when the "poor" connection is because you're in the edge of its coverage area, so you move right next to the router... and it still won't connect, because it decided that this network was a "poor" connection and memorized that decision. Happened to me a few days ago. Luckily, leaving it alone for a few minutes cured that and it connected.

I've found that turning WiFi off and on again will also reset the 'poor connectivity' decision.
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