Android phones connecting to WiFi but not getting an internet connection

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Andyvanman

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Topic # 229246 14-Feb-2018 14:01

Hi All

I run a small WISP at the community that I live in, with a Ubiquiti Edgerouter handling the incoming Vodafone fibre connection, and feeding a 5GHz Ubiquiti P2MP network. CPE/AP's are a hodge podge of old modem routers, Ubiquiti and apple gear etc.

The problem I am having is that 4-6 android phones in the village can connect to the WiFi network, but then don't get an internet connection. The same phones work fine on other WiFi connections.

The phones range from older cheap models to a phone that worked fine till an automatic OS update happened to a brand new Galaxy S8+.

I've seen loads of fixes on the interwebby that range from rebooting the AP/router to making sure the date on the phones is right to setting static IP addresses.

The fact that there is no clear "this is the problem and this if the solution" makes me thing it is a bug in some versions of Android and there isn't really a fix.

I was considering switching over to the modem/router that Vodafone supplied and see if that helps, but a lot of the Ubiquiti gear is set up on Static IP's and it would be a pain to have to change/re-do all that.

Has anyone else experienced this issue and have you found a good solution?

Cheers

Andrew

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Reply # 1957075 14-Feb-2018 14:06

I can only guess you checked for manual DNS entries in each device?

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sbiddle

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Reply # 1958110 14-Feb-2018 15:33

Could be any number of things and without a lot more information it's not possible to suggest anything.

If you can take a Wireshark capture it should show very clearly what the issue is.

Andyvanman

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Reply # 1958203 14-Feb-2018 18:35

I know that the settings on the S8+ are all correct as I tried assigning a static IP address to it, and you set the DNS addresses manually as part of that. It didn't make any difference.

I've never used Wireshark (not needed to till now), but I'll remedy that right now and get back with more details.

Cheers

chevrolux

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Reply # 1958251 14-Feb-2018 18:59

Can't you do tcpdump on Edgerouter? That would probably be easier. @michaelmurfy knows these things.

Edit:... and then use Wireshark to analyse.

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1958291 14-Feb-2018 19:47

If you're using quote "hodge podge of old modem routers", maybe one is a hg659b with a 32 device limit?

How large is your DHCP pool, and how many devices are there roughly?

sbiddle

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Reply # 1958329 14-Feb-2018 21:19

Andyvanman:

I know that the settings on the S8+ are all correct as I tried assigning a static IP address to it, and you set the DNS addresses manually as part of that. It didn't make any difference.

I've never used Wireshark (not needed to till now), but I'll remedy that right now and get back with more details.

Cheers

You really need to explain how the network is engineered - where DHCP is coming from, how devices are configured and so on.

MadEngineer

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Reply # 1958337 14-Feb-2018 21:34

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I have or had this or similar with my wife's phone and my Mikrotik(s). Both from a few different 951 models and also a 2011UiAS-2HnD

Either once a month or once a week it'd fail to connect to wireless until the phone was restarted. Log on the AP would show repeated connects and disconnects with "Unicast key exchange timeout" on the log.

What I believe was the problem was another remote station linked to the main router that was only just getting a signal and this somehow upsetting the phone. Since replacing the remote station and improving the link the Android phone has only had this problem once every few months. This is only anecdotal. No problems with two android tablets and two iPhones and an iPad (+ laptops etc).

For AP's where you have many people connecting from great distances I suggest limiting clients with low dB from authenticating.

IcI

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Reply # 1958355 14-Feb-2018 22:37

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Andyvanman: ... CPE/AP's are a hodge podge of old modem routers, Ubiquiti and apple gear etc. ...

The fact that there is no clear "this is the problem and this if the solution" ...

I think, if your equipment was less hodge podge, you'd have more luck finding a solution on the internet?

Please note that was said with a wink and a smile. I have no idea about your network. To me 'hodge podge' sounds like complexity which introduces many more failure points.

Andyvanman

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Reply # 1958384 15-Feb-2018 07:17

The Edgerouter is handling DHCP, and the are always plenty of leases available.

I agree that the hodge podge of gear that is running as AP's is a pain (at least it was to get them all set up) but at one house I've tried a few different AP's including ISP supplied E-waste, an Apple Airport, and a Ubiquiti Airgateway. That's the house where one Android stopped getting an internet connection after a OS upgrade was pushed to it, and where the new S8+ isn't connecting out of the box.

I'm going to get someone to check how I set up the Edgerouter to make sure nothing at that end is causing any issues, then, given that it's only really the owner of the S8+ that cares that their phone can't connect via WiFi (and I guess I would too if I'd spent that much on a phone!) then I'll see if they want to pay a networking guru to see if they can pin the problem down and come up with a fix.

We've got a lot of other devices that connect up without any issue, including plenty of other Android phones, which makes me think it's a bug with some versions of Android.

I'll give an update if I learn any more.

Cheers

sbiddle

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Reply # 1958396 15-Feb-2018 07:55

Andyvanman:

We've got a lot of other devices that connect up without any issue, including plenty of other Android phones, which makes me think it's a bug with some versions of Android.

Across networks I maintain I'd have potentially 5000+ devices that would connect on a daily basis and clearly a signiifcant proportion of those would be Android. I've never once heard of a single issue involving Android devices that suggests anything such as a large scale Android bug.

Once again without fully understanding your network it's simply not possible to comment, but clearly using hardware that's not designed as an AP as an AP introduces all sorts of issues including the major limitation that many of these potentially aren't doing proper layer 2 bridging and will not nesessarily be passing through the correct MAC address.

If you're going to build a network using mismatched equipment and in particular using routers as APs (which is something I never recommend) then having an in-depth knowledge of networking is essential - I simply would never deploy something like what you've got as it sounds like it simply can't be supported.

Andyvanman

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Reply # 1961791 21-Feb-2018 19:48

While I know that a hodge podge of Ap's is far from ideal, it is what it is until a household decides (or is forced by ongoing issues with crappy ISP supplied junk) to put in something better. In those cases they get told to buy either a Ubiquiti AirGateway or a Unifi product.

Today I had a networking person come in to check that I hadn't messed up the set-up on the Edgerouter or the rest of the P2MP network, and he gave it all a clean bill of health.

Then he tried his Android phone, and got a WiFi connection, but wasn't getting a functioning connection out to the internet.

After a lot of head scratching and diagnostic work there was no obvious answer to what was causing it, except he noticed that if he did a dns lookup and traceroute from his (working) laptop, the first hop after the router was our outward facing IP address (Vodafone assigned and dynamic). But, if he did the same thing from Fing on his mobile that was experiencing the issue, the first hop after the router was a different IP address, which a Whois of comes up as below.

Does that make any sense to anyone, or is it time for me to give Vodafone a ring?

The only unusual thing about our fibre connection that might be pertinent is that a while after Chorus hooked us up, someone else in the same building as our ONT/router requested a fibre connection and Chorus just switched our connection to them without asking! When they eventually fixed their screw up, they did it by making a second port on the ONT live and running our connection on that. Since then that has a source of much amazement from almost all techs that have seen/heard about it. Many have flatly denied that it can work, even some Chorus techs that have come out to work on it.

Cheers

Andrew

inetnum: 122.56.0.0 - 122.63.255.255
netname: NZTELECOM
descr: Telecom New Zealand Limited
descr: Global-Gateway Internet
descr: Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand
country: NZ
admin-c: DBK1-AP
tech-c: TNZ1-AP
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
mnt-lower: NZTELECOM
mnt-irt: IRT-NZTELECOM-NZ
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
remarks: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
remarks: This object can only be updated by APNIC hostmasters.
remarks: To update this object, please contact APNIC
remarks: hostmasters and include your organisation's account
remarks: name in the subject line.
remarks: -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
source: APNIC

Spyware

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Reply # 1961811 21-Feb-2018 20:36

This won't be an ISP issue. With a packet capture you could have solved it.

Starscream122

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Reply # 1961816 21-Feb-2018 20:53

sbiddle:

Andyvanman:

We've got a lot of other devices that connect up without any issue, including plenty of other Android phones, which makes me think it's a bug with some versions of Android.

Across networks I maintain I'd have potentially 5000+ devices that would connect on a daily basis and clearly a signiifcant proportion of those would be Android. I've never once heard of a single issue involving Android devices that suggests anything such as a large scale Android bug.

Once again without fully understanding your network it's simply not possible to comment, but clearly using hardware that's not designed as an AP as an AP introduces all sorts of issues including the major limitation that many of these potentially aren't doing proper layer 2 bridging and will not nesessarily be passing through the correct MAC address.

If you're going to build a network using mismatched equipment and in particular using routers as APs (which is something I never recommend) then having an in-depth knowledge of networking is essential - I simply would never deploy something like what you've got as it sounds like it simply can't be supported.

Your saying it's not good to setup an old router as a wireless AP?

sbiddle

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Reply # 1961835 21-Feb-2018 21:36

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Starscream122:

Your saying it's not good to setup an old router as a wireless AP?

Yes.

Will it work? Yes it will.

Is it a good idea? No it's not.

It's a hack - and like most hacks in life they always lead to tears at some point.

IcI

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Reply # 1961836 21-Feb-2018 21:40

Starscream122:

sbiddle: ... and in particular using routers as APs (which is something I never recommend) ...

Your saying it's not good to setup an old router as a wireless AP?

In a pinch, if you really need to, then yes, set up a router as a wireless AP; but please, try to make sure this is not a long term solution.

Please note that I am not trying to put words into sbiddles mouth, I just agree with him.

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