During our WI-FI issues on Android phones series, we discussed how to fix an Android phone whose WI-FI wont turn on (see https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-an-android-phone-whose-wi-fi-or-bluetooth-wont-turn-on/ ) . In this guide, we’ll be looking at WI-FI gone haywire again by automatically turning itself on or off. When it comes to battery management in Android, WI-FI management is one force to reckon with (See https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-make-an-android-phones-battery-last-longer/ ) so you can’t exactly afford to have a WI-FI radio with its own mind if you’re serious about a good battery life.
What could cause the WI-FI to automatically turn itself On or Off ?
Common causes of this issue are:
- Third party WI-FI management apps: Some app(s) might be interfering with / overriding the default Wi-FI settings
- Timeout settings: Wi-FI might have been set to either come on or go off under certain time controlled conditions
- Battery settings: Wi-FI might have been set to go off at certain battery levels
- Network Notification: Wi-FI might be set to auto-notify you when there’s an available network
- GPS Location settings: Apps or processes which report location tend to search for available Wi-Fi networks or even turn Wi-Fi on
How do I fix WI-FI Automatically turning On or Off on An Android phone ?
- Uninstall third-party WI-FI managers: Uninstall any WI-FI management app(s) you might have installed
- Change Timeout settings: Go to Settings > WI-FI > Press Menu > Advanced > Click Keep WI-FI on during Sleep > Tick the appropriate option (tick Always if WI-FI automatically turns Off and Never if WI-FI automatically turns On)
- Disable network notification: If Wi-FI automatically turns itself On then Go to Settings > Turn on WIFI > Tap WI-FI > Press Menu > Advanced > Untick / Uncheck Network notification
- Enable WI-FI optimization: Go to Settings > WI-FI > Press Menu > Advanced > Tick WI-FI optimization
- Easy WI-FI toggle: You could install a WI-FI toggle app or widget to help you easily turn On or Off WI-FI from the home screen
- Clear cache: Boot into recovery mode and wipe cache partition or use a cache wiping app.
- Boot into Safe Mode: In Safe Mode, all third-party apps and processes are disabled, leaving only the factory apps running. Booting the Android phone into Safe Mode (see https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-572.html ) is a good way to troubleshoot the source of the problem. If the issue doesn’t occur in Safe Mode then you know for sure that the problem is being caused by a third-party app you must’ve installed.
- Disable Location reporting: Disable GPS location reporting under Settings. Also, uninstall any location tracking app
- Factory reset: Consider doing a factory reset either in recovery mode or under Settings > Storage
I’ve done a factory reset; yet, the problem persists. What do I do ?
In such a scenario, you’ll need to flash the Factory ROM / Stock ROM of a phone of the same model which is not experiencing the same issue (See https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-unbrick-fix-a-bricked-android-device/ ).
Hovatek….just a button away!