It's a very disappointing situation when you get home, turned on your WiFi and try to connect but find the phone won’t connect to wifi. Say you have an important text to reply, check something online, stream YouTube or listen to music, write an important email, but all these activities are disturbed when you can't get connected to your WiFi.
If this is your situation, you're not alone. It's a long-known problem most users have faced in the past years, and still face now. There are some common problems that may contribute to your phone not connecting to the WiFi. This post will enlighten you on possible solutions to make everything alright again.
Make sure the WiFi is turned on
Before you even start panicking over why my phone won't connect to the WiFi, try to check if the router and the WiFi on your phone are turned on. This could be a very funny or ridiculous step to take, but mistakes do happen sometimes. You probably might have forgotten to turn on the WiFi on your phone or you mistakenly turned it off. So, to be on the safe side, try checking if the WiFi is actually turned on your phone by swiping down the notification panel twice and check if the WiFi icon is active. You can also long-press on the icon for more clarity.
Make sure the router works normally, try to reboot or reset the router.
If the router has been on for a while, there's the prospect that it has automatically turned off its visibility or gone dozing. To be sure the router is active, try to restart it and connect again.
If it still won't connect, try resetting the router, normally by pressing a designated key on the router. But note that you'll require to enter the initial password, normally found at the back of the router, if you've changed the password earlier, to connect to the WiFi again.
Also, if you use a rechargeable router or MiFi, kindly check if the battery is low and charge it up
Check the WiFi name.
If you've been trying to connect for a while but to no avail, there are chances that you re trying to connect to the wrong WiFi, especially if they have the same name. So, make sure you cross-check the real name for your router from the sticker on the router.
Also, you can rename your router to a more unique SSID in order not to get into the same mess next time.
Check whether you've entered the correct password.
If you've confirmed that you're trying to connect to the original WiFi and it still doesn’t connect, the next thing you should do is double check if you've entered the correct password. If you're using the initial password, you should find that on the sticker on your router. But if you've recently changed the password, make sure you're entering the right password, and also remember that all passwords are case-sensitive, meaning that all lowercase and uppercase letters should be typed accordingly, same as punctuations and symbols.
Is it on Airplane mode?
Yes, you should also check if your phone is on airplane mode when the phone cant connect to home wifi. It disables every connection upon activation. Disable Airplane mode if you find out that it is on, and try the connection process again.
If you confirmed that the phone isn't on Airplane mode and you still can't connect to the WiFi successfully, proceed to the next fix below
Connect and then disconnect Wifi
Disconnecting (forgetting) and then reconnecting to the WiFi may also help fix the problem. To do this, kindly open the Settings app, tap on Network & Internet, select WiFi, select your network and then tap on forget.
Try the connection process again to see if it works or continue to another solution below.
Connect WiFi with another device
Take it easy on yourself. There are chances that the problem isn't coming from the router itself, but from your phone. To be sure of this, the best thing you can do is connecting another device to the same WiFi that is giving you headaches. You can connect your laptop or a friend's phone to the WiFi and this will tell if the problem is coming from your phone or from the router.
If there's still no successful connection, then your router is at fault. Try troubleshooting it with any of the solutions discussed in this article or contact your ISP for a fix. But if the other devices successfully, proceed to other solutions below.
Make sure the phone is close enough to the router to be covered by WiFi signal.
Routers have a limited frequency range in which they can reach. You might not be able to connect to the Wifi if you're too far away from it. Consider moving nearer to the router to get a better result. Checking how many bars the WiFi icon have will help you get closer enough.
Restart your phone
While trying to fix phone not connecting to wifi, you should also restart your phone. This could sometimes fix a variety of a software-related issue that might also cause the Wifi not to connect. On some phones, you can quickly restart your device by long-pressing the power button for about 8-10 seconds. If that doesn't work for you, restart your phone by following the common way, just long-press the power button and swipe up to restart, or tap the restart button. Try connecting to the WiFi again to see if the problem persists.
Restart your phone in Safe mode to check whether it is caused by downloaded apps
If your phone still won’t connect to wifi, you should also try rebooting to Safe mode. Rebooting your device to Safe mode loads the system without any third-party apps. This can help check if there's an app obscuring the connection. If you use TECNO or Infinix, kindly long-press the power button, tap and hold the HiOS or XOS logo until you see the 'reboot to Safe mode' option. On some other devices, long-press the power button and then tap and hold the 'power off' option until you see the 'reboot to Safe mode' option and select it.
If you're able to connect to the WiFi in Safe mode, kindly restart your phone to exit the Safe mode and uninstall apps you think might have caused the problem.
Update system
Another thing to do to combat the problem is updating your device. The problem might be as a result of bug hanging around the system, which can easily be fixed with a software update (if you have one). Kindly check for the latest update on your phone by going to Settings >> System >> System Update >> Online update. Tap to download and install the update if there's any, it may help fix the problem.
Reset your device
This is usually not a great option as it will erase all of your data such as apps, pictures, videos, music, etc., in the process. But it's worth trying if everything you've tried above failed. All you just have to do if make sure you have a solid backup for your files before resetting your device.
Note: Please make a backup of your data on the phone before resetting the device
To perform a factory reset on your phone, kindly go to Settings >> System >> Reset >> Erase all data (factory reset)
Try connecting to the WiFi after the phone restarted to check if the problem is fixed. If not, proceed to a more technical solution below.
Call the professionals
If all the solutions above fail, there is perhaps a hardware issue with either of your smartphone or the router. If the problem is coming from the router, call your ISP to help you fix it. But if it's coming from your smartphone, look for a certified repairer to help you diagnose and fix the connection problem you're having with your phone.
For every TECNO, Infinix, or iTel smartphones, Carlcare is exclusively the certified after-sales service provider to repair any problem you may have with your phone. Our technicians will surely help you diagnose and fix the connection problem you're having with your WiFi as you walk into any of our centres. You may also enjoy free repair service if your phone is still under war
