Wifi - possible hardware issue (with video of problem)

[Alan56]

Hi, can anybody offer me some advice.  Over Christmas I noticed my Z3 compacts wifi was occaisionally dropping out but as I was away from home I put it down to the router at my friends house.  This week I have had a mobile data issue (network related nothing to do with the phone) so I have been relying on Wifi since Monday and I have found that Wifi is continually dropping out.  It is not consistent, sometimes it will drop every few seconds then reconnect, other times it will will be stable for a few hours then drop out.  It is not a router/wifi signal issue as there are other dvices such as laptop, iPad and iPhone using it and it is rock steady, also it is not just my wifi connection that it looses, it is everything in the area.  There are 4 or 5 wifi networks visible in my house and when the wifi drops, none are visible, when it comes back all are visible.  I have tried wiping cached data and I have just done a system reset but the problem is exactly the same.  Given that this is an intermitant problem, is it likly to be hardware or software.  Any suggestions?

I have just tested Wifi in diagnostics and it passed

[NeoBeum]

Get a wifi analyser to check if other routers nearby are using the same channel. Then change your router settings to the best channel found.

Other than that, there's not much else you can do from the phone itself because you don't have access to the antenna, or be able to do anything for deterioration

[Alan56]

Its not a router issue, but I tried swappinhg the channels just to see if there was any improvement and there wasn't.  The Wifi works but now is only staying connected for around 5 seconds, so it's conneceted and all other wifi networks in the area are visible, then after about 5 seconds no wifi networks are visible, then it comes back and reconnects.  This goes on constantly and so is completely unuseable as it is, but this is a very recent thing starting this week.  The phone is just 2 years old, in excelent condition and has never been dropped.  I love the Xperia but I am not sure I would buy another if a well looked after phone only lasts 2 years.  Not a great advert for Sony reliability

[Alan56]

I have uploaded a video of the wifi cutting in and out.  Has anyone else seen this type of behaviour?

https://youtu.be/9dNrUkSoTCM

[NeoBeum]

Something is turning the module off and on, but as I was saying before, there's not much we can do. Did you do any firmware changes?

[NeoBeum]

The wifi app is com.sonymobile.wifi

Check if the version matches the OS

[Jonas]

Hi @Alan56,

I'm sorry to hear about that.

Based on the excellent information that you provided, it sounds like it's related to hardware rather than software.

When you performed a reset of the phone, was it a factory reset in the Backup & reset menu of your phone or did you perform a software repair using Xperia Companion?

If you did a factory reset I would recommend performing a software repair, this will rule out that this is caused by the software in your phone. Do note that this will remove all data stored on the internal storage in the phone, so creating a backup using Xperia Companion beforehand is recommended.

After the software repair has been completed, start the phone as normal and do not yet restore the backup to your phone, just to make sure that any data in the backup is the cause of this behaviour.

If you experience the same behaviour after completing the software repair, if that is the type of reset you have already done on your phone, please contact your Local support team so they can assist you with having the phone sent in to an authorized service centre.

Let me know how it went!

[Alan56]

Hi, thanks for the reply.  I first tried a factory reset with no improvement so I then tried a software repair through my laptop, again it made no difference.  So it looks like a hardware issue, I now have to decide whether it is worth repairing.   Not a great advert for a premium phone that has always been treated with care.  Although I really love the Xperia I am not sure I would buy another Sony if they only last two years, I am currently using an 8 year old iPhone 4 of my daughters that has travelled the world, been dropped, screen smashed, repaired and still works perfectly

[Jonas]

Thanks for the update!

Warranty and service procedures vary between markets so I would recommend getting in contact with your local support team to check if your phone is still in warranty or not, if it is and you want to send it in for a repair they will gladly assist you with that!

I hope that you decide to buy another Xperia phone and that yours is still in warranty so it can be repaired without any cost for you!

Let me know how it goes and have a great weekend.

[Alan56]

I checked the warranty status on the phone and much to my surprise it is still in warrenty until next week so I am returning it for repair.  I only hope they will be able to recreate the problem as with all intermitant faults it is never certain