Thread: Dropping WIFI connection on my new Playbook with OS 2.0

Hi everyone,

I really liked my Playbook thus far; much better than my iPad 1 and my Android eLocity A7 tablet which I gave to my parents. But there is one problem with my Playbook that I had observed at the Bestbuy sample units before I bought it. The problem is with the WIFI WPA 2 connection. Occasionally, it will simply drop the connection and sometimes I have to restart my Playbook to get a connection again. The same router works fine with all my Macs, a PC, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and eLocity A7 without dropping the signal. Just the Playbook. Any thoughts. Again, it happened on sample units (more than 2 of them) at the Best Buy stores in Canada.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by tabletfanatic

Hi everyone,

I really liked my Playbook thus far; much better than my iPad 1 and my Android eLocity A7 tablet which I gave to my parents. But there is one problem with my Playbook that I had observed at the Bestbuy sample units before I bought it. The problem is with the WIFI WPA 2 connection. Occasionally, it will simply drop the connection and sometimes I have to restart my Playbook to get a connection again. The same router works fine with all my Macs, a PC, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and eLocity A7 without dropping the signal. Just the Playbook. Any thoughts. Again, it happened on sample units (more than 2 of them) at the Best Buy stores in Canada.

Thanks!

Hello tabletfanatic and welcome to

Sorry for the delay.

You say you have no issues when you're on the iPad 1, and the Android eLocity A7 tablet, which I assume you connect when at home.

There is a big difference connecting any (wireless) device when at a public business vs being at home, regardless if it's a BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry smartphone, or any other device when that device is either a sample unit from Bestbuy or any other business, which has been through many hands, messed around with (WiFi) and/or other settings, after all, these are public businesses.

When entering a public business, all you have to do is refresh the PlayBook's WiFi wireless connection, and attempt to reconnect.

That's it!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by tabletfanatic

Hi everyone,

I really liked my Playbook thus far; much better than my iPad 1 and my Android eLocity A7 tablet which I gave to my parents. But there is one problem with my Playbook that I had observed at the Bestbuy sample units before I bought it. The problem is with the WIFI WPA 2 connection. Occasionally, it will simply drop the connection and sometimes I have to restart my Playbook to get a connection again. The same router works fine with all my Macs, a PC, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and eLocity A7 without dropping the signal. Just the Playbook. Any thoughts. Again, it happened on sample units (more than 2 of them) at the Best Buy stores in Canada.

Thanks!

You will want to take a look at the standard troubleshooting procedures taken from RIM's KB26096 in particular the following things:

BlackBerry PlayBook Settings Issues:

• On the status bar, tap the Wi-Fi indicator and verify that the switch is set to On.
• If the BlackBerry PlayBook cannot connect to a saved network, see KB27735.
• Verify that the time on the BlackBerry PlayBook is synchronized with the network time. If the times are different, it could prevent the BlackBerry PlayBook from connecting (for example, if connecting to the network requires a certificate be installed on the BlackBerry PlayBook and the certificate has an expiration date).
• Verify that the options for the Wi-Fi network are correct. To find out what options to use, for a home network, refer to the information that came with the home wireless router; for an enterprise Wi-Fi network, contact the enterprise network administrator; for a public hotspot, refer to any information provided for the hotspot or contact an employee at the hotspot who might have details about how to connect.
• If the Wi-Fi network was manually switched and does not work, try manually switching to another Wi-Fi network.
• If using a hotspot that requires username and password or credit card information to provide Internet access, go to KB26582 and see Cause 1.

Incorrect Network Login Issues:

• Error message Unable to acquire an IP address. This may be due to an invalid password.will appear when the network password is wrong on a WEP network. The line WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed will appear in the BlackBerry PlayBook Wi-Fi logs to confirm that the password was incorrect. More information about the Wi-Fi logs can be found in the Additional Information section.
• Error message Failed to connect to the network. Please check your password and try again. will appear when the network password is wrong on a WPA network. The line WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed will appear in the BlackBerry PlayBook Wi-Fi logs to confirm that the password was incorrect. More information about the Wi-Fi logs can be found in the Additional Information section.
• Error message Failed to connect to the network. Will appear when the username or password is incorrect on a network using WPA Enterprise or WPA2 Enterprise. The line EAP authentication started will be followed two lines later by Disconnect event – remove keys to confirm that the login information was incorrect. More information about the Wi-Fi logs can be found in the Additional Information section.

Router-based issues:

• The connection might have timed out. Try connecting again.
• The minimum Wi-Fi password length allowed on the BlackBerry PlayBook is 8 characters. Anything number less than 8 will prevent the connect button from being active.
• The BlackBerry PlayBook might be too far away from the wireless access point or wireless router to connect. Move the BlackBerry PlayBook closer and try connecting again.
• Verify that the BlackBerry PlayBook is in a Wi-Fi coverage area. If connecting to a home network, see if other wireless devices are able to connect. If connecting to an enterprise Wi-Fi network or a hotspot, contact the enterprise network administrator or an employee at the hotspot.
• If the Wi-Fi network doesn't appear in the list of available networks, the network might be hidden. If the network name is known, try connecting to it manually
• When using the Push Button Setup method, verify that the access point uses Wi-Fi Protected Setup™, and that it has been set to send its profile. Verify that another device is not also attempting to connect at the same time, and that not more than one access point within range is in this mode. For more information, see the information that came with the wireless router.
• If any kind of MAC filtering/whitelisting is enabled on the Wi-Fi network, ensure that PlayBook MAC address has been added to the whitelist. MAC address can be obtained from: Options -> About -> Network Information.
• The wireless router may need to be reset. Refer to the user manual for the wireless router. If connecting to an enterprise Wi-Fi network or a hotspot, contact the enterprise network administrator or an employee at the hotspot. NOTE: Please use this step as a last resort as it will affect all devices connected to the Wi-Fi network.

Thanks for the detailed response Ice!

Thanks grimreaper!

Originally Posted by tabletfanatic

Thanks for the detailed response Ice!

Originally Posted by tabletfanatic

Thanks grimreaper!

We try our best here at , we may not be available right away, and request that our members have a little patience, but we always come through to help our members the best we can.

Thank you for being part of

Originally Posted by tabletfanatic

Hi everyone,

I really liked my Playbook thus far; much better than my iPad 1 and my Android eLocity A7 tablet which I gave to my parents. But there is one problem with my Playbook that I had observed at the Bestbuy sample units before I bought it. The problem is with the WIFI WPA 2 connection. Occasionally, it will simply drop the connection and sometimes I have to restart my Playbook to get a connection again. The same router works fine with all my Macs, a PC, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and eLocity A7 without dropping the signal. Just the Playbook. Any thoughts. Again, it happened on sample units (more than 2 of them) at the Best Buy stores in Canada.

Thanks!

This has happened to me as well but it's very rare. Usually I just turn off wifi and turn it back on again to solve it. Once I had to delete the saved network and allow the pb to save it again once connected.

Originally Posted by wbeckle

This has happened to me as well but it's very rare. Usually I just turn off wifi and turn it back on again to solve it. Once I had to delete the saved network and allow the pb to save it again once connected.

Thank you for the share

Yes, it can happen, but it really is a simple solution.

Newbie here . . . My newly purchased Playbook works fine other than the fact that the wifi signal from my router is dropped every 30 seconds or so and then re-establishes connection on its own after about 5 - 10 seconds. I have removed and re-installed the wifi connection however problem still persists. Security is WEP. Please help!

I assume the you are reasonably close the the router therefore ruling out distance. Try removing the WEP and see it it holds.