Why Is My Wi-Fi Network Not Showing on All My Devices?
Wireless networks are one of life’s greatest mysteries. You’ve probably run into a lot of nasty questions about your own setup: Why are my downloads slow, even if I have a good connection? Why does my connection drop so quickly when I move around the house? Why is my wifi terrible even though I spent a lot of money on equipment? Such things.
This week in the Tech 911 Q&A section, Lifehacker reader George wants an answer to a common question – why is his Wi-Fi causing him so much grief? – with a funny twist:
“I had problems for a while. At first, my Wi-Fi network only showed up on my wife’s Android tablets and cell phones. My mother-in-law’s wifi for the block shows a stronger connection than our own. My devices, both Android and iPhone, were just starting to show not only her Wi-Fi as stronger, but several others as well, even when they were standing next to my router and modem. No other devices show available Wi-Fi besides mine when I try to connect. What’s happening?
If in doubt, please do a factory reset.
This is really unusual, George. I don’t have a good explanation of why your devices, and only your devices, are showing a strong wireless signal a block away. This is just not normal. A typical router’s signal won’t get that far; you’re lucky if it fills your entire home with a strong signal.
Your devices are weird. Everyone else is doing the right thing, as there is no distant Wi-Fi signal they can rush to. As for other wireless networks that you see as being more powerful than your own, this is likely. It is weird when it happens when you are near your router; there may be some kind of wireless interference.
Pull out your laptop – ideally one that has at least a wireless connection, that is, one that was purchased in the last decade or so – and use a dedicated Wi-Fi signal checker app . What do you see? If there is a lot of Wi-Fi interference, you will see that your wireless network (and everyone else) is trying to use the same channels. In this case, go to the settings of your router and either select a freer channel manually (if it is configured for automatic selection), or configure it to automatically select one if you manually selected a busy channel earlier.
If it is in automatic mode, try turning off the router, wait about 15 seconds, and then turning it back on. Ideally, it won’t fall back on congested channels for your wireless networks. If so, you can manually fix it.
If the app shows you that your router’s Wi-Fi signals are actually pretty strong, and it’s just your phone (s) showing weird, I wouldn’t bother. Your devices might have some kind of bug or hardware issue. (Please update to the latest Android or iOS version just in case.)
Then, reset your router to its factory defaults, usually by pressing a button in its settings or using a paperclip to physically press a tiny hardware button on your router. Why a nuclear approach? It’s easier to start from scratch, especially if all you have to do is enter your SSID and password to start over.
Once you’ve done that, update its firmware – the software that the router uses to work. If your router doesn’t have a built-in way to do this automatically, you may have to go to the manufacturer’s support site, enter the exact model number of your router, and download it yourself. Load it into your router, restart and you should be fine.
Then check the channel status again. If you need to make any adjustments, let me break it up. Otherwise, you can try another troubleshooting method – using separate SSIDs for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks (if you use the same SSID for both).
What do you see now? If your device only shows your 2.4GHz network and not a 5GHz network, this helps identify the problem. There might be a hardware issue that cannot be resolved with troubleshooting. Try to pull up the antennas of your router? At least for now, you should be able to access one of your Wi-Fi networks.
This doesn’t quite explain why your devices don’t display a wireless network, unlike your wife. I bet there is something odd about the devices you use, but I would not expect them all to have the same problem, with the only unifying characteristic being that they belong to you .
If updating your devices prevents you from connecting to your Wi-Fi, but everyone else can connect to your Wi-Fi, it’s reasonable to assume that your devices have a problem. Why they are all affected and what the problem is, I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps your devices are very old and your router is using encryption that they do not support (for example, WPA2 if your devices are only WPA compatible). Or perhaps you’re using an older standard for your wireless networks that you don’t need (like WEP) and moving to something more modern (like WPA2) will fix the problem.
However, your device should still see the wireless network even if it can’t connect. Try entering your wireless information manually if your phones allow you, and see if that helps. (I suspect it is not.) Make sure everything is working with the latest updates, then reset to factory defaults to make sure you’ve removed all program variables. If you still can’t see your Wi-Fi network on your devices, it’s time for a new router or new devices.
Am I missing anything, Lifehacker readers?