Samsung 4G LTE problem

I'm using the Samsung 4G LTE wireless hotspot and when it's working it is blazing fast and a huge improvement over my MiFi 2200. It's started doing something interesting. The 4G signal seems to be stable, the light is a yellow/green, but the WiFi connection out to my laptop is having problems. It will work fine for a while, with the blue light blinking away, but then all of a sudden, it goes to WiFi Standby and the light turns green and my laptop loses the wireless connection. Then, 5-10 seconds will pass and then the light will turn blue again, my laptop will eventually find the connection and start working again, only to have it disappear 30 seconds later.

I tried a hard reset of the device, and that seemed to work for a while and then went right back to its old tricks. I thought about hard cabling it to the laptop, but the VZ Access Mgr wouldn't recognize my hardware.

Accepted answers

Ubuntu_Guy

I recently upgraded from a 5 Spot 3G to the new Samsung 4G and had the same problem with wifi constantly connecting and disconnecting, rendering the device useless. I prefer to only use Ubuntu Linux for every thing and the Verizon people were not very helpful beyond the typical hit the reset button type of answers. They finally told me they don't support Linux and gave me the option to return it. Here is what I discovered. The encryption protocol being used by default was the problem. Once I changed it in the device, my connections are rock solid. I have also tried it in a Windows XP machine (which I needed to get get into the device to begin with) without problems as well. Here are detailed instructions on how to change the security from WPA (TKIP) to WPA2 (AES).

First, you need a Windows or Mac box to connect to the device via wifi. Hopefully, your connection will stay up long enough to follow these instructions, otherwise you can bring it to a Verizon store, they can log into the device from one of their machines if need be.
Open a browser and go to 192.168.1.1
At the log in page, enter the same password that you used to connect to the device in Windows or Mac. It is also printed on a label above the battery. You can see it after you remove the battery cover.

Click on the "Network" tab at the top of the screen.
Below that where it says LAN WiFi, click the WiFi button
Click the "Manual Configuration" button.
On the "Security" line click the drop down where it says WPA/Personal/PSK (TKIP)
Change this to WPA2/Personal/PSK (AES)
The password field just below it will now be blank. Simply reenter the same password that you used before.
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the page.

It will now warn you that you have not changed the profile name and you should delete the profile from whatever Windows was using to ID the device. This is important as Windows will keep using the old device profile with the wrong encryption and it will fail to connect. Just use what ever software you use to manage wireless connections to delete the old device profile and then search for and reaquire the device. Reenter the password and you should be good to go.

Return the Windows/MAC box to the owner and say thank you.

Boot up your Ubuntu box and it should just work. No further configuration should be needed.

I hope changing the encryption from WPA (TKIP) to WPA2 (AES) works as well for you as it did for me. I have been cruising around for over an hour now with the 4G device and it's great. Speedtest.net tells me I get about 18.75 Mb down and 4.75 Mb up with a latency of 85 ms.

Have fun, to learn more about Ubuntu Linux go to www.ubuntu.com

All comments

blah

I am having a similar problem where when I am using the Samsung 4G LTE mobile hotspot, and it is plugged into power, it will very frequently just turn itself off, and the connection obviously dies. I end up having to hold down the power button again to power it back on. Doing so, it lasts for another 5 minutes of browsing, and shuts itself off again. Keep in mind, the device is plugged into power the whole time this is happening. Also, the device is getting very warm to the touch.

Thoughts? It's about to go back to the store if I have to put up with this much longer.

blah

Oh hey, SeattleDave, the device will not currently work with VZ Access Manager. The USB port is only for charging right now. I hope they can potentially fix that with a firmware update down the road, because I did enjoy using VZAM at times on my old 3G Mifi.

red332

Same exact issue here. Thing died 5 times just trying to make this post. What a waste this thing has been so far. Verizon/Samsung, get your act together on this.

primortal

At least yours is working :smileyhappy:

Mine will connect to the 4G/3G network but the wifi never turns on even after a hard reset. VZW is sending me a replacement, finger crossed....

JesL

Our company bought 4 of these devices. On the first one I tried, we had the same problem as the original post: The WiFi connection would randomly drop for 30 seconds or so. On the second one, we had the same problem as the later post: The MiFi would only stay on for up to 5 minutes, then turn off.

Needless to say, very frustring...

tail

I'm seeing the same problem with the wifi dropping out. It appears to happen to me most when I'm under tunnels and I get switched to 3G from 4G. After about 2 minutes, WiFi came back. This is what I saw in the diagnostics page:

[ 04/07/2011 10:45:00am ] BSS Stopped: 04/07/2011 10:45:34am
[ 04/07/2011 10:45:00am ] WLAN Disabled: 04/07/2011 10:45:34am
[ 04/07/2011 10:47:00am ] WLAN Enabled: 04/07/2011 10:47:17am
[ 04/07/2011 10:47:00am ] BSS Started: 04/07/2011 10:47:18am

EdW_VZW

Thanks for your feedback. Added to what was stated, perhaps you can perform a master reset on your Mifi device. This can help see if there is something else is causing the problem that a hard reset did not resolve. Please make sure you use the exact steps per the link to ensure the proper steps are being performed.

The link is: http://support.vzw.com/clc/devices/knowledge_base.html?id=39878

Thanks,

edw@vzwsupport

Ubuntu_Guy

Have fun, to learn more about Ubuntu Linux go to www.ubuntu.com

DaveSeattle

That worked perfectly! Thanks. I changed the encryption to AES from TKIP and it hasn't dropped the WiFi once.

On a side note, who's the idiot that designed this forum. I had to create a new user account because the old one never gave me a chance to activate it and now it won't let me resend the activation message. Bad design.

FAUguy

Ubuntu_Guy wrote:

Click on the "Network" tab at the top of the screen.
Below that where it says LAN WiFi, click the WiFi button
Click the "Manual Configuration" button.
On the "Security" line click the drop down where it says WPA/Personal/PSK (TKIP)
Change this to WPA2/Personal/PSK (AES)
The password field just below it will now be blank. Simply reenter the same password that you used before.
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the page.

I hope changing the encryption from WPA (TKIP) to WPA2 (AES) works as well for you as it did for me. I have been cruising around for over an hour now with the 4G device and it's great. Speedtest.net tells me I get about 18.75 Mb down and 4.75 Mb up with a latency of 85 ms.

Have fun, to learn more about Ubuntu Linux go to www.ubuntu.com

I have been using the Samsung 4G SCH-LC11 HotSopt for a week now, and have also noticed that web pages would freeze half-way through their loading process, and then pick back up about 20-30 seconds later. I have seen this when using a HP Netbook, Droid X and iPhone 4, when connected to the 4G HotSpot.

I tried your suggestion and changed the WiFi to "WPA2/Personal/PSK (AES)" but after using it today, I am still having the same problem as before, with web pages stalling while trying to load. The WiFi LED will just show a solid blue for 20-30 seconds, then start to flash while the web page finishes to load. This is also with the new firmware installed on the 4G HotSpot that Samsung posted on their support site.

The speeds are fast, about 12Mbps down using the speedtest.net app, but I wish that the web sites would fully load instead of freezing for 30 seconds half-way through.

sgrubbs

Do we know if this solution has worked for anyone, the hard reset?

This dropping every 2-3 minutes is maddening.

FAUguy

sgrubbs wrote:
Do we know if this solution has worked for anyone, the hard reset?
This dropping every 2-3 minutes is maddening.

I have tried everything, doing the hard-reset, installing the new Samsung software, and changing the WiFi encryption type. I still get web page stalls.

qwstef12345

Thanks for the tip. Using maverick here. Just made the change, have to see how it goes for a day or two.

Today I am only getting 3G where I was getting 4G before.

At least if it stays connected I am not worse off than before 4G.

awdtt

Pretty much the same problem as others have reported. The WiFi connection is lost after 3-4 minutes. The WiFi LED goes out and never comes back on. A power cylcle is required.

I updated the firmware to 1.0.011 which went smoothly enough, but no change in behavior after reconnecting and reconfiguring.

For the record, I'm using WPA-PSK2 (AES). The fact that the WiFi LED goes out and stays out is a pretty good indicator that the device is the problem, not the security setting.

InvaderZim

I'm not having any trouble with losing the WiFi connection, but in many locations, WiFi won't turn on at all. I boot the device, all three lights flash and eventually the 4G light (sometimes the 3G light) will go green but the WiFi light is completely off.

I think it has something to do with WiFi congestion. It happens when there are a bunch of busy WiFi networks in the area. WiFi mostly works fine in my apartment during the day, but in the evening, it won't come on and my laptop lists like 20 other WiFi networks in the area.

Because of this (and the PPTP VPN problem), I was able to get my trial period extended by another 5 days and applied the firmware update, but it hasn't resolved the problem. I have not switched from WPA to WPA2 yet -- don't see if that would affect whether WiFi turns on or not.

And, of course, since WiFi is off and USB can't be used for communication, I can't talk to the device at all when it's in that state. D'oh!

Is anyone else seeing this variation of the problem -- no WiFi when the device is booted?

kojak_nyc

InvaderZim

Find your answer here: http://community.vzw.com/t5/Broadband-Netbook-MiFi-Devices/Samsung-LC11-no-WiFi/td-p/506126

Short answer - it is WiFi congestion and a fix is on the way from Samsung. In the interim, when you get WiFi to enable, log into the GUI and change the Channel Select from auto to a fixed channel.

cphurley

Same problem as most - as little as 20 seconds to as much as about 4-5 minutes.

While working: 4G green light, Wifi blue blinking, Power Green

After a few minutes: 4G goes out, then white, then out... power goes from green to red... 4G and Wifi go blank... the finally power goes back to green but no 4G and no Wifi lights at all.

I have tried changing security setting to WPA2(AES) and have run the Wifi on channel 10, then channel 11 - has not helped. This issues has just started today (5/3/11) and prior I had used the device for 3 or 4 days without any service interruptions.

Its been a VERY frustrating day - any other solutions out there?

loriinal

Thanks for posting. I am on my 4th device now and have had continual problems. This has (at least for now) helped me connect again. Hope it lasts because I am fed up with this device!

Realslick

I also have the same problem. This is my second device. It's pretty upsetting that no one at Verizon can accurately solve this problem that--clearly--many people have.

Angry_LTE_user

I have the most recent firmware update on a Samsung LC11 that I just purchased within the last two weeks.

I am having all the problems that others have reported with frequent disconnects.

I have tried using the open profile, so one conjecture that has been advanced, that this has something to do with the security settings can't be right.

It is shameful that Verizon continues to sell this device when there seems to be a known problem and no known fix.

Poozler

problems the 4G network not the phones. they have to fix their entire infrastructure. don't hold your breath.