Samsung LC11 - no WiFi

[kojak_nyc]

I just received my Samsung LC11 LTE hotspot yesteday.  I tried it out at home and it worked well - it was even faster than my DSL modem.

I brought it to work today and while it turns on, it does not look like it starts up WiFi.  Here's what happens:

1) I press the power button

2) The 4G light turns white

3) Then, in quick succession, the 4G, 3G and WiFi lights blink.

4) then the 4G and 3G lights show red.

5) then the 4G light turns green.

6) wifi light is still off.

I tried a couple of things to fix this, from resetting (holding the WPS button for 10 seconds until the lights turn white) and even upgrading to the latest Samsung Firmware from their update site.  Still nothing.

Before I call support, anybody else seeing this?

Thanks,

Tom

[kojak_nyc]

So here's the weirdness.  In the office, midtown Manhattan, I was able to get it to open the WiFi connection just once.  After that, no luck.  I brought it back home and it works perfectly.  I have turned it on and off several times with no issues whatsoever.  I will try in the office tomorrow, and if it does not work, I will call Verizon then.  In the meantime, I switched to WPA2 AES, changed the SSID, and disabled SSID broadcast.

[kojak_nyc]

I am documenting this in the hopes that this helps someone.

Back in the office - and it is back to not working.  As I wrote yesterday - at home, not a problem and the LC11 was rock solid.  In the office, nothing.

Two interesting things to note:

As the device starts up, there is a point where all the LEDs should light up - the two signal LEDs in Red and the Wifi in Blue, i think.  At home, they all light up, no problem.  At work - the WiFi light does not light up.

Also strange.  

When the unit works fine, when I power it off, the Power LED turns red and then after a few seconds, turns off.  When it does not turn on WiFi, the Power LED stays red until I press the button a second time.

[PDCLarry]

If it's only a problem in one location it could be that the location is saturated with WiFi networks, and it can't find an available channel/encoding.

[kojak_nyc]

Right, but if the location is saturated, shouldn't the unit pick the best channel and operate, rather than just be dead.  Given that the unit cannot operate over USB, that leaves me with no connectivity.  I can only imagine that in those places I need coverage, like airports, train stations, or just out and about in the city, the wifi airwaves will be congested.

I contacted support and they are going to be shipping me a replacement unit to see if it performs better.  In the meantime, I am going to hard-code a WiFi channel via the configuration GUI and see if that operates better.

[PDCLarry]

Please let us know if the new one fixes it. 

I can see over 100 networks from my desk. At an airport perhaps a dozen. And, if you recall, an Apple new product demo failed last year because there were over 500 MiFis in the audience.

[primortal]

I have the same exact problem.  At first I thought I had a defected device and VZW sent me a replacement.

At home I have no issues with the device but at the office WIFI refuses to start up (no light).  The only difference from home and the office is that at home I only have a few wireless networks (mine and a few neighbors) at work there is about 6+ wireless networks at any given time.

It seems that the Samsung cannot handle finding the an available channel to use and prevents the WIFI from starting up.

[Kenal0 · Accepted solution]

Change the wifi channel from auto to a fixed channel like 11.

Kenal0

[kojak_nyc]

Kenal0 - that is the right answer, and what I just called VZW support to tell them.

To recap what happened to me - it refused to work in my office, but worked fine at home.  Both have enough WiFi networks in the vicinity, but work seemed worse.

I tested the replacement unit at work and it was no better.  My interim solution was to turn it on and quickly stuff it in a drawer, wait 30 seconds, and pull it out.  WiFi was on and working - the drawer shielded it so it selected a channel.  Once I got it operational, I logged into the GUI, changed it to a fixed channel, and hit apply.  YMMV, but for me the WiFi light went out, I powered off and then powered on the device, and it has been fine since.

I just called Verizon back to tell them about the fix, so they have it on file and can recommend it to anyone else who calls in with the same problem.  Hopefully Samsung comes out with a firmware update that will take care of the Auto assignment.  I am fine with fixed channels at home, but given this is a mobile hotspot, I would rather it pick the best channel.

Koj

[primortal]

VZW called me back to let me know that Samsung is aware of the problem and is working to fix it.