Wi-Fi- Incorrect Password
BigDeezy1234
Enthusiast - Level 1

Whenever my router reboots due to choppy connection issues, when it boots back up 80% of the devices reconnect but a few of them get the dreaded “Incorrect Password” message, despite the fact that the password is correct. I’ve seen a few posts about this issue and there is never a real resolution. Just the same suggestions that don’t work, or sometimes do, but don’t get to the root of the problem.

My iPhone 15, my son’s iPad 10th gen. Laptops, smart plugs other iPhones, Xbox, ps5 all connect using the same password. Occasionally one or two of the smart plugs won’t connect either. If we move those devices to the opposite side of the house they will connect to the extender over there, but if drift to the other side and they switch over to the main router they lost connection and you get the passsword error. Router is Fios owned and is 4 years old.

2 Replies
BigDeezy1234
Enthusiast - Level 1

Talked to tech support tonight and apparently I have too many things connected to my router. I’ve got about 18 and I was told that’s the limit on these things. I guess I might need to switch carriers if Fios can’t support all my devices!

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smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

Which router are you using? It could be a G1100 given it's four years old. By any chance, have you tried turning off SON (Self Organizing Network) to see if it helps at?

https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/equipment/network-extender/son will have instructions on how to enable or disable SON. If disabling doesn't make a difference, re-enable the feature since you're using an extender.

My thoughts here might have to do with the device being de-authenticated due to band steering (the router forcing devices to 5Ghz by refusing connection to 2.4Ghz or vice versa). Alternatively, if the problem devices do not support DFS 5Ghz channels, then it might be having a hard time joining the network as well. Disabling DFS 5Ghz channels could help here, especially if the problem rears up when roaming around the house.

One thing which comes to mind is there may be a mismatch between the security settings on the extender and main router for some reason. For example, the main router is set to WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode but the extender is set to WPA2 mode, despite using the same password.

Another thing I would try is disabling auto channels on the router, and setting a fixed channel. Just in case the problems you're seeing with choppy access and authentication are actually related to the router changing channels arbitrarily when it feels there is congestion.

Apologies if these have been tried already.