Amazon Fire Tablets - Issues With WiFi Anyone?

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#1

I seem to have a lot of issues with WiFi on my Amazon Fire tablets (Fire HD10 9th gen, 11th gen, Fire HD8 Plus 10th gen). These are all wall mounted and used for dashboards with SharpTools. They'll work without issue for a time and then randomly I'll get a frozen camera image, or some android DNS error page will replace my dashboard.

When it occurs, the WiFi symbol on the Fire tablet will have an exclamation mark and show 'no internet connection'. It is still connected to the router but reporting that it can't connect to the internet. Here's the thing,....when this happens on one tablet, the other three and all other devices connected via that WiFi network are fine and remain internet connected. The fix is to open settings flick the WiFi switch off and on again, select preferences and select the network. All is good again.....until next time.

It's not a DHCP issue, all have static IP addresses (I use static addresses so I can adjust the Fully settings from my MacBook). Router logs show nothing. Has anyone had similar experience or have any ideas?

#2

I've seen similar issues. And usually whenever the tablet stops working for whatever reason I just reboot the thing and it starts to work again. That is the only way I know how to fix it. Don't know why it happens though.

I've been meeting to look into a method of forcing a weekly reboot on them automatically. Just haven't gotten around to it.

These tablets are cheap and work ok but not the most reliable.

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#3

I wonder if you could even detect the issue somehow and automate reconnecting the wifi or rebooting the device.

Tasker was popular for this on traditional Android devices (with Google Play), but it's not available in the Amazon store. At one point, the developer was offering direct purchases to side-load, but I think he's limited that to bulk orders and Patreon supporters now.

I had poked around with AutomateIt on Fire OS at one point -- it was a bit more limited, but could still build some neat automations. I just checked and it doesn't seem to be available on my new Fire tablets though. :person_facepalming:

#4

I haven't seen this. I have 10 around the house. I do use the FireToolBox to debloat and then sideload the Hubitat Dashboard Android app. I also block the update servers via piHole using the DNS list from this thread on XDA.

#5

Try locking your WiFi to specific channels. I had similar concerns and it helped.

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#6

Yeah I already do that. Both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks have a different SSID and are locked to a channel. I had DNS set to 8.8.8.8 and wondered if it was saying 'not connected to internet' as it was briefly unable to see that server. On one tablet I've changed DNS to the router address so it can handle that with the ISP allocated servers.

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#7

If you are running FKB, this solved on one of my tablets.

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#8

@Bloodtick_Jones - thanks for that. I've just had a look and it seems I already had the options enabled for WiFi enable at app start along with the forced SSID and passphrase. However I didn't have the 'Reset WifI on Internet Disconnection' enabled. I've enabled that now and will see how it goes. Fingers crossed....

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#9

Ahhh.. that was added in 1.45. I'm a few versions behind. Now enabled.

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Download the Hubitat app