Discussion Galaxy S23 (Ultra) Wireless Issues

[KK98045]

The Galaxy 23 (Ultra) has some significant wi-fi and Bluetooth issues. It is possible that it is just mine, but I think these are generic to the phone. I suspect that they are firmware related, but that is only a guess.

1. The S23 seems to frequently loose the wi-fi connection very frequently. It does not automatically re-connect even though it is set to do so. It is necessary to at a minimum turn off wi-fi by tapping the icon and then tapping it again. This is very, very annoying. You can be in middle of doing something that requires wi-fi connectivity. Basically nothing happens (no noticeable error popups, etc). If you then take a look at the wi-fi icon you will see an exclamation mark in the icon indicating a problem.

2. Streaming over Bluetooth has significant problems. Randomly over time I get into a streaming mode where every 5 to 20 seconds there is noise burst. Once this starts happening is keeps on happening. If you stop streaming and restart the audio often the problem will go away for some random period of time (2 to 20 minutes). Then the noise glitches start happening at the 5 to 20 second interval.

The Bluetooth problem reminds me of a similar problem I had with an iPhone (5?). The problem there I narrowed down to an issue that was related to having the Apple Watch. As long as I had the Apple Watch software installed I would get these glitches whether or not the watch was actually connected/on. I had to go in and manually uninstall the watch software to get the problem to go away. BTW, Apple refused to acknowledge/fix the problem until about 9 months after I reported the problem. Also, note that I do have a Galaxy 5 watch and a car attached to my S23.

You'd think that the wi-fi connectivity issue would have been something that Samsung would have noted in their internal testing. It is very obvious, and very obviously a serious issue. Again, I assume that this is not specific to my individual phone or wi-fi environment. I do have excellent wi-fi coverage throughout my house. On the other hand the cell coverage is very weak here. The problem might not be noticed in locations where the phone seamlessly transitions to cell data if it somehow cannot get/maintain a wi-fi connection.

Again, I hope that these problems are firmware related and that Samsung quickly isolates and fixes the issues. As long as they are firmware, they can be fixed. If they are hardware then my S23 is going to get returned.

Please let me know if anyone else has similar problems!

 

[Toadie68]

I'm having real issues with S23 Ultra and it not reconnecting to car.

I'm using a Pioneer AVH-Z9200DAB head unit and it's worked with my S21U from day one - as soon as I started the car the stereo re-connected and Spotify started playing.

On S23U, when I start car the stereo is not connected for calls or audio and I have to go through a connection screen (on phone or stereo) to get them to interact.

Now, I have to start car, re-establish bluetooth connection and then, on stereo, activate Android Auto to get sound.

I also get the volume pulsing you mentioned on Maps, even when guidance volume is muted.

Sadly, I traded on S21U to get S23, otherwise it'd be going back 😪

 

[beadmaster]

Yes, thank you for posting. I'm having a lot of problems. My old phone is having charging port problems, so I took the upgrade and bought the S23 Ultra. Most of my settings didn't get through the copy and many of the apps on the new phone are back to no settings at all, as if they're brand new apps. On top of that, the connection is extremely flaky. I try to access an app and it just sits and does nothing. I go back to my old phone and it pops right up. I login on Facebook, comment, then Facebook goes blank and I login on computer, only to find my comment is gone, as if it never posted. I can't return this phone and can't use it as is.

 

[KK98045]

I did get a suggestion from T-Mobile tech support that actually (gasp!) seems to have worked. Clear the cache by powering off and powering on with the volume up button held. Go down to the clear cache option using volume buttons and clear the cache using the power/side button.

I was very, very skeptical that this would work. However, I think that it probably did. I have actually gone a full day without needing to cycle the wi-fi connection. I have no idea why clearing the cache would work. On the face of it it doesn't seem like it should have done anything at all.

I do see some remaining Bluetooth streaming issues (periodic short burst of noise), but the Wi-Fi appears stable.

Please post whether this works for you!

 

[Toadie68]

Doesn't matter whether it's a new pairing or an existing pair, the Calls and Audio switches below always turn off when I stop the car (turn off the

On the Garmin Satnav, however, they stay as set (Calls on, Audio off)


Have tried radio pairing with nothing else paired to the phone, so it's not the SatNav affecting the settings

 

[KK98045]

I did get a suggestion from T-Mobile tech support that actually (gasp!) seems to have worked. Clear the cache by powering off and powering on with the volume up button held. Go down to the clear cache option using volume buttons and clear the cache using the power/side button.

I was very, very skeptical that this would work. However, I think that it probably did. I have actually gone a full day without needing to cycle the wi-fi connection. I have no idea why clearing the cache would work. On the face of it it doesn't seem like it should have done anything at all.

I do see some remaining Bluetooth streaming issues (periodic short burst of noise), but the Wi-Fi appears stable.

Please post whether this works for you!

Yeah, well the cache clear didn't work.

Samsung is now blaming this problem on a (now) known compatibility issue with TP-Link routers. They claim that this is a Google issue, and that they (Samsung) can't fix it. I have strong doubts about that.

I do have a Netgear access point on my network. By connecting specifically to the Netgear apps do seem to load much much faster. This is in spite of the fact that the TP-Link is technically a significantly faster router. It is too early to say if the S23 will be stable with the Netgear.

If this holds up and that the problems I've seen were due to a TP-Link/S23 incompatibility, this still points to major Samsung internal and/or Beta testing foul up. While TP-Link probably isn't the #1 most popular router, it has got to be in the top 5 or 10.

 

[BenPorter]

Had the same thing happen on my S22U. It stays connected to my 5gHz network but cant load anything. For some reason Ookla internet speed test works great and shows 1gbit speed even though 5s before my phone couldnt even load instagram photos.

 

[KK98045]

Same symptoms. Speedtest.net showed great download speeds, but in general things were very sluggish or I'd get nothing until I cycled wi-fi off and on.

I'd be interested if you can provide you router type. I have verified that ever since I switched to my Netgear router I haven't had this problem repeat in about 4 days.

It is very concerning that this has been going on since the S22 and Samsung has done nothing to fix the issue.