You’re probably here because you’ve found a bug with your Galaxy S6 (mine’s an edge, but it appears this impacts both models) that causes random reboots when accessing certain wifi networks. You’ve may or may not have realized it’s related to portal-style wifi networks – those that appear as open but require authentication/login via a redirect in your browser. This type is common in public or “guest” networks; especially those found in hotels, airports, and occasionally in your neighborhood. To date, the only way you’ve been able to deal with the problem is by quickly turning off wifi between reboots.
[cue Android haters]
I have good news – there is a fix. I thought it was an odd one-off bug due to a Kit Kat update, but a recent trip overseas left me frustrated enough to scour the internet to see if I was alone. It turns out, I wasn’t. I have no idea what actually causes the bug, but it seems related to the S6 corrupting the wifi database. The symptom of this is your phone reporting it’s connected to wifi network [null]. The blessing that is Google backups of your wifi settings means replacing the phone doesn’t work because the corruption is imported onto your new device. The only way to fix this, that I’ve found, is to wipe all your wifi networks/passwords.
There’s probably a manual way to find the problematic one and kill it, but I went for the easy button and downloaded FXR WiFi fix and rescue from Google play. The bad news is it will indeed wipe all your wifi passwords… and it probably adds Chinese spyware to your phone… but it does in fact fix the problem. I cannot say if it prevents another corruption; it has, however, removed the existing corruption. Nothing like a ham-fisted approach to fixing what is probably a single line of code. Huzzah!
The silver lining, if there is one, is I no longer have every single wifi network I’ve connected to stored on my phone. Those of you who travel a lot know it can get pretty obnoxious… and those of you who are slightly obsessive about tidiness (like me) will appreciate the cleanup. I hope you remember the password to your home network. 😀
Keywords: samsung galaxy s6 edge wifi reboot crash repair fix login restart boot loop portal airport android public free
so lulz.