Galaxy S6: How to Fix WiFi Connectivity Issues

A lot of people have reported an issue with connecting their Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to a WiFi network and today I wanted to walk you through exactly how to fix something like this.

WiFi connectivity issues can occur at any time and there are many reasons why something like this could happen. I almost always see this type of issue reported after an OTA Android update has been downloaded and applied to a smartphone or tablet. Although, there are still some other reasons why something like this would happen and it’s not so easy to diagnose the exact cause for everyone.

Let’s go through some basic troubleshooting steps at first and then we’ll progress to more critical steps that might be required.

Galaxy S6 Fix WiFi

The first thing that I wanted to suggest is to turn the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge off for a minute or two and then turn it back on. Even though this seems like a very simple and basic thing to do, you would be surprised to find out how rare it is to see someone restart their smartphone or tablet. Even if we don’t plan on using a device for 8+ hours, we almost always keep it on just because it’s something that we’ve become accustomed to. You could just do a restart, but since we’re going through these steps one at a time, I figured it would be a good attempt to just let the Galaxy S6 be powered off for a minute or two before we try the next step.

Reboot the Router

The next step that you’ll want to test out is to go and reboot the WiFi router that you’re trying to connect to. That is, if you can/allowed to do so. The WiFi router is usually a box that your internet modem is connected to but sometimes the router is built into the modem(like it is with my Comcast modem). So if you have a standalone router then you’ll just need to power off the router for about 30 seconds. If you have a router and modem combined, then you’ll want to power that box off for 30 seconds as well. All you’ll need to do is pull the power cord from the back of the router/modem and then count to 30. Once you are done, go ahead and plug the power cable back into the modem/router and wait until everything is restored. This process can take up to 5 minutes or so depending on the setup that you have.

I should note that even if you have other devices connecting perfectly fine to your WiFi network, it can still be beneficial to go and reboot it. I know it seems like there shouldn’t be an issue with it if other devices are connecting to it just fine. This can help flush out any unused data from devices that are no longer connected and it could help to resolve the issue that you are experiencing with your Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge. Granted, not everyone is allowed to do this(at your place of work for example), but if you do have the ability then it is worth testing.

Forget the Network

Now, if you are still unable to connect to your local WiFi network then we’ll want to take this a step further and tell Android to forget the network entirely. This is a step that almost always fixes the issue if it has started after applying an OTA update. There are a lot of things that can go wrong when applying an OTA update to your Galaxy S6 and this WiFi connectivity issue is something that happens a lot. The underlying issue seems to be that the WiFi network data stored on your device has become corrupt and unreadable. Thankfully though, this issue is very easy to fix and it just takes a couple of steps.

You’ll need to launch the Settings application on your Galaxy S6 and then dive into the WiFi section of the menu. From here, you should see the WiFi network that you’re having trouble connecting to listed here. If it’s not, then you might not have it added to the Galaxy S6 at all(or the S6 isn’t in range of it). When you see the WiFi network listed here, long-press(tap your finger and hold it there) on the WiFi network that you’re having issues with. After a second or two, you should see a menu appear that asks if you want to forget the network or if you want to modify the network configuration. Go ahead and tap on the Forget Network option and then reboot the Galaxy S6.

Once the Galaxy S6 has booted back up, then you’ll want to go back into the Settings application, back into the WiFi section of the menu and then add your local WiFi network back into your phone. This will require that you use the WPS button/function on your router, or that you input and save your WiFi network password(you should have your WiFi network protected with a password). Once the information has been saved into Android again, now check to see if the connectivity issues are still present. This step almost always resolves any WiFi issues that people have but not always. If it doesn’t help to fix it then we have one last thing to test out.

Factory Data Reset

The last thing that I can recommend is that you perform a factory reset on the Galaxy S6. Before you do this though, go ahead and download the PC software called Samsung Kies. After you install this, connect the Galaxy S6 to the computer with a micro USB cable and tell Kies to backup all of your important data. This should be a one-click operation and then all of your critical data like contacts and photos should all be backed up. Then follow the tutorial where I show you how to factory reset the Galaxy S6. After you have reset the Galaxy S6, then activate Android again and connect the device to the PC.

Launch Samsung Kies and tell the software to restore your data back to your Galaxy S6. Once all of that is done, now try to connect to your WiFi network again and everything should be just fine. If you are still having trouble with WiFi connectivity then there really isn’t much else that we can do. You could try to flash an official firmware onto your Galaxy S6 as it will basically do an even deeper reset than we just did. 9 times out of 10 though, this isn’t required as the traditional factory reset is all you will need. If you are still having trouble connecting to a WiFi network though then it is likely a hardware issue and you’ll probably need to return the Galaxy S6 to the retailer your purchased it from.

Let me know if this has or has not helped you in any way. The more feedback that I receive(whether it is positive or negative), the easier it will be to help research a solution to the situation.