I noticed my samsung S21 FE would not turn on Wi-Fi about a week ago. It got stuck on "turning on...". I've tried essentially all troubleshooting tips I could find online:
- Rebooting phone - Test in Safe Mode - Reset of network findings - Factory Reset
Nothing worked. Yesterday I went to a phone repair shop and they changed the Wi-Fi chip. When I went to pick it up today, Wi-Fi was working perfectly.
A few hours later I was searching through Google Chrome and it suddenly stopped working (wi-fi was still on but connection had been broken). I turned off the Wi-Fi and then back on again . It would be back for a couple seconds and then same thing happened again. I also noticed that while Wi-Fi was still on I got a notification saying: "WhatsApp is using mobile data because the current Wi-Fi network is blocking it or there's a connection problem", or something along these lines. I then proceeded to turn off Wi-Fi and I left it for a couple hours. It now won't turn back on again.
Any help or insights on how to solve this would be greatly appreciated 🙏
Ok, thanks! I was thinking maybe the notification ("WhatsApp is using mobile data because the current Wi-Fi network is blocking it or there's a connection problem") led to a software problem afterall
Based on everything you've described, it definitely sounds like the repair wasn't fully successful. If the Wi-Fi chip was just replaced and the issue came back within hours, it's likely either:
A faulty installation (poor soldering or contact), or the actual problem lies deeper on the mainboard.
We recommend heading back to the repair shop and explaining the symptoms they should recheck it.
However, that WhatsApp notification is usually just a symptom, not a cause. It appears when the phone detects a weak or unstable Wi-Fi connection, and automatically falls back to mobile data for app connectivity.
Still, if you want to double-check, you could try: Booting into Recovery Mode again and wiping the cache partition.
To perform wipe cache partition, please follow the below steps:
Turn off your phone. Press and hold the Volume Up + Power buttons at the same time. When the Samsung logo appears, release both buttons. Use the Volume Down button to scroll to “Wipe cache partition.” Press the Power button to select it. Scroll to Yes and press Power again. Once done, scroll to “Reboot system now” and press Power to restart.
This does not erase personal data only temporary system files.
But if it’s still not turning on, best to let the repair shop have another look.
Hi Helenna! Thank you so much for your feedback. I left the phone at the repair shop earlier this morning and I've just seen your comment, so I haven't tried wiping cache partition. I will if the phone comes back with the same problem. I'll keep you updated, thank you :)
Update: The phone came back with the same problem. Wi-Fi was working fine and the next morning it was off again and unable to turn back on. I have tried wiping cache partition like @Helenna suggested but that didn't work. I will be sending the phone directly to Samsung for analysis and come back with the diagnosis!
