How Do I Get Better Wifi On The PMID 701i?

[cherylharrell1961]

I recently bought the Polaroid PMID 701i tablet that was on sale for $99 in Big Lots. Works well but the wifi is not the greatest on it. It worked great on the wifi at Dennys. Here at home tho, the wifi cuts in and out. Stays on awhile then later drops out. I assume it's not a good enough signal or connecting and I would need at better connection. One odd thing I noticed is around 1 am even tho it shows the signal as fair, it starts coming in much faster around 1 am. So I wonder if maybe less people in the neighborhood are on at that time and that's why it speeds up then. I noticed when I was on the free wifi at Shoney's restaurant, that it listed the signal as being fair. It cut out some at first but then came it okay even tho it said fair. I'm wondering what I can do to clear this up and if any others have had this problem?

[irainbow]

I recently bought the Polaroid PMID 701i tablet that was on sale for $99 in Big Lots. Works well but the wifi is not the greatest on it. It worked great on the wifi at Dennys. Here at home tho, the wifi cuts in and out. Stays on awhile then later drops out. I assume it's not a good enough signal or connecting and I would need at better connection. One odd thing I noticed is around 1 am even tho it shows the signal as fair, it starts coming in much faster around 1 am. So I wonder if maybe less people in the neighborhood are on at that time and that's why it speeds up then. I noticed when I was on the free wifi at Shoney's restaurant, that it listed the signal as being fair. It cut out some at first but then came it okay even tho it said fair. I'm wondering what I can do to clear this up and if any others have had this problem?

I''ve not had this problem, and I'm not technically oriented, but the first question that occurred to me is, have you protected your WiFi connection? If not, I suggest you do that ... sounds like you've got stowaways if the signal improves after 1am when you suspect neighborhood folks drop out. (or are you on shared WiFi connection?) If it's your own connection, I suggest resetting your router ... your cable company can tell you how. This will, at least for a little while at least, knock off any 'hitchhikers' and you can see how strong the signal actually is.

In any event, if I'm not mistaken, doesn't seem to me it's the fault of the Polaroid, since you said the connection at Denny's was good.

Good luck with this -- I know how frustrating it is to deal with these issues and not know how to fix them.

[cherylharrell1961]

Thanks so much for the info. I figure it was probably the wifis fault and not the Polaroids. After my hubby passed in March 2009, I moved in with my folks so the computer connections are my folks and not mine. I dunno if they have wifi or not. I had my puter hooked up to their cable net but the puter got goofed up and my cousins friend who fixes it needs to come back and fix it again. So I am online either thru my folks puter or the tablet. I can't figure out why it was showing just fair as the strength of the connection at Shoneys. Maybe their wifi isn't so good there. I still was able to get online tho.

[kc9hi]

This tablet shuts of the wifi when the screen times out with a lack of activity and goes blank. When the tablet is 'unlocked' and used again, the wifi is 'hung' and fails to turn back on properly. The only thing I have found to enable wifi again it to fully power down and boot back up. Very frustrating.

Looking for a solution, I installed Auto Airplane Mode by DON. This seems to have cured the problem. Wifi always comes back on and reconnects when use of the tablet is resumed. It has a side benefit of greatly increasing battery life.

The downside is you won't be able to listen to streaming music like Pandora without setting the display to never sleep because once the screen sleeps, the wifi will turn off and the music will stop after the buffer empties.

Jim

[cherylharrell1961]

Thanks for the info. I need to find Auto Airplane Mode by DON on the internet and install it and see if that works.

[elektrik]

This tablet shuts of the wifi when the screen times out with a lack of activity and goes blank. When the tablet is 'unlocked' and used again, the wifi is 'hung' and fails to turn back on properly. The only thing I have found to enable wifi again it to fully power down and boot back up. Very frustrating.

Looking for a solution, I installed Auto Airplane Mode by DON. This seems to have cured the problem. Wifi always comes back on and reconnects when use of the tablet is resumed. It has a side benefit of greatly increasing battery life.

The downside is you won't be able to listen to streaming music like Pandora without setting the display to never sleep because once the screen sleeps, the wifi will turn off and the music will stop after the buffer empties.

Jim

Hehe. That's why I use Slacker Radio-if you're a paid customer, you can 'cache' stations onto the SD card. I like doing that anyhow, since connections (with the phone) can be spotty

[elektrik]

Thanks for the info. I need to find Auto Airplane Mode by DON on the internet and install it and see if that works.

As an FYI, you can download it direct from the Android Market/google play (assuming you have it installed).

Here's the link: https://play.google.com/store/search...+Airplane+Mode

[cherylharrell1961]

I found where I could download it but it acts like the file is not there anymore. Does anyone know where I can download this? Thanks!

[db8max]

Fix for this

Another way around this is to just tap on the notification bar at the lower right of the screen (where the clock usually is displayed) and then tap on the Auto Airplane Mode icon, bringing up its settings screen. Then simply turn Auto Airplane mode off. I've found that the radio app (I use Tune In Radio) will let the screen sleep, but it doesn't let the WiFi radio turn off, and the radio app will continue to stream. Its the Auto Airplane app that decides to shut the WiFi off when the screen sleeps. Of course you will want to turn the Auto Airplane Mode app back on when you finish listening to Pandora. You can get AutoAirplane Mode here

www.appbrain.com/app/auto-airplane-mode/com.blogspot.donkun3.autoairplane

BTW, the reason Cherylharrell is noticing increased speed at 1 AM is because she is on a cable modem. When there is heavy demand on internet usage on your "loop" on a cable system, speeds go down because you are sharinbg that loop back to the head-end. When everyone goes to bead after streaming Netflix or Huluu for most of the evening, congestion goes down and speeds go up. Its a problem with cable based internet.

This tablet shuts of the wifi when the screen times out with a lack of activity and goes blank. When the tablet is 'unlocked' and used again, the wifi is 'hung' and fails to turn back on properly. The only thing I have found to enable wifi again it to fully power down and boot back up. Very frustrating.

Looking for a solution, I installed Auto Airplane Mode by DON. This seems to have cured the problem. Wifi always comes back on and reconnects when use of the tablet is resumed. It has a side benefit of greatly increasing battery life.

The downside is you won't be able to listen to streaming music like Pandora without setting the display to never sleep because once the screen sleeps, the wifi will turn off and the music will stop after the buffer empties.

Jim

[kc9hi]

I found where I could download it but it acts like the file is not there anymore. Does anyone know where I can download this? Thanks!

With your tablet's browser surf to www.1mobile.com
Search for "auto airplane mode" (without the quotes)
Click the one with the square black background with the plane tilted 45°
The click the Download button
Wait for the file to download (but not too long... it's small)
Now launch your file browser
Enter the Download folder
Click on the Auto Airplane Mode file and install

Jim

[cherylharrell1961]

Thanks so much for the link. I have trouble with links that go to the Amazon App Store or Google Play. Amazon wants my credit card info even tho I only want free apps and the Google Play I can't seem to get it going yet. Your link looks like a good apps site.

[N4RPS]

BTW, the reason Cherylharrell is noticing increased speed at 1 AM is because she is on a cable modem. When there is heavy demand on internet usage on your "loop" on a cable system, speeds go down because you are sharinbg that loop back to the head-end. When everyone goes to bead after streaming Netflix or Huluu for most of the evening, congestion goes down and speeds go up. Its a problem with cable based internet.

Hello!

This is also true on wireless 2G/3G/4G/WIMAX networks. DSL is slower, but you get the same speed all the time (at least that is what the telcos claim).

DSL, besides being slower, also loses speed as the distance from the pedestal in your area increases. This distance sometimes can be as much as a mile or two. Before it was available from the pedestal, few could get DSL because it was the distance to your central office that affected your speed.

Verizon's FIOS, AT&T's u-verse, and other fiber carriers use what they call fiber-in-the-loop, or FITL. THAT's the way to go - IF you CAN. Beats a cable modem HANDS DOWN, EVERY TIME!

While I'm providing this lesson on watch-building to those who only want to know what time it is, ANOTHER little-noticed factor can hurt your throughput - interference from multiple routers in your immediate area using the same channel.

I recommend that people with wireless connection issues set their wireless routers to check all 11 WiFi channels, one at a time, to discover which one will yield them them the best speed. I had a cable modem put in about two weeks ago, and had SERIOUS problems holding a wireless connection on Channel 6 (usually the default). My issues cleared up by going to channel 8.

The 701c with Gingerbread, under Advanced Options in the WiFi section, allows the selection of how many WiFi channels to use. In the US, that'd be 11. Some routers also have the capability of adjusting the channel's bandwidth. Mine lets me choose either 20 or 40 MHz.

UIAM, a wider bandwidth will allow for more and faster WiFi connections. However, you may also have to move further away from Channel 6 to avoid adjacent interference. This is especially important if someone near you has replaced their router's firmware with DD-WRT, which allows power levels that may exceed the limits under Part 15 of the FCC's rules. Stock routers usually run about 30mW of power; DD-WRT lets people run several times that, at the risk of frying one's router.

The WiFi power limits go WAY UP under Part 97 (Amateur Radio Service). There, you can run up to 1W of fixed power, and up to 100W variable power - which could potentially cause cancer if you're too close to the transmitter. In addition, under Part 97, you must observe the boundaries of the 2.4 GHz ham band, block all access to the non-licensed, and prohibit encryption, to include SSL. With a high enough antenna, your wireless cloud then becomes a full-blown hurricane, if you can make and connect a high-gain antenna to your wireless device. Overkill to its ultimate extreme, of course, but explains just what is possible with WiFi.

There you go - pretty much everything you (may or may not) want to know about WiFi and broadband, but now need not ask.

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[Finless]

Right on post man!

BTW most of these China tablets come set to 14 channels by default... Dont waste battery and BS... set it immediately to 11 if your in the US.

The router tip about channel 6 especially with broadband providers now putting up hotspots all over the place is very important to understand. My tablet at home shows 17 available wifi connections ALL of them trying to use ONLY channel 6.

Bob

[cherylharrell1961]

Thanks for the info all. Around here the only high speed internet is Comcast. Verizon refuses to put their DSL or Fios in the area. So we have to take what we can get.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Right on post man!

Coming from someone as respected as you are here, Bob, THAT means a LOT. Thanks.

BTW most of these China tablets come set to 14 channels by default... Dont waste battery and BS... set it immediately to 11 if your in the US.

Not only THAT, they also like to change back to 14 channels "all by their own selves" on the 701c, as we like to say in this neck of the woods, so you might want to check this from time to time.

The router tip about channel 6 especially with broadband providers now putting up hotspots all over the place is very important to understand. My tablet at home shows 17 available wifi connections ALL of them trying to use ONLY channel 6.

Bob

It's a shame. WiFi Channel 6 lies right in the center of the 2.4 GHz ham band. If I DO throw up a 100W WAP, they'll change channels - FAST.

73 DE N4RPS
Rob