How to Troubleshoot Your Android Wifi

 When you need to connect to a wireless network from your Android phone, you can usually open the settings, select the network, and you’re off and running. In the rare instances when wireless doesn’t cooperate, there are tricks you can use to troubleshoot the issue. These Wi-Fi troubleshooting tips are listed in order of the simplest to the most complicated fix.

Power off

The first thing you should try is to power off your Android phone, remove the battery, leave the battery out for about 30 seconds, replace the battery, and power the phone back on.

Power-cycle wireless

My phone has retained a previous IP address from another wireless connection before and applied it to the current wireless. That’s fine if the address scheme is the same and there is no address conflict, but that is not usually the case. You can try turning off wireless and then turning it back on by following these steps:

1. Tap the Menu button on your handset.

2. Tap Settings.

3. Tap Wireless and Network from within the Settings menu.

4. Tap Wi-Fi settings from the Wireless and Network menu.

5. In the new screen, uncheck Wi-Fi to turn it off.

6. After Wi-Fi is turned off, tap the entry again to turn it back on.

Forget the network

If the previous method does not work, you might need to have your Android device forget the network and then re-add it. Here’s the catch: Your Android device cannot forget a wireless network that is within range, so you will need to get out of range of the network and then do the following:

1. Long press the listed network you want to forget.

2. Tap Forget Network.

3. Get back within range and wait for the network to automatically show up.

4. Enter the network password to join.

Your Android phone should have a new address and be working as you would expect.

Check the wireless password

Wireless passwords (hopefully) change from time to time, but when they do, your phone can’t automatically update. In order to manually change your wireless password, follow these steps:

1. Be out of range of the network in question.

2. Long press the wireless network you need to configure.

3. T ap Change Network Settings.

4. Enter the new password in the resulting screen (Figure A).

5. Check the Show Password box. (I always like to check the Show Password box to make sure I am entering the correct password in my mobile device.)

6. Tap Save when you know the password is correct.

Advanced Wi-Fi settings

If none of the previous solutions worked, you might have to dig a little deeper into the Wi-Fi settings on your Android phone. To get to the Advanced Settings window, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Menu button on your handset.

2. Tap Settings.

3. Tap Wireless and Networks.

4. Tap Wi-Fi settings.

5. Tap the Menu button again.

6. Tap Advanced

7. Tap the Proxy setting and make sure your Android device is not set up for a Proxy. (Unless the Wi-Fi network you are on requires a Proxy, this setting will get in the way of your device’s access to the Internet.) If you tap on Proxy and see an IP address or domain, delete it.

Most likely the Proxy and Port settings will not be set, but it’s always good to check if you’re having frequent issues with Wi-Fi.

Static IP address

Another troubleshooting approach is to give your Android device a static IP address. This could reveal if the router you are trying to connect to is having issues with handing out DHCP addresses, or if your device is getting a bad address. To configure a static IP, tap Use Static IP and then fill in the settings (IP Address, Gateway, Netmask, DNS).

The only issue with setting up a static IP is that address will apply to all wireless networks, so only use this for troubleshooting if you just connect to one Wi-Fi network.

Wi-Fi sleep policy

If you are having persistent Wi-Fi issues, you can set the Wi-Fi sleep policy to Never and see if your issues stop. With this policy set to Never, it will drain your battery faster, but it will also keep your Wi-Fi connected on a more consistent basis.

Summary

I hope these troubleshooting tips help you get through your Wi-Fi headaches. If all else fails on one Wi-Fi network, you should try another network so you know for sure that the issue isn’t the wireless router.

How to Unlock Your iPhone

 If you're one of the million people who've purchased an iPhone since the end of June, you probably signed up with Apple's exclusive carrier in the U.S., AT&T, when you activated your phone. That means your iPhone identifies itself to AT&T's network using an AT&T SIM card, a smart card that's located in a small tray between your iPhone's sleep/wake button and its recessed headphone jack.

 But what if you're planning a trip to Europe and rather than paying AT&T to use the networks of its European partners, you want to take advantage of the favorable rates and local phone numbers offered by replacing your AT&T SIM card with a pre-paid European card? Or what if you'd prefer to use T-Mobile as your cellular provider, rather than AT&T?

In the past month several groups have announced that they've found a way to "unlock" the iPhone, allowing it to use a SIM card from any provider. (Keep in mind that this is only half the story: the iPhone uses the GSM radio band for its communications, meaning that it'll only work with providers that use the GSM network. In the U.S., that means T-Mobile and AT&T.)

In August, a group of hackers demonstrated a method for unlocking SIM cards and sold its software to resellers, who in turn began selling it to the public for as much as $100 last week.

But another group has came up with its own hack that, with the help of some free, open-source software, lets you unlock your iPhone in about an hour, free of charge. Below, I'll show you how it works - and it does work, because I've used this technique to unlock my own phone. (One important caveat: Certain AT&T-only features, such as Visual Voicemail, will not work when you're connected to other cellular networks.)

Before we get started, you'll want to disable the iTunes helper application that may get in the way of the installation. Make sure iTunes is not running, then open OS X's Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder. Search for or scroll down to iTunes Helper, select it, and then click on the Quit Process button in the top left of the screen. You'll also need your iPhone, your data cable, and a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.

(If you haven't already activated your iPhone with AT&T-and aren't planning to-you need to conduct a fake activation. To do this, you'll need to follow the excellent instructions at ModMyiPhone and download and install a program called iNdependence.)

Install AppTapp

Apple doesn't support the installation of third-party applications on the iPhone, but the enterprising developers at NullRiver have created a program called AppTapp that will let you install including chat clients, games, and other pieces of software - including those that are needed to unlock your iPhone.

Carrier IQ Spyware Found in Numerous Smartphones, Tracking Your Every Move

A new video posted by a security researcher has the Internet in a frenzy, as it details hidden software installed on smartphones that logs numerous details about the users’ activities. It is not the creation of a hacker, but has apparently been pre-installed either by wireless carriers or by device makers.

The software, known as Carrier IQ, was discovered by Trevor Eckhart, who uploaded a 17-minute video on YouTube displaying the program, which logs every text message, Google search and phone number typed on a variety of smartphones and then reports them to the mobile carrier. Currently the list of devices equipped with this application includes phones made by Apple, HTC, BlackBerry and Nokia, among others.

Carrier IQ also logs the URL of websites searched on the phone, despite users employing an encrypted "HTTPS" URL, according to Eckhart. The researcher refers to the application as a "rootkit" or spyware program, which runs in the background without a user’s knowledge. According to Eckhart, the software always runs when the Android operating system is running and users are unable to stop it. 

Millions Affected

References to the software have reportedly been discovered on numerous smartphones from a variety of vendors and carriers, though only a few companies have stepped forward to acknowledge the finding. Nokia has publicly denied the allegations that Carrier IQ is present in its Symbian smartphones, while Verizon Wireless has confirmed that none of its handsets feature the software.

Carrier IQ is also said to be included on all iPhones running iOS 5 and lower, yet reports claim iOS 5 users may be able to disable the application by turning off “Diagnostics and Usage” in their Settings. However, it appears older versions of the OS may send back information instead of disabling the software.

Eckhart currently estimates the number of handsets installed with Carrier IQ’s software to be more than 141 million. As the story is still developing, there is sure to be more from Eckhart, Carrier IQ and the alleged manufacturers and carriers involved. Brighthand will be sure to keep you posted as more details surface. Check out Eckhart's video below to learn more about Carrier IQ.