[Q] Solutions for OUYA's weak wifi? - Ouya Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Got mine yesterday. Biggest complaint is the wireless receiver is pretty weak. I had the OUYA upstairs where my phone, laptop, and ATV2 all got a strong wifi connection. However, the OUYA kept dropping the connection every few minutes. I had to move it downstairs, in the same room as the router.
Has anyone found any solutions for increasing the OUYA's wifi range?

noticed the same thing about weak wifi signal...wonder if it's a hardware design issue or a driver issue.

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing. I actually have to AP's - a netgear router in my outside office where my cable comes in and then a WRT-54g setup as a repeater to serve my house. My TV, Living room PC, Wii, tablet, and phones all get a great signal off the WRT and the Ouya even reports it as a good signal - but refuses to connect sometimes and drops the connection all the time. Oddly enough the Ouya has an easier time connecting to my netgear router even though it shows a "fair" signal at best. So I'm thinking maybe the Ouya is just kind of picky about what it likes to connect to. But I also usually see at least 6 AP's in my living room and the Ouya only picks up my 2 - so it does seem to have weak reception.
Thinking I'm going to reconfigure my network this weekend. I've been working from my official office more lately and don't use my outside office much at all anymore so I'm probably going to reverse things and put the router in the living room so the devices in there can be hardwired and the office will run off of WiFi now instead. Been thinking about doing it for awhile the Ouya is just the final straw.
One thing I've considered doing is using the Ouya out of it's case to see if that improves it's reception any, it's really easy to remove from the case (4 hex screws on top then the board just pulls out with a gentle tug - but be careful not to get the grounding clip caught on the lip the lid fits into) and with the case being aluminum it could potentially be attenuating the signal. Since they released design files for the case if running it out of the case helps it wouldn't be that hard to get a plastic case made for it...but I'd hate to have to go that route just on principal.
For whatever reason I did have better luck getting the Wifi to connect when I went into Mange->Settings->Advanced->Wifi and used the unskinned android settings menu to setup my wifi. using the Ouya's menus I was never able to get it to connect to my WRT repeater. But using the stock settings I was. Not sure why that should matter but there it is.

I think it is a driver issue. Install speed test and seer what results you get. I get higher upload speeds than download speeds and using Ethernet it ifs no where near where it should be. Not enough off an improvement to make connecting it worthwhile.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

Someone else posted somewhere, that they turned off ethernet once they had wifi connected, then hard reset the Ouya, and it sped up the wifi connection. I can confirm this for myself as I tested a file transfer through ES File Explorer and it jumped from 3 kbps to 45 kbps. Still a lot slower than my other wifi devices in the same room, but at least it became usable.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using XDA Premium HD app

tetchystar said:
Someone else posted somewhere, that they turned off ethernet once they had wifi connected, then hard reset the Ouya, and it sped up the wifi connection. I can confirm this for myself as I tested a file transfer through ES File Explorer and it jumped from 3 kbps to 45 kbps. Still a lot slower than my other wifi devices in the same room, but at least it became usable.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using XDA Premium HD app
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Hard reset as in simply pressing the power button, or by disconnecting power?

elmerohueso said:
Hard reset as in simply pressing the power button, or by disconnecting power?
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Try just rebooting (hold power for a second and select power off). It's never a good idea to just pull the plug.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

elmerohueso said:
Hard reset as in simply pressing the power button, or by disconnecting power?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mybook4 said:
Try just rebooting (hold power for a second and select power off). It's never a good idea to just pull the plug.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Yep this.

Didn't really have enough difference for me. Range and speed are still flaky if I'm more than 20 feet from the router.
I'm still waiting for OUYA to recognize this as a problem, and hopefully put a stronger wifi chip in for retail. OUYA support has told me that weak wifi on the OUYA is not a widespread issue, so seems like they just want to deny the problem.
They either need to:
Increase the power to the wifi chip
Use a better wifi chip
Use a wifi chip that can utilize a wire antenna for better range
Build in drivers for some external wifi adapters
Sucks that I'll have to get an wifi repeater, wifi bridge, or something else to get the OUYA working in a room where my laptop, ATV2, phone, and tablets all work fine.

Mine dropped out completely when I tried to login for the first time after updating, had to turn the Wi-Fi on/off a few times to get it to work... and it's sitting 20cm from the router!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Yes, mine is extremely flaky still as well. So far I'm pretty frustrated with the problems that are arising with Ouya, which is too bad, because I actually really really like it should far. I honestly wish I'd waited until retail now, because I would have had a better/more finished product for less money and hassle.
elmerohueso said:
Didn't really have enough difference for me. Range and speed are still flaky if I'm more than 20 feet from the router.
I'm still waiting for OUYA to recognize this as a problem, and hopefully put a stronger wifi chip in for retail. OUYA support has told me that weak wifi on the OUYA is not a widespread issue, so seems like they just want to deny the problem.
They either need to:
Increase the power to the wifi chip
Use a better wifi chip
Use a wifi chip that can utilize a wire antenna for better range
Build in drivers for some external wifi adapters
Sucks that I'll have to get an wifi repeater, wifi bridge, or something else to get the OUYA working in a room where my laptop, ATV2, phone, and tablets all work fine.
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Click to collapse

Is anyone still experiencing Wifi problems? I just got mine hooked up today and had a ton of problems until I updated the software and reset, have not had a single connection issue since.

JLCollier2005 said:
Is anyone still experiencing Wifi problems? I just got mine hooked up today and had a ton of problems until I updated the software and reset, have not had a single connection issue since.
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Click to collapse
No. Mine worked out of box. I have an Ouya1-b

I have experienced zero issues, but I have an enterprise class dedicated wireless access point (a Ubiquiti Networks Unifi AP if you're curious), so I get full bars everywhere in my apartment and coverage like 20 feet out into the parking lot outside my apartment.
Since I also have a gigbit network everywhere in my apartment, I have generally just been disabling the WiFi.
One sort of issue I have noticed with the networking on the Ouya is that Android was built to allow for multiple network interfaces, which is only natural given that pretty much every smartphone has WiFi and also some sort of "mobile" data as well. Turning off the WiFi doesn't seem to always "stick" for whatever reason, so I may end up just "forgetting" my normal WiFi network in the network settings to prevent the WiFi from being used.
I have been toying with the idea of taking the Ouya mobo out of the aluminum casing, as its trivial to do and many people have speculated that the case is causing BlueTooth and WiFi signal issues. I HAVE experienced some weak connectivity to the controllers, and wanted to isolate the issue to either the controller or the console.

DivinityCycle said:
I have been toying with the idea of taking the Ouya mobo out of the aluminum casing, as its trivial to do and many people have speculated that the case is causing BlueTooth and WiFi signal issues. I HAVE experienced some weak connectivity to the controllers, and wanted to isolate the issue to either the controller or the console.
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I tried taking it out of its case, and it didn't have any noticeable impact on my WiFi.

what about Bluetooth? Thats the thing that would effect the controllers, which are the element which is having a reception problem...

elmerohueso said:
I tried taking it out of its case, and it didn't have any noticeable impact on my WiFi.
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I didn't know the case was aluminum. Seems kind of odd choice of material. The Ouya isn't handled much, so there's no tactile advantage to using aluminum. The Ouya has a cooling fan, so heat dispersion isn't a huge issue if they chose plastic instead of aluminum.
What's the wired network speeds like? Can anyone test it?

coachclass said:
What's the wired network speeds like? Can anyone test it?
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Since switching to Ethernet (and turning off WiFi) things go much faster. Streams 1080p movies without an issue, and game downloads are pretty fast. Thumbnail loading on the OUYA menus still could be faster, but I think that's more of a firmware issue with the way those are handled, rather than internet speed.

i think the worst part is that they refuse to fix anything or acknowledge the issue. This topic is covered on several other websites, even their own support website. Ouya seems to keep saying this isn't a global issues. so does that mean in the future if we are having other issues they have to be global in order to be fixed or updated?
This seems crazy. i have 4 devices right next to the ouya and my ouya download speeds are less than 107 kbs, but all my other devices are between 5-10 mbs.
i tried to erase everything, reboot it, and now i cant even connect and maintain a wifi connection and get past the ouya upgrade page on set up. It says im connected, then timesout and says i have no wifi.
and to make matters worse im not really close to a ethernet connection, my router is upstairs and my tv is downstairs.
This just seems crazy that a company could releases a product in such an alpha stage and not take the people who helped make them successful seriously.

I've seen speeds of nearly 2-3mbps on my Ouya, which is consistent with my Nexus 10, laptop, and others (no way to install steam to see if Ic an get Steam's stupid 7mbps...)

Related

How bad is the overheating and wifi performance?

I've a few posts about the heating issues with this device, and just wanted to get more opinions. I've also heard about poor performance via wifi )(and even issues with wired?) and would like to hear about that as well.
I'm surprised with similar hardware that is normally passively cooled (nexus 7) has heating issues. I know they run it a higher clock rate because there isn't a reliance on a battery. But I read the dev version ran even hotter and they addressed this in an update. The only way I could see addressing this via an update is by clocking it at a lower speed. I saw a video of someone playing dead trigger and at parts it seemed much choppier than my nexus 7, which made me think it's running too hot.
I've heard about people running it on its side and it runs cooler that way? I'm basically wondering if stock cooling is sufficient and any info on wifi/nic issues.
For me... Taking the board out of the case was the best cooling solution. That and my cigarette pack mod lol
The case is a crap design IMO and I also wondered why tegra 3 phones run better with passive cooling and no way for the heat to escape other than absorbtion.
The extra strain on the GPU when running 1080 also doesn't help. My monitor and TV only allow 1080, so 720 upscale isn't an option for me!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I don't think it has any real heat issues, people just enjoy doing those kind of mods, (probably in the hopes that overclocking will be a possibility). the wifi and bluetooth though do seem to have issues, probably due to the metal case.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Wi-Fi is shameful. My "gaming TV" is around 10 metres from my wireless router and OUYA (differently from Wii and PS3) cannot detect it, so I have to unplug the phone and move the router each time I want to go online.
The WiFi is unforgiveable, hopefully it's just a software issue. Wired internet is rock solid...never had any overheating. It does get hot, but Tegra 3 should be able to handle it.
I've only had 1 heating problem and it was my own fault (in a way). I currently have the kill processes upon exit unchecked, something that's required for certain sideloaded apps, and an app got stuck on over night. For whatever reason even though I put the OUYA in sleep mode, which should kill most of the apps (and does), it didn't that time. THe next day, the OUYA was hot to the touch. A quick reset fixed the problem and it cooled down in minutes. But to put that into perspective, my OUYA has never even heated up very much after 3-4 hours of gameplay and streaming 1080p video, only that one time.
As for wifi, after the last few updates, I haven't had any problem with connecting to Wifi and even the speed seems to be...tolerable, even with my router upstairs . I know this isn't the case for everyone, however, and I still tend to rely on ethernet as it just works better.
Thanks all for the info.
But I still get the vibe some say it's a poor case design (and causes overheating) and some say it's not an issue.
ut to put that into perspective, my OUYA has never even heated up very much after 3-4 hours of gameplay and streaming 1080p video, only that one time.
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Click to collapse
Hmm if a runaway app was taxing the cpu/gpu and it got hot to the touch, I would think a game would do the same, I guess it depends on the game.
Taking the board out of the case was the best cooling solution.
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Click to collapse
This is what I've read in other places and not too thrilled about having to leave it out of it's case.
Someone mentioned bluetooth issues as well. I hadn't heard that before but I guess it makes sense if wifi has issues.
I wonder, has anyone used wifi/bluetooth when it's out of case? Just wondering if the case is shielding too much.
I really want to buy a couple of these, (one mainly for xbmc) but I'll definitely need wifi where I plan to put it so I'll think I'll hold off to see if there is an update resolving this.
mine does get very hot, but not "overheated". processors get hot, its a fact of, umm, tech.
wifi works WAY better out of the case. i mean, 100x better. i've never had a bluetooth connectivity problem.
i wonder what the source on thes heat issues might be.
thechnically the t33 shouldnt be too much different from the t37 in my htc one x+ which i enabled to run all cores @ 1,7ghz, too
i have to say, the phone tends to get very hot while playing demanding games like ravensword etc. but never throtteled too much.
i wonder what voltages for the consoles are and about the max gpu-frequency. can anybody tell?
else i have to wait for mine to arrive.
was lucky to shoot one brown limited edition one with 2 extra controllers on ebay for just 85 bucks
Sufficed to say I've not really noticed the overheating issue as I haven't really been monitoring it. The fan kicks in fairly noisy now and then but I only notice it when it's on my desk when I'm doing wired ADB tasks. When it's across the room I don't hear it.
As far as the WIFI is concerned it's my opinion that it's more firmware issue than the casing. When I took original delivery I set it up in my kitchen using WIFI. My kitchen is about as far away from my modem as is possible to get in my house and it connected just fine. I used it for a while with no problem. When I scanned for wireless networks it picked up 7 if I remember correctly, this is roughly the same as I get if I scan using my Galaxy Note 2 or Nexus 7. This obviously included all my neighbors networks BTW. After a subsequent firmware update it wouldn't connect and wouldn't see my modem. I scanned dozens of times trying to find a signal but no joy. The maximum number of networks it has detected since is just 2. Luckily every room in my house has a RJ45 network socket so it's not a problem. It's fairly obvious to me that this firmware update had a very negative impact.

Weak Wifi Strength?

I really only use this phone as a tiny tablet, no service on it, so its airplane mode. wifi only, its a great device. But im having weak wifi connection, the wireless router is in a bedroom, and in my office, which is just across the living room from the bedroom with the router in it, its one bar, - 88db, etc ,sometimes no signal, i'll be trying to check email on it, an ill have to stick the phone up in the air or move it around before it picks it up again,etc. i've tested same spot with ipod touch, an its has almost full bars -40ish db, no problems.. so im thinking its the phone, has anyone else noticed it?
mistororange said:
I really only use this phone as a tiny tablet, no service on it, so its airplane mode. wifi only, its a great device. But im having weak wifi connection, the wireless router is in a bedroom, and in my office, which is just across the living room from the bedroom with the router in it, its one bar, - 88db, etc ,sometimes no signal, i'll be trying to check email on it, an ill have to stick the phone up in the air or move it around before it picks it up again,etc. i've tested same spot with ipod touch, an its has almost full bars -40ish db, no problems.. so im thinking its the phone, has anyone else noticed it?
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Yes, my phone likes that. Hope 4.2 or 4.3 will fix it.

[Q] Experiencing TERRIBLE wifi speed on my N7. Please help!

So I bought a 2013 N7 a few weeks ago, and I love it. When all is right, it's a really speedy device with a great battery in a perfect form-factor.
However, something is pretty goddamn wrong I think. I can't remember if it was like this out of the box, but i've been experiencing TERRIBLE wi-fi speeds. Like dial-up bad. My pretty good Netgear router is in the same room, not obstructed and only a few feet away. My ISP isn't the problem either. Here's an average speed test for me: the picture attached is a recent speed test. When doing my test on my laptop on the same network, it scores 20-30Mbps. The terrible results are consistent.
I've tried switching my router to 5gh, turning off wifi optimalisation, tried diffrent routers in my house, and there's no apps hogging wifi either.
Can anyone help me or is my tablet defective?
What encryption type are you using on the router? Try switching to different ones and seeing if it makes a difference.

Ouya Issues

GF got me an ouya as a stocking stuffer and even though I really wanted one and think its a great little toy, I cant get over a few issues.
I am hoping some of you guys can tell me you've experienced the same and maybe even have a fix.
My console is rooted but stock rom.
1) controller lag is awful. Even playing an old SNES game mario world was so unresponsive I couldn't even finish the first stage. I downloaded "The Ball" which actually is a very interesting little game I might buy for 9$ but seriously the Lag would get so bad My guy would end up spinning in cricles and killing himself.
I recently decided to hard wire the system since I have read online thats a possible fix but really didnt get time to test. Also read placing the system on its side helps but REALLY?
2) Sound dissapears. EVERY time I reboot or come up from sleep mode (50/50 on that one) I have to repeatedly unplug and re plug in the HDMI plug until sound returns. WTF is up with that? Also read this could be a universal problem after the latest update.
3) Wireless N will not work. Again I have hardwired it for now but the thing WILL NOT see my wireless N on my duel band. It will see the G fine and have "excellent" connection but it will not see the N. I even tried manually entering the SSID but no luck. My buddy who also bought one when I did seems to have ZERO the issues Im having.
I have been dealing with tech support and wondering If I shoudl just return the thing to Target as a faulty model and try again.
tevil said:
GF got me an ouya as a stocking stuffer and even though I really wanted one and think its a great little toy, I cant get over a few issues.
I am hoping some of you guys can tell me you've experienced the same and maybe even have a fix.
My console is rooted but stock rom.
1) controller lag is awful. Even playing an old SNES game mario world was so unresponsive I couldn't even finish the first stage. I downloaded "The Ball" which actually is a very interesting little game I might buy for 9$ but seriously the Lag would get so bad My guy would end up spinning in cricles and killing himself.
I recently decided to hard wire the system since I have read online thats a possible fix but really didnt get time to test. Also read placing the system on its side helps but REALLY?
2) Sound dissapears. EVERY time I reboot or come up from sleep mode (50/50 on that one) I have to repeatedly unplug and re plug in the HDMI plug until sound returns. WTF is up with that? Also read this could be a universal problem after the latest update.
3) Wireless N will not work. Again I have hardwired it for now but the thing WILL NOT see my wireless N on my duel band. It will see the G fine and have "excellent" connection but it will not see the N. I even tried manually entering the SSID but no luck. My buddy who also bought one when I did seems to have ZERO the issues Im having.
I have been dealing with tech support and wondering If I shoudl just return the thing to Target as a faulty model and try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I don't have any lags with controllet. I have used Wifi, but now I'm using ethernet and work fine. Try the controller settings with wifi and bluetooth settings.
2) I have sound bug only in emulator. Solution is go to the audio settings and than back. Once do this in GTA but I only press 2x menu button a than quit and it worked.
3) I have only 802.11 N and no problem. If you mean 5GHz N this is not support.
Mattthev said:
1) no problem. If you mean 5GHz N this is not support.
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Click to collapse
okay then thats it cause mine is dual channel
Still the controller lag is a huge issue.
Also the sound settings are not it cause literally I will just replug in the HDMI and it comes back.
thanks
Ive googled and seen others who say their sound went after the latest update and since mine updated as soon as it turned on then thats probably it
tevil said:
okay then thats it cause mine is dual channel
Still the controller lag is a huge issue.
Also the sound settings are not it cause literally I will just replug in the HDMI and it comes back.
thanks
Ive googled and seen others who say their sound went after the latest update and since mine updated as soon as it turned on then thats probably it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try another HDMI cable and use ethernet.
Mattthev said:
Try another HDMI cable and use ethernet.
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Click to collapse
yeah been through about 4 cables until I finally just went back to stock because it was the shortest.
All of them did it.
Im on ethernet now. Will have to run some plays tonight.
Location. Is your Ouya in clear sight and close to the controller? For some ungodly reason the Ouya has a metal case, a metal case surrounding all the wireless antennas.
I recently placed my Ouya 6" from where it previously resided, but behind my TV. Now my streaming shows buffer every 2-3 minutes.
I have heard the aftermarket cases offer significant improvements in wireless performance. Since the WiFi and Bluetooth use the same chip and antenna both are affected, and both improve with increased signal that is the result of removing the Faraday cage from around the motherboard. This improves the responsiveness of the controller since it isn't fighting for signal as much, and Bluetooth is a low power short range protocol as it is.
Also try calibrating the controller. Pull the batteries, put them back in, and fire up the controller. Don't touch it while its starting. It helped improve my controller some, didn't notice if it improved lag at all though.
ill try the recalibration.
I have turned it on its side and its about 8' to the right of where I sit in plain line of sight. Also its using a hard cable now. improved but NOT great. Will work fine for like 15 minutes then just start buggin out.
My controller firmware is 0x0103 which seems to be older since there is 0104 out now.
My buddy who has ZERO issues with his controller running wifi with his OUYA behind his TV is going to tell me his firmware tonight. He lives in anotehr state tho so we cant trade controlelrs.
Been going back and forth with OUYA cust serv on this.
Also the sound thing seems to be a big issue on the OUYA forums
No issues with sound for me, so it is not universal. It's probably a bug that affects some TV's and receivers but not others. Stuff like that was super common when HDMI was new. Doing support for HD cable boxes sucked, let me tell you.
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The bigger the network of chromecasts, the harder to connect?

Hi guys,
We've just setup our chromecast network. Now with 1 or even 2 chromecasts in the network, everything runs smooth. But if we switch to a bigger network with 3 or more chromecasts, the connection is really hard or won't even happen at all. Anyone experienced this as well? The Wifi is new and quite strong (with additional routers on the first floor, so the wifi shouldn't be the problem).
Thanks for the reply
This is a limitation of WIFI. The more devices you have on a wifi, less bandwidth you will have available. WIFI protocol is using air time allocation protocol because it can talk only with one device at the same time. More devices you have active, more times it will switch between them to deliver all the packages requested. If you have wifi booster or extenders, I would recommend you to grab them all, smack them with a hammer, put them in water, take them out, dry them in the microwave oven, burn them with a torch and trow them in the garbage because that is what they are. Extenders ads latency and packet loss and also is reducing your bandwidth in half before you even have a device on. Do it yourself or contact a professional to install UNIFI from UBNT or similar products. Huge fan of their gear. If you have it properly installed and set-up(not just plugged in) you wont have any problems with any devices not just Chromecast.
BTW, strong WIFI doesnt mean anything. Your wifi is as strong as the weakest device. You can have a wifi that transmits 10 miles, if your other device transmits back only 30ft, it will be 30ft max wifi range even if at 300ft it shows full bars. The best thing to do is add a bunch of AP with the transmit power on the lowest. Keep in mind that wifi 2.4 has only 3 true channels that wont overlap: 1. 6 and 11. If you set them all the same channels they will hurt them self with their own noise floor. If you properly set them up with a spectrum analyzer, to be right at the limit, you could make them all same channel and do cool things like zero-handoff. Performance WIFI requires knowledge and proper set-up not just plug and go.

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