Develop Bugs

[Q] WiFi networking - advice needed

I am completely ignorant of the WiFi configuration and purpose on this phone. Can anyone help?
1) I have an unlimited data plan. Should I care about using WiFi at all?
2) If I have a 4G/3G signal loss, will WiFi automatically kick in to sustain a signal?
3) I currently have no WiFi networks attached, and a scan returns nothing.
Should I be attaching WiFi networks manually. If so, how?
4) Should I just allow my battery optimizer app to disable WiFi?

mds54 said:
I am completely ignorant of the WiFi configuration and purpose on this phone. Can anyone help?
1) I have an unlimited data plan. Should I care about using WiFi at all?
2) If I have a 4G/3G signal loss, will WiFi automatically kick in to sustain a signal?
3) I currently have no WiFi networks attached, and a scan returns nothing.
Should I be attaching WiFi networks manually. If so, how?
4) Should I just allow my battery optimizer app to disable WiFi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) That's upto you. If your speeds suck, or are in a terrible reception area (switching between 4G and 3G a lot, or stuck in 3G), then Wifi can be faster.
2) If you lose 3G/4G data, it may not connect to wifi unless your configured network is nearby. Normally, wifi will be always connected unless you're out of range of that particular signal.
3) Make sure Wifi is switched on. (switch will be blue in the on position). If you don't see any networks, then there are none. You may have to add networks manually, but thats because its not broadcasting its SSID (ie making itself visible), but thats usually in like a corporate environment.
4) I have noticed that being on Wifi saves me some battery than being on 4G, but your results may vary.

I can only offer advice on the first one. I also have unlimited data but I use wifi whenever possible. Wifi doubles my battery life. Using 4g all the time kills it way too quickly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

mds54 said:
I am completely ignorant of the WiFi configuration and purpose on this phone. Can anyone help?
1) I have an unlimited data plan. Should I care about using WiFi at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you're happy with your speeds then no. WiFi does save battery though.
2) If I have a 4G/3G signal loss, will WiFi automatically kick in to sustain a signal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, because WiFi isn't always on (or shouldn't be), and won't automatically turn on. You'll have to turn it on manually if 3G/4G isn't available.
3) I currently have no WiFi networks attached, and a scan returns nothing. Should I be attaching WiFi networks manually. If so, how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there's no WiFi around you, then there's no WiFi around you... The only reason you'd have to manually enter a network is if you're at home and aren't broadcasting your SSID, so you won't pick it up on a scan. You should elaborate more on this.
These comments make me think you don't understand how WiFi works....
4) Should I just allow my battery optimizer app to disable WiFi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery optimizer apps don't always know what's best. Usually how they work is they'll turn off WiFi when you get out of range of your house or other specific location (via GPS). Then enable when they "know" you're at home (again, by GPS). Usually its easier to just have a toggle widget for WiFi and turn it on when you're at home if you want it.

I think this additional info may be useful:
Wifi is not a feature of your phone service through your provider. It is a completely different technology that replaces, not amplifies, your 3g/4g connection when it is on and connected. When you are using your phone's data connection, you are connected to the internet through your phone provider, which is also functioning as your Internet Service Provider (in your case, Verizon).
A wifi signal only exists when a wireless device is broadcasting it locally. Most often this is a wireless router in someone's home, office, or a store that offers wifi for its customers. In this case, your internet connection goes through the router, then to a hard-wired internet connection off to whatever ISP the service is paid for through.
It is a much shorter-range technology than your cell service. As such, while your phone will eat through your battery boosting its signal if it can't connect to a cell tower, your phone will use much less energy looking for wifi signals.
If you are absolutely sure that you will not be connecting to wifi networks in your daily travels, you should turn wifi off and not worry about it. If you have an existing wifi connection at home/work, then leaving wifi on and letting it connect will save you battery when you are within range. The idle drain of wifi when it is looking for networks is fairly low, so if you are going to be spending large amounts of time in wifi zones, you might as well just always leave it on.
If your phone shows no wifi available by a scan, chances are very slim that there is a non-broadcast network that you would be able to connect to manually; someone is keeping it hidden and it is most likely password-protected as well. Most private networks will be visible to a scan, but are probably password protected. You will need to connect to these manually; your phone will not alert you to their presence. Your phone will automatically let you know if there is an unprotected network in range. By default, if wifi is enabled, it will automatically connect to any network that comes into range that you have already connected to.

Wow, you guys are good! Thanks!

When on Wifi, cell signal switches from 4G and I lose all bars

So when I'm on wifi in my house, my phone appears to switch to edge or something and I lose most connectivity (goes from 4 bars to none). Enough to initiate a call, but simple head turning will cause me to drop. If I turn off wifi, I get 4G back and full bars and no dropped calls.
Wifi calling is too inconsistent to rely on, and this basically makes my phone unusable. I don't want to keep wifi off, as it's a lot faster and I only get 2.5Gbs of high speed data to use a month.
I'm also in the middle of a major city with great coverage 4G coverage, as long as I'm not on wifi....

apols said:
So when I'm on wifi in my house, my phone appears to switch to edge or something and I lose most connectivity (goes from 4 bars to none). Enough to initiate a call, but simple head turning will cause me to drop. If I turn off wifi, I get 4G back and full bars and no dropped calls.
Wifi calling is too inconsistent to rely on, and this basically makes my phone unusable. I don't want to keep wifi off, as it's a lot faster and I only get 2.5Gbs of high speed data to use a month.
I'm also in the middle of a major city with great coverage 4G coverage, as long as I'm not on wifi....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go into your wireless settings, you can uncheck Wifi Calling so that if you do connect to Wifi, you will retain your regular amount of calling bars.

djpingpong said:
If you go into your wireless settings, you can uncheck Wifi Calling so that if you do connect to Wifi, you will retain your regular amount of calling bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the response, but I've already had wifi calling off.. because that feature was basically useless (could not rely on it ever).

My wife Note3 got the same problem, set cellular network preferred and then turn off wi-fi calling. Lose all cell signal bars. When no cell signal, caller ID became funny, like 718-123-4567;oli=63 212-123-4567;oli=00, had no idea.
My own note3 had the same setting, but everything fine. full cell signal bar. Try to google it, no glue!!!
Then I returned my wife note3 and get another one, everything fine.

I had the same problem. When I was on wifi I had no signals. I got a new sim card and the problem is now gone.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app

danstarr said:
I had the same problem. When I was on wifi I had no signals. I got a new sim card and the problem is now gone.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont think thats the issue, and why do you care because if you call someone it should be able to call and once you need to switch back to tmo it will w/o issue.

XxLostSoulxX said:
i dont think thats the issue, and why do you care because if you call someone it should be able to call and once you need to switch back to tmo it will w/o issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhh... it certainly doesn't switch back to t-mobile without issue. I drop the call. I haven't had a single call work the entire time while leaving my wifi on in my home.
Clearly, when it's on wifi, even if you have wifi calling turned off, it switches to some other network specifications, which appear to barely work where I live. The problem likely lies in the fact that when you turn wifi calling off, it does not switch your cellular network preferences back to normal properly, Instead, when wifi calling is off and you're still on wifi, it just doesn't route things through wifi, but doesn't actually change your mobile network settings back properly.

apols said:
Uhh... it certainly doesn't switch back to t-mobile without issue. I drop the call. I haven't had a single call work the entire time while leaving my wifi on in my home.
Clearly, when it's on wifi, even if you have wifi calling turned off, it switches to some other network specifications, which appear to barely work where I live. The problem likely lies in the fact that when you turn wifi calling off, it does not switch your cellular network preferences back to normal properly, Instead, when wifi calling is off and you're still on wifi, it just doesn't route things through wifi, but doesn't actually change your mobile network settings back properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well here's a question do you leave mobile data on even though you're connected to WiFi? As i have no problem because i have bars even when connected to WiFi because i leave mobile data on and have WiFi calling turned off. even if WiFi calling is turned off, and i turn WiFi off it switched to T-Mo network in seconds and i'm able to call someone so yeah no issue. you clearly have a problem with something or its the network where you live.
i'm not trying to be rude but it just doesn't make sense to me that you're having issues with something that shouldn't be a problem.

XxLostSoulxX said:
well here's a question do you leave mobile data on even though you're connected to WiFi? As i have no problem because i have bars even when connected to WiFi because i leave mobile data on and have WiFi calling turned off. even if WiFi calling is turned off, and i turn WiFi off it switched to T-Mo network in seconds and i'm able to call someone so yeah no issue. you clearly have a problem with something or its the network where you live.
i'm not trying to be rude but it just doesn't make sense to me that you're having issues with something that shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do leave mobile data on, all the time, continued issue.

djpingpong said:
If you go into your wireless settings, you can uncheck Wifi Calling so that if you do connect to Wifi, you will retain your regular amount of calling bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't actually work currently on the Note 3. there is a bug where any time you have wifi on the cellular entenna turns off regardless of the state of your wifi calling on a very large number of Note 3's. Lost Soul clearly hasn't been reading on the threads here. there are many on this topic. We get that you don't have the issue LostSoul, but that doesn't mean it isn't an issue.

HughesNet said:
This doesn't actually work currently on the Note 3. there is a bug where any time you have wifi on the cellular entenna turns off regardless of the state of your wifi calling on a very large number of Note 3's. Lost Soul clearly hasn't been reading on the threads here. there are many on this topic. We get that you don't have the issue LostSoul, but that doesn't mean it isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Hughes,
I have found that when it enters that state, that if I go and turn wifi calling on and then set it to mobile-network preferred, it turns the cellular modem back on, at least for a little while. Can you point me in the direction of a more robust thread where others are discussing the issue?

apols said:
So when I'm on wifi in my house, my phone appears to switch to edge or something and I lose most connectivity (goes from 4 bars to none). Enough to initiate a call, but simple head turning will cause me to drop. If I turn off wifi, I get 4G back and full bars and no dropped calls.
Wifi calling is too inconsistent to rely on, and this basically makes my phone unusable. I don't want to keep wifi off, as it's a lot faster and I only get 2.5Gbs of high speed data to use a month.
I'm also in the middle of a major city with great coverage 4G coverage, as long as I'm not on wifi....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem on stock rom. Flash wicked rom earlier this morning, signal bars now showing bars instead of no bars on stock rom. been testing it all day long, signal bars still showing. Didn't change any settings. Just disable wifi calling.

sic_lic1o1 said:
I had the same problem on stock rom. Flash wicked rom earlier this morning, signal bars now showing bars instead of no bars on stock rom. been testing it all day long, signal bars still showing. Didn't change any settings. Just disable wifi calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've flashed a rom as well and it appears as it might be fixed... hope so.. my phone is useless if it can't function as a phone while on wifi.

I had same issue. Called TMo and had them unregister my wifi calling, and got bars back immediately. I had wifi calling turned off, but it seemed to be the default regardless. I could only receive and make calls with wifi turned off...but it all works fine now.

That didn't work for me
debz said:
I had same issue. Called TMo and had them unregister my wifi calling, and got bars back immediately. I had wifi calling turned off, but it seemed to be the default regardless. I could only receive and make calls with wifi turned off...but it all works fine now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called Tmo four times and asked them to unregister wifi calling. They said that it wasn't even turned on for my account then that it doesn't matter what is or isn't turned on. The phone is going to run calls, text over whatever wireless connection it thinks is appropriate. When you have a strong wifi connection, it chooses that connection regardless of wifi calling being turned off or on. I set the wifi calling preference to cellular networks and it still does the same thing.
I'm pretty pissed off about it. Anyone fix this?

Not true. I shut off Wi-Fi calling on T-Mobiles site and bars came back. Had the exact same problem.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

When connected to WiFi I loose my LTE singmal

I have the Note 3. And everytime I connect to WiFi my cell signal goes from full LTE signal to nothing. If I turn the WiFi off my cell signal comes back.
I have WiFi calling turned off - Can someone please help me with this.
Thanks

millerliteguy said:
I have the Note 3. And everytime I connect to WiFi my cell signal goes from full LTE signal to nothing. If I turn the WiFi off my cell signal comes back.
I have WiFi calling turned off - Can someone please help me with this.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones do this and some do not. Mine did it on stock but when I flashed Jedi it no longer did that.

You can install the X posed framework with Wanamaker module and enable the 4G let icon all the time. That's what I do.

I would have to assume the radio goes into a lower power mode when WiFi is on. Do you really need your radio to tx/Rx full blast when on WiFi? Just because no bars are showing does not mean you don't have signal. I have wondered about this myself, because often this phone and others have exhibited the same behavior. Checking your signal manually always assures me that my radio hasn't shutdown. You don't need LTE anyways as there is not voice over LTE and I would rather have it downgrade to umts which I am sure it does. I do wish there was an option to over ride this for those rare moments you are expecting an important phone call but at the same time I am not that insecure nor do I let technology rule my mindset like that.
sent from my sm-900t.
---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------
Forgot to add that when you do not have any signal you get the no signal circle which is rare when I am in a place I know I have good signal.. And when you see no signal in a place you think you should have full signal often times there are the other variables to consider.
sent from my sm-900t.

millerliteguy said:
I have the Note 3. And everytime I connect to WiFi my cell signal goes from full LTE signal to nothing. If I turn the WiFi off my cell signal comes back.
I have WiFi calling turned off - Can someone please help me with this.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem and people made fun of me on here and said I didn't set my wifi calling preferences properly. Well, I did, and I'm sure you did too. The only thing that fixed it for me was flashing a custom rom. Both custom roms I've tried fixed it (MyRom and Wicked). Bug in the T-Mobile Rom if you ask me...

I'm on Tmobile and I'm having the same problem you have. I lose 4G LTE when my wifi is on. Wifi calling is off because of the caller id issue with oli or ;63, but that still occurs even with wifi and wifi calling off. It's hard for me to make a call on wifi since it will keep trying to redial with no reception. I always have to turn off wifi just to get my bars back and go on 4G to make a phone call.
It's pretty irritating if you ask me; hope either Samsung or Tmobile will make a software update asap.

millerliteguy said:
I have the Note 3. And everytime I connect to WiFi my cell signal goes from full LTE signal to nothing. If I turn the WiFi off my cell signal comes back.
I have WiFi calling turned off - Can someone please help me with this.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you want LTE on if WiFi is on.
When both networks are enabled then you are attached to two IP networks.
How are you going to make your IP traffic route if it is attached to two different networks?
I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that is the way it would be designed to work I would think.
There are definitely tools out there that show that they are not both active at the same time

I'm going to interject on this subject because it is annoying as hell. First of all I have the same problem, but when I'm connected to wifi, my cell signal drops to nothing and if I'm on a call I hear nothing but choppy voices and the calls always drop within 2 minutes. It may put the cell radio into a low power status but it also makes making or receiving calls unbearable or even impossible on wifi. I use a data on off widget and when I'm not using my phone I turn the data off, so this is not remotely an issue with me. My ability to talk on the phone is a huge issue and cell signal drop for me has caused me to never connect to wifi on my G-note3.

Sounds like the WiFi calling bug. My cell signal is terrible at my apartment on WiFi so I have low signal issues regardless. I have no problems in other places when connected to WiFi and making phone calls. I am on at&t though and do not use WiFi calling.
sent from my sm-900t.

I had the same issue with my first note 3. I went back to tmo and argued It the no signal issue. It showed no signal when wifi was on but the cell was preferred over wifi calling. Turned off wifi signal, on no signal. Then after a few minutes the bars appeared back with wifi on. The manager came and told me that's normal for the bars to disappear. I said No Way Because they were there yesterday. But she said it's normal with wifi on I said I don't use wifi calling be I have good signal in house, But Need It on for browsing. She that's how it is I said bs, so I looking at my phone and I see no signal bars unless I turn off wifi or use wifi calling. Don't think so. And they only way I can check for signal is when I'm on wifi is to call.. No way. She said it's not a phone issue but a tech issue. I said it's the phone why was it on for the last 13 days ago now gone with wifi on. Finally she said she would exchange it. All this bs and she is my friend too. Now my phone doesn't have the issue but has rebooted by itself once again. I knew it was coming because the phone just froze on the flip app. I like Android and it's features, but damn I mess ios's stability.

Have you all checked your status when on wifi?
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

les_garten said:
Why do you want LTE on if WiFi is on.
When both networks are enabled then you are attached to two IP networks.
How are you going to make your IP traffic route if it is attached to two different networks?
I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that is the way it would be designed to work I would think.
There are definitely tools out there that show that they are not both active at the same time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not about LTE and attempting to use data, it's that you lose all cellular coverage so you can't make calls. Even if I'm getting 100% of my data from my wifi, I still need to maintain a connection to the mobile tower to route calls (with wifi calling disabled, which I immediately do because it's unreliable and sucks).

HughesNet said:
Mine did it on stock but when I flashed Jedi it no longer did that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a screen shot of it?
I assume when on Wifi and Wifi calling off, 4G LTE is not on because it's primarily on Wifi but you have signal bars.
With Wifi on and Wifi calling on, again the Wifi icon over takes the 4G logo. But the signal bars are down to zero because your using Wifi signal due to Wifi calling.

Just because it doesn't show signal bars doesn't mean you don't gave signal. Your dBm and asu trump bars.
Sent from my SM-900T.

apols said:
It's not about LTE and attempting to use data, it's that you lose all cellular coverage so you can't make calls. Even if I'm getting 100% of my data from my wifi, I still need to maintain a connection to the mobile tower to route calls (with wifi calling disabled, which I immediately do because it's unreliable and sucks).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see his pic in the first post now.
I also see how I misread it.
There are 3 separate Radios at least that we are talking about here.
I think the OP should check this setting.
Settings >> Connections >> More Networks >> Mobile Networks >> Network Mode
Then tell us how it is set

Same issue here with Wi-Fi calling off and Wi-Fi on. I think it's just a bug with the signal meter.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

LaloHigh said:
Have you all checked your status when on wifi?
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what I am supposed to be looking at? The mobile network state? Mine also says disconneted when Wi Fi is on. Although my cell bars do not go down when I turn on Wifi is still says "disconnected". What does it mean? I tried calling my number it still receives calls.

les_garten said:
I see his pic in the first post now.
I also see how I misread it.
There are 3 separate Radios at least that we are talking about here.
I think the OP should check this setting.
Settings >> Connections >> More Networks >> Mobile Networks >> Network Mode
Then tell us how it is set
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is set as follows - LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)

millerliteguy said:
It is set as follows - LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any trouble making phone calls when you turn on wifi?
You may want to install "Network Signal Info" or some of the Network info tools and examine your signal levels with and without Wifi to see if these is any change.
"Network Signal Info" is a little buggy BTW

les_garten said:
Do you have any trouble making phone calls when you turn on wifi?
You may want to install "Network Signal Info" or some of the Network info tools and examine your signal levels with and without Wifi to see if these is any change.
"Network Signal Info" is a little buggy BTW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are the photo with and without wifi turned on

Does the connection optimizer suck?? Is there one that's actually intelligent?

So my phone's data connection does stuff which I can only describe as retarded.
There are comcast wifi hotspots all over the place here. They can come in handy when the LTE signal is weak or nonexistent. But my phone, through the connection optimizer i assume, will connect to any comcast wifi hotspot no matter how weak the signal is even when there's a full strength LTE signal.
So very often I have a great data connection of LTE and my phone suddenly switches to a hotspot with barely one bar of signal. It even does this when i at home with my own wifi. There's a comcast hotspot near my house, but far enough away that the signal is pretty poor. If my phone happens to see the comcast hotspot as I'm driving home and it connects to that, it'll stay connected to that even though my own home wifi signal is at full strength.
Basically, this 'optimizer' is nothing of the sort. It's a pretty dumb application since all it seems to do is connect to any available wifi regardless of the signal strength of the hotspot or over the cell network - and it never bothers to check if there's a better connection once it's connected to something.
Is there any way to make this app even half way intelligent? Or an app i can replace it with?

merkk said:
So my phone's data connection does stuff which I can only describe as retarded.
There are comcast wifi hotspots all over the place here. They can come in handy when the LTE signal is weak or nonexistent. But my phone, through the connection optimizer i assume, will connect to any comcast wifi hotspot no matter how weak the signal is even when there's a full strength LTE signal.
So very often I have a great data connection of LTE and my phone suddenly switches to a hotspot with barely one bar of signal. It even does this when i at home with my own wifi. There's a comcast hotspot near my house, but far enough away that the signal is pretty poor. If my phone happens to see the comcast hotspot as I'm driving home and it connects to that, it'll stay connected to that even though my own home wifi signal is at full strength.
Basically, this 'optimizer' is nothing of the sort. It's a pretty dumb application since all it seems to do is connect to any available wifi regardless of the signal strength of the hotspot or over the cell network - and it never bothers to check if there's a better connection once it's connected to something.
Is there any way to make this app even half way intelligent? Or an app i can replace it with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right; it's retarded. Hint: only use it enabled when you want to connect to that Wi-Fi or the type of Wi-Fi that requires the agreement to terms each time you connect. The Optimizer has shown some convenience where a user may roam between that type of Wi-Fi hotspot and data connection.
Android seems smart enough to remember Wi-Fi with typical login. I was on a tire shop today and auto connected to Wi-Fi without looking into remembered Wi-Fi connections (I left Wi-Fi enabled when I left home; often enough, doesn't interfere with cell data when I need it). I freeze the Connections Optimizer and only thaw it when it seems logical.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

merkk said:
So my phone's data connection does stuff which I can only describe as retarded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ?

You may want to disable Smart Network Switch in advanced wi-fi settings also.

catseyenu said:
You may want to disable Smart Network Switch in advanced wi-fi settings also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what does that feature do?
And does anyone know of an connection optimizer that is actually half way intelligent?
thanks

merkk said:
what does that feature do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What it's supposed to do and the user experience seem to be 2 different stories.
Every discussion I've read on it recommends killing it.
http://www.conanhughes.com/2014/01/how-to-disable-auto-network-switch-on.html

catseyenu said:
What it's supposed to do and the user experience seem to be 2 different stories.
Every discussion I've read on it recommends killing it.
http://www.conanhughes.com/2014/01/how-to-disable-auto-network-switch-on.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from the article there, it sounds like i am having the opposite problem - my phone isn't jumping from wifi to lte, it's jumping from lte to wifi even if the wifi signal is crap.

Smart Network Switch option Missing?

I have a Verizon G4 and have one major gripe.
At my workplace, the wifi is somewhat spotty and it's a guest network that requires authenticating (clicking an "i agree" button)
So my phone will, throughout the day, as it detects the "weak" signal, automatically turn off that network due to "unreliable internet connection".
Even as I'm back in an area with a strong signal, now my phone is ignoring that and stuck trying to use mobile network. I have to go into my network list and manually tell it to reconnect.
During all of this, wifi is enabled the entire time.
I see where others have had the same problem on other phones and have turned off "Smart Network Switch" and I even read where someone had done this on a LG G4 (not verizon).
So I'm thinking this is something Verizon removed. Anyone have any ideas?

Smart Network Switch is just a feature that checks for a "data" connection over wifi and switches to use Mobile Data if WiFi loses internet access.
I am not sure the G4 has this. When I am connected to WiFi with a bad signal, it will just send me a popup telling me the WiFi has no internet access and whether to use Mobile Data or not. The feature you are looking for is "Avoid bad WiFi Connections", which is the same thing with a different name. Just make sure that is OFF. That will force WiFi to use WiFi as the only connection.
And it sounds like your wireless network sucks and needs to be upgraded to a corporate solution.
Just FYI, in my WiFi > Advanced WiFi settings, I have everything unchecked + "Keep WiFi on when screen is off" = Yes.

Well "avoid bad Wi-Fi connections" is off. Read on another forum that the mobile version I think it was had the smart network option.
I have the same options as you except I also allow Wi-Fi scanning.
I have tried with that one both on and off and see the same behavior.
I never get a popup, it just ignores that wifi connection and used mobile data. When I look at my Wi-Fi list, it'll say something about unreliable internet connection in small text,on the Wi-Fi network that it disconnected from. Surely I'm not the only one seeing this.. :/

Beats me. Sounds like the Access point you are connecting to has a bad internet connection. What is happening is you are connected to the WiFi and it notices that the WiFi AP is either dropping internet connection (Google pings google servers to test connections) or bouncing.
In order to keep from losing a data connection, it seems to be switching to your cellular network.
I see this often because we install APs (I am a network engineer). I think your phone is trying to protect you and that is normal behavior. Here is another scenerio: In a hotel, wifi is always set to OPEN. If your phone automatically connects to the hotels network, you will lose a data connection because Hotels require you to "sign-in", just like most free wifi places do. The phone sees that your phones WiFi connection is not accessing the internet and making sure you are good.
I am not sure how often it "checks" the wifi for a good connection or if it ever does once it switches.