Connecting to Wi-Fi is an essential function of a mobile phone, and if you can’t, it can be very frustrating. A Wi-Fi authentication error can occur for several reasons. If you are having trouble connecting your device to a wireless network, there are many different things you can try to establish a successful connection.
The authentication error occurs when the “handshake” between a router and a device fails. Below are some ways you can fix the authentication error on Android over Wi-Fi.
1. Restart your device
The first thing to try if you receive the authentication error is to restart your device. Most of the time, this fixes a lot of issues on your phone.
2. Toggle airplane mode on and off
Another reliable way to fix the root cause of authentication errors is to enable and disable Airplane mode on your phone.
Find Airplane mode in the connection settings. Tap it to enable it and again to disable it.
3. Reset the network
- Open the Settings on the device and select Wi-Fi.
- Choose the network you want to connect to. Find the setting on “Forget the network”. This will erase network data on your phone.
- Go back to your Wi-Fi settings and select the same network again. Enter the password and let it connect to the network.
4. Reset Network Settings
Almost any network problem can be solved by resetting the network settings on your phone.
- Open the Settings and find ‘Reset network settings’.
- Tap “Reset Settings” and confirm the reset when prompted. All Wi-Fi, mobile data and Bluetooth settings will be reset to factory defaults.
Any errors should be resolved and you can then connect to the network.
5. Check the maximum number of supported devices
You may already have too many devices connected to the network, preventing you from connecting. If you have access to the router, you can open your router’s settings and note the connected devices. Turn off some devices and try to connect again.
6. Restart the router
It could be the router that is having problems. Restart the router by turning it off for 30 seconds and then on again. Try to connect your phone to the network again once the router is turned on.
7. Change from DHCP to Static
The default IP address assignment on your device may be set to DHCP. If so, it may cause the authentication error. Changing this to static could be a solution.
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- On a Windows computer, click the Start menu.
- Type cmdand open the command prompt.
- Type the command in the command prompt ipconfig/alland press Enter. You will see a lot of information, but you just need to focus on the default gateway, IPv4 address and DNS servers.
- Write down the values you see for the Gateway and DNS server. You need to ping the network to find an available IP address on your network.
- To ping the IP address, open PowerShell and type pingfollowed by the address you want to test, starting with the router’s IP address and working your way up. This will look like this:
ping 10.0.0.1
- If the system displays a ping time, there is already a device on the network with that IP address. But if the answer is “Destination host unreachable”, it means that the IP address is available and you can use it to connect your device to Wi-Fi. Write down the value you find.
Enter those values into your Android device by opening Settings and finding your Wi-Fi settings.
- Tap and hold the network you want to connect to.
- Select Advanced.
- Change the DHCP setting to Static.
- Enter the information you find as follows:
- IP address : The open IP address you discovered with the Ping command.
- port : The IP address of the default gateway.
- DNS 1 and DNS 2 : Type the IP addresses of the DNS servers.
Leave any other fields in this form as the default, then tap Save.
8. Factory reset device
If none of these ideas work on your phone, the last resort is to factory reset your phone. Find the factory reset on your phone and scroll down to find the button.
Tapping the button deletes all data, apps, and settings, eliminating anything that prevents the phone from connecting. This is a drastic last step, so you may want to back up your device before doing this.
Which of the above methods work to fix Wi-Fi authentication errors for you? If you share your Wi-Fi network with your friends, you can do it easily with a QR code and you don’t have to reveal your password. You can also prevent Wi-Fi from turning on automatically to save battery.
