# wi-fi frustration. Help?



## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I've called Kindle support twice and still don't have a resolution. I'm thinking the Kindle is defective, but before I call again, I thought I'd ask here if anyone has any tips we can try.

My mom's Kindle 2 started acting up, so Amazon sent her a new K3 wi-fi. I set up the wi-fi network in her house, which uses a Netgear WGT624v4 router (802.11g) and WEP security. Every device we have (my Droid, my brother's Samsung, my two laptops) can connect to the wi-fi network just fine. The Kindle3 cannot.

I've tried disabling the SPI firewall and the NAT to no avail. Two homes in the neighborhood have an unsecured network, and I tried connecting to both. Still, the Kindle is "Unable to connect to the network."

Obviously, since we can connect other devices, it's not a problem with not knowing the WEP key or the SSID or being in range. And since we can't even connect to unsecured networks, I can't help but think we have a defective Kindle. But maybe there's something we've overlooked. Something sneaky. I've rebooted the router, manually installed/updated the Kindle to the latest version of the software, even entered the Kindle's MAC address to assign a specific IP address in the router config software. Nothing works. 

Help?


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

What firmware version do you have? Here's a link to 3.0.3:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_navbox_top_kindlelgi?nodeId=200529700


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi Jeff. I updated it from 3.0.2 to 3.0.3.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Does it never connect at all, or is it more a case of being intermittent and/or slow? I was having issues with slowness and drop-outs with a Netgear router (don't remember the model, don't think it was the same as yours, though). After replacing my first K3 and still seeing the same problem, I replaced my wireless router with a Cisco-Linksys model, and since then it's worked like a charm.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

It won't connect at all. I considered getting a new router, because the existing one is 2-3 years old, but the Kindle won't connect to the two other networks in the area. I don't know what type of router they use, but 0/3 doesn't bode well for the Kindle. I might send it off with my brother's house to see if he can connect it to his wi-fi network. My niece is going to get a new K3 for Christmas, so we'll see if hers can connect to my mom's network.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

kcmay said:


> It won't connect at all. I considered getting a new router, because the existing one is 2-3 years old, but the Kindle won't connect to the two other networks in the area. I don't know what type of router they use, but 0/3 doesn't bode well for the Kindle. I might send it off with my brother's house to see if he can connect it to his wi-fi network. My niece is going to get a new K3 for Christmas, so we'll see if hers can connect to my mom's network.


If you try connecting in a public hot-spot and it fails, I think you could safely assume that the modem is faulty.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yeah, if it's not connecting at all, that sounds like something worse than I was dealing with and grounds for trying a new Kindle.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks, guys. I might try taking it to a coffee shop or someplace tomorrow just to check that. My mom really wanted a 3g one, so maybe we could get it exchanged for that instead.


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## kegobeer (Dec 25, 2010)

I thought I'd share my wifi frustration with the latest Kindle and the ridiculous fix I found.  I have a dual band router with a very strong WPA2/AES shared key for both 2.4 and 5ghz.  I have a variety of devices that connect just fine to both bands.  The only problem child was the Kindle.  I got the usual can't connect/password is incorrect message.  On a hunch I removed all non alphanumeric characters from my shared key and viola: my Kindle was able to connect.

Seems a little silly that the Kindle would choke on a simple $ or %, but at least I can connect now.  So, for everyone out there that has verified the shared key is correct and still can't connect, try removing the special characters before you pull your hair out.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

That's really good to know, keg.

I found my solution by taking the Kindle to Best Buy and asking the Geek Squad guy to try connecting it to their wi-fi network. It connected just fine. So I bought a new Netgear wireless G router while I was there, installed it at my mom's and her Kindle connected right away, no problem. In fact, it seems more reliable than the old router, so I suspect that old router was ready to kick the bucket.

Hurray!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

kcmay said:


> That's really good to know, keg.
> 
> I found my solution by taking the Kindle to Best Buy and asking the Geek Squad guy to try connecting it to their wi-fi network. It connected just fine. So I bought a new Netgear wireless G router while I was there, installed it at my mom's and her Kindle connected right away, no problem. In fact, it seems more reliable than the old router, so I suspect that old router was ready to kick the bucket.
> 
> Hurray!


There have been several folks who have reported that a new router solved their connection problems. . .old ones too low power or something.


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