Wi-Fi connection and Bluetooth file transfer problems ( Android-to-WindowsXP )

[SergeyKostrov]

[ Updated on December 17th, 2012 ]

I have a Wi-Fi connection problem with an Android device. So, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 (7") could not connect to:
[cpp]
Security-Enabled Computer-to-Computer network ( over Wi-Fi )
Network Authentication: Open
Data Encryption: WEP
[/cpp]
Note: The device doesn't see that type of network!

However, it could connect to:
[cpp]
   Security-enabled wireless network
   Security-enabled wireless network (WPA)
   Security-enabled wireless network (WPA2)
   Unsecured wireless network
[/cpp]
Note: Verified in many places like cafees, airports, University of Calgary campus, etc.

Any ideas, tips or suggestions? Thank you in advance.

[ Summary as of December 17th, 2012 ]

A test with a MacBook ( Mac OS X v10.7.5 ) notebook was finally done and it successfully detected and connected to our Security-Enabled Computer-to-Computer network ( over Wi-Fi / Open / WEP ) created between several computers with Windows XP and Windows 7 OSs. The test was completed in less than 2 minutes without any issues and problems.

[ Summary as of December 4th, 2012 ]

- An update from Samsung for Android OS v4.0.4 ICS was recently installed on the tablet

- Wi-Fi Advanced Configuration Editor was installed on the tablet
  The application allows to see and edit advanced settings of a Wi-Fi network and it is
  downloaded from: market.android.com/details?id=org.marcus905.wifi.ace

- Linksys 'Compact Wireless-G USB Network' adapters are used on some desktop computers with Windows XP

- The following advanced settings of the 'Compact Wireless-G USB Network' adapter:

   NetworkType
   ShowHiddenSSID
   WEPKeyUse
   SmartScan
   IEEE80211H
   WirelessMode
   CountryRegion
   CountryRegionABand
   AutoChannelSelect
   Channel

   are considered as the most important and were modified many times during many tests

   Note 1: NetworkType is set to 802.11 Ad Hoc

   Note 2: Widest possible ranges for channels were selected:

   CountryRegion ( Country Region 11G ) - #5 Channel ( 1 - 14 )
   CountryRegionABand ( Country Region 11A ) - #7 Channel ( 36 - 165 )

- Microsoft Network Monitor v3.4 was used on some desktop computers with Windows XP

- A Wi-Fi Signal Strength is always 'Excellent'

- A workaround based on a Bluetooth connection was considered, it works and tested. However, a transmittion speed and a distance between tablets and computers are two significant constraints:

  A transmittion speed limitation of the Bluetooth connection - it takes too long to transmit large data files

  A distance limitation of the Bluetooth connection - a tablet could be away ( many meters ) from a computer with Windows platform
  Notes:
  - That computer could be considered as a 'Bluetooth Server'
  - Some number of Bluetooth adapters are also needed 

[SergeyKostrov]

>>I will provide some technical details ( I think by tomorrow ) on settings for Advance Properties of our Wi-Fi adapter. Please review and >>any feedback is appreciated. Please take a look at Advanced Settings of my Wi-Fi adapter ( a short version ): AC_BE support APSD - Disable AC_BK support APSD - Disable AC_VI support APSD - Disable AC_VO support APSD - Disable AllowBW40InBGBand - Enable APSD Capable - Disable Auto Channel Select - Disable Auto Reconnect Mode - Enable B/G Protecion - Auto CAM when AC Power - Disable Carrier Detect - Disable Country Region 11A - #7 Channel ( 36 - 165 ) Country Region 11G - #5 Channel ( 1 - 14 ) DLS Capable - Disable Fragment Threshold - 2346 Fragment Aggregation - Disable IEEE 802.11H - Disable Local Administration MAC Network Address - Not Present Max Service Period Length - 0 Network Type - 802.11 Ad Hoc Power Saving Mode - CAM ( Constantly Awake Mode ) PSP Xlink Mode - Disable Radio On/Off - Enable RDG - Enable RTS Threshold - 2347 Smart Scan - Disable TX Burst - Enable WMM Capable - Enable Any comments? Can you see incorrect settings? Note: CAM - Constantly Awake Mode

[SergeyKostrov]

Please take a look at Advanced Settings of my Wi-Fi adapter ( a complete version exported from Windows registry ): Enclosed: Compact Wireless-G USB Network Adapter.txt

[SergeyKostrov]

>>...I wonder if Intel software engineers could try to reproduce the same on some device with Android 4.0.4 OS on Intel® architecture? >>That would be very useful for our investigation. I'm very surprized and frustrated that Intel software engineers are not participating in our discussions.

[Bernard]

>>>"ShowHiddenSSID"="0">>> Set this field to 1 when performing STA(station) discovery.As security reason you should disable this field. Is this settings dump represents Adhoc mode? >>>"PreambleType"="0" Try to set this field to 1(long preamble type). >>>"WEPKeyUse"="1">>> Try to set this field to 0(disable) it could be possible that the receiving end will check this field and refuse a connection because of security reason.Switch to WAP ciphers >>>APSDCapable"="0" "APSDAC_BE"="0" "APSDAC_BK"="0" "APSDAC_VI"="0" "APSDAC_VO"="0">>> You have your Qos class values not set leave it for now in disable state you are not in infrastructure mode. @Sergey These settings names do not always correspond one to one to the 802.11 naming convention.It is not easy to search through more than 2000 pages of protocol standard. Many times I advised you to monitor connection attempts with NetMon so you can see live data fields beign set.Reason code field could provide some vital information regarding connection failure(s). >>>RTSThresh>>> Try to lower this threshold it is at max value.I do not expect that lowering that value will solve your problems (because both your STA are not in hidden node). >>>SmartScan>>> Set SmartScan to 1 and retry connection attempt with your tablet. >>>Radio = 0>>> Set this to 1 you have probably disabled wifi transmitter >>>"WirelessMode"="5">>> If I'm not wrong this field should be set to 0x00 which means IBSS adhoc mode.It could also be related to 802.11 6 modes of operation and IIRC adhoc is 4 or 5 mode.Switch between those values. >>>"IEEE80211H"="0">>> Try to enable this field, I do not know if it will help,but it may be needed by the receiving end to establish connection mostly in managed mode. While you are setting your adhoc connection choose for both ends the same ESSID. Please report about the any progress you have made.Later I will do more research and post more results.

[Bernard]

>>>No. It simply displays message boxes based on a Win32 API function MessageBox(...) when enumerating available Wi-Fi networks.>>> Is your galaxy wifi beign discovered while you run your app?

[SergeyKostrov]

>>...These settings names do not always correspond one to one to the 802.11 naming convention.It is not easy to search through >>more than 2000 pages of protocol standard... Thank you, Iliya! I'll try to book a whole day ( or even two ) to try all your recommendations ( in a 2nd previous post ), NetMon tests, tests with my NDIS-based application, etc. As I already mentioned upgrade for Android OS 4.0.4 is scheduled for Saturday. I'll keep you informed. Best regards, Sergey PS: I found on the web many posts describing similar Wi-Fi problems for different versions of Android and devices.

[SergeyKostrov]

>>... I found on the web many posts describing similar Wi-Fi problems for different versions of Android and devices... Here is one of them: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/proof-android-not-open-source-and-why-thats-good-169663?page=0,1 ...There are still issues with vendors screwing up Android through their own changes ( such as the bug in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1's Android version that prevents it from connecting to some email servers... Even if it is Not related to my problem this is a very interesting statement about some problems with Android OS.

[SergeyKostrov]

>>>>"ShowHiddenSSID"="0" >> >>Set this field to 1 when performing STA ( station ) discovery. As security reason you should disable >>this field. Is this settings dump represents Adhoc mode? I don't think so but I could be wrong. A "Network Type" represents it and it is in Adhoc mode ( for a long time ).

[SergeyKostrov]

>>>>Radio = 0 >> >>Set this to 1 you have probably disabled wifi transmitter I detected an issue with how Linksys treats Enable and Disable states related to values 1 and 0. Take a look: In a short version of the adapter settings: ... Radio On/Off - Enable ... In a complete version of the adapter settings exported from Windows registry: ... "Radio"="0" ... When I set it to "1" the adapter was turned off and stopped working completely!

[Bernard]

>>>NetMon tests>>> I strongly advise you to perform such a tests.Writing custom app to check wifi setting will not give you the whole picture.You must see wifi driver stack interaction on both communication ends.

[Bernard]

>>>When I set it to "1" the adapter was turned off and stopped working completely!>>> So their logic is reversed. Now I'm back from my weekend and I have an internet access,so i will later do more comprehensive research regarding those wifi settings provided by you.

[Bernard]

>>>A "Network Type" represents it and it is in Adhoc mode ( for a long time ).>>> Yes you are right I did not see it. >>>Set this field to 1 when performing STA ( station ) discovery. >>> >>>I don't think so but I could be wrong>>> Enabling SSID field during packet transmission should be disabled because of security reason.It is needed to hide the presence of your network.Also beacon frames transmission should be avoided when the security is concern. Moreover when troubleshooting connection failures enabled SSID usage could be helpful when you need to indentify easily your STA( when MAC address is not used by you as an STA ID). STA - station

[Bernard]

>>>Even if it is Not related to my problem this is a very interesting statement about some problems with Android OS>>> By simple elimination we have narrowed down the problem probably to interaction between Android wifi implementation and its Win OS counterpart.

[SergeyKostrov]

Hi Iliya, I worked on the problem last two days ( Saturday and Sunday ) and I'll provide a detailed report later. A short report - the problem is still not resolved. Best regards, Sergey

[Bernard]

>>>A short report - the problem is still not resolved.>>> I started to suspect Samsung Android customised implementation as a culprit of your adhoc connection problems.It could be possible that underlying wifi driver stack works properly and it's flow of data and metadata(here I mean network's pdus) are modified by upper layer wifi manager. Such a scenario could have been caused intentionally by the designers or it could be a designing(programming) error.

[SergeyKostrov]

>>>>A short report - the problem is still not resolved. >> >>I started to suspect Samsung Android customised implementation as a culprit of your adhoc connection problems. I would also consider Microsoft here. >>It could be possible that underlying wifi driver stack works properly and it's flow of data and metadata(here I mean >>network's pdus) are modified by upper layer wifi manager. Such a scenario could have been caused intentionally by >>the designers or it could be a designing(programming) error. That is possible and I plan two more big tests with a HipStreet Android tablet and BlackBerry tablet. Let's see if they detect our peer-to-peer network. Note: my full report is not ready yet.

[Bernard]

>>>would also consider Microsoft here.>>> Yes it's quite possibly that Microsoft is somehow involved too. >>>That is possible and I plan two more big tests with a HipStreet Android tablet and BlackBerry tablet. Let's see if they detect our peer-to-peer network.>>> Regarding my hypothesis about the upper layer modifing pdus I strongly believe that customised Android could be blamed for it.I can only hope that NDIS debugging can be avoided. Do you have checked build Windows?

[SergeyKostrov]

Hi Iliya, >>...Do you have checked build Windows?.. No. Is it available to everybody from a Microsoft download web-site or only to MSDN subscribers?

[Bernard]

>>>Is it available to everybody from a Microsoft download web-site or only to MSDN subscribers?>>> Only to subscribers at whopping 700$ of subscription fee. The greatest advantage of checked builds are debugging assertions and fully "debuggable" NDIS driver architecture.You do not have it in your retail version.Simply not everything will work when windbg discovers a retail version.

[SergeyKostrov]

>>...Only to subscribers at whopping 700$ of subscription fee... I can tell for 100% that any investigations with 'Checked Builds' of some Windows platforms won't be considered even for free. Thanks, Iliya for explanations.

[Bernard]

>>>can tell for 100% that any investigations with 'Checked Builds' of some WIndows platforms won't be considered even for free>>> Yes I know it.At maximum checked build hal and ntdll can be freely obtained from WDK release.Few times I wanted to dig into deeper layer of NDIS protocol stack , but windbg was not helpful in my case.