3G disconnects randomly

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Which device (manufacturer, type)?
Motorola Droid
Which firmware is installed?
2.0.1
What version of wireless tether are you using?
7,8
What steps will reproduce the problem?
will happen randomly.

after a few minutes of use the 3G icon disappears and i will loose data, 
after a few seconds it will come back but data will not work right away.

This happend after i upgraded from pre7 to pre8.
i've uninstalled and reinstalled both 7 and 8

Original issue reported on code.google.com by kweber103 on 31 Mar 2010 at 11:12

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Looks like you have a bad 3G-signal. This app does not touch the 
mobile-data-connection 
at all - we just simple "forward" traffic.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 31 Mar 2010 at 11:20

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Will only happen when i use Wifi Tether, and it only started after i installed 
version 8. i 
can use PdaNet with no problem.

Original comment by kweber103 on 31 Mar 2010 at 11:27

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I was able to fix it. was able to use a nandroid backup and copy over the 
android.tether.apk and the android.tether files. after restoring them the 
problem was 
fixed.

Original comment by kweber103 on 31 Mar 2010 at 8:50

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@kweber103 -- can you post that android.tether.apk and android.tether files
somewhere? I'm having the same problem on the same phone you were and have no 
backup
to go back to.

Original comment by aaronpau...@gmail.com on 10 Apr 2010 at 2:26

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I downgraded all the way back to pre5 and the problem persists. This ONLY 
happens
when I use Wireless Tether and does not happen when I use another tethering app.

The 3G icon disappears and the phone completely loses internet connection as 
long as
Wireless Tether is running. Exit the app, and the signal is back and never 
*ever*
drops in my area.

Original comment by aaronpau...@gmail.com on 10 Apr 2010 at 2:49

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Still happening with the latest version, on multiple ROMs.

Original comment by aaronpau...@gmail.com on 22 May 2010 at 3:49

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happens with me too. 

Original comment by jperlmut...@gmail.com on 26 Jul 2010 at 5:27

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I have the same issue.. it will just randomly lose the wifi connection on my 
laptop.. I have to stop and restart the tethering on my phone for it to start 
working again

this is both on 2.0.5 Pre7 and Pre 8

Original comment by str...@gmail.com on 17 Aug 2010 at 3:01

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I changed the channel to channel 14 and I now stay connected for most of the 
day.. so I think I just had too much interference on the default channel 6

Original comment by str...@gmail.com on 25 Aug 2010 at 6:16

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@strohj
That is not the same issue that is being reported above. Your issue was losing 
WIFI, their issue was losing 3g.

Original comment by cnostr...@gmail.com on 4 Sep 2010 at 3:34

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Any update to this problem? I'm also experiencing the same issue with the 
latest version. No problems at all when not using Wifi Tether, as soon as I 
enable tethering, the problem begins.

Original comment by psmith8...@gmail.com on 21 Sep 2010 at 3:15

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See my comment (#1). The app does not touch the 3g-(mobile-data) connection.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 21 Sep 2010 at 7:53

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from what I can tell.. any time the 3g connection drops... wifi tether stop 
routing the data... once the 3g connection comes back.. wifi-tether does not 
resume routing the data

Original comment by str...@gmail.com on 21 Sep 2010 at 7:57

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Whether or not the app "touches" 3g, it has some kind effect on 3g signal. It 
happens to me after around 30-45 minutes of use. This is also a problem I have 
with wired tether. So it seems that something in general about "unauthorized" 
tethering, that effects 3g signal.

Original comment by brandon....@gmail.com on 22 Sep 2010 at 12:49

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I am having the same problem. Not only does it play around 3g but it also 
causes my data connection to stop.

Original comment by dandkbu...@gmail.com on 1 Oct 2010 at 3:49

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Sometimes I suspect that verizon is detecting the odd data usage and drops the 
connection, but I have no problem with constant downloads or maintaining ssh 
sessions in normal apps, so I am not sure if it possible for verizon to detect 
the tethering.

/me puts on unsubstantiated tinfoil hat

Original comment by thea...@gmail.com on 16 Oct 2010 at 2:09

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Hello,

I found that I was able to avoid this issue on my Droid X by using 2.0.1. I was 
also able to narrow down what is causing this (well, I can clarify the root 
symtom of the 3G icon issue).

I have a Droid X (Froyo 2.2) and I was having the issue where I would "lose 3G 
connectivity" while running Wireless Tether 2.0.2 (from the market). This is 
with full bars. 

To test, I tethered on my Mac and started a ping of a ping-able IP (e.g. 
4.2.2.1). I'd also surf web sites, re-load web pages, etc. I would get 
responses to my ping for a while, then the 3G icon would disappear and I'd get 
ICMP Destination Network Unreachable messages FROM MY PHONE'S IP 
(192.168.2.254) in my ping window. What this told me is that the phone (which 
is acting as a layer 3 router) was unable to route to the destination network. 
This led me to believe that it was a routing issue.

I then used the SDK to shell into my phone (adb shell) and ran "netcfg" over 
and over while watching my ping window. I found that when the 3G icon 
disappeared on the phone's UI, my ppp0 interface was down. ppp0 would then come 
up again with a different IP address on ppp0. In essence it was bouncing up and 
down. The disappearance of the 3G icon, ppp0 going down, and the ICMP Network 
Unrech messages are all correlated. 

If I stopped tethering and exited out of Wireless Tether the ppp0 interface 
would stay up. While it is not a scientific test, ppp0 stayed up for at least 
45 minutes (as long as I watched it by running netcfg over and over). I really 
think that Wireless Tether was causing ppp0 to go up and down randomly.

So, I ended up downloading the latest experimental apk and had the same issue. 
I tried several of the APKs until I ran 2.0.1 and I have been having great luck 
with it so far. The 3G icon never goes away and ppp0's IP address stays the 
same. 

I feel very strongly that there is a bug in Wireless Tether (except 2.0.1) that 
is causing this issue. 

Original comment by packetwe...@gmail.com on 26 Oct 2010 at 10:23

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I am having the same problem with 2 different wireless tether apps, as well as 
two different wired tether apps. However as I am writing this I have placed my 
phone in front of the A/C vent. I believe that possibly the connection is being 
dropped to prevent overheating?

Update...after 2 hours of surfing the web with my phone being actively cooled 
by the A/C vent I haven't dropped connection once.

Original comment by michael....@gnv-tech.com on 1 Nov 2010 at 11:43

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Force closing apps not in use seems to help with connectivity as well? Maybe 
the app needs a force close for other apps or a way to trick other apps to 
think its in "airplane mode"?

Original comment by michael....@gnv-tech.com on 13 Nov 2010 at 8:12

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I have this issue.  Are you using a lot of data, like running bit torrent, or 
trying to steam HD video, or downloading a large amount of data?  

In my case, I have to be "genital" with it, but as long as I don't try and move 
a lot of data, I can use it to about 101MB then it goes to below 3kbps or 
nothing and it seams like I need to restart the phone.  I have tried the 
airplane mode on and off thing, it seems to help, but not as good as completely 
restarting the phone. In my case the local apps on my phone don't work either.  
Facebook app says "error fething data" with the 3G connected, and no go with 
the web browser.

My thought what was causing the "3G drop" is Verizon attempting to cap data 
usage, without looking bad. If it means anything, it always seems worse in a 
city then it does in my vary small home town. I'm thinking more traffic in the 
city, flooded 3G networks. 
Resetting the phone might refresh things like getting a new IP address from the 
DHCP server... 

I have had this same issue using PDA-net on my Droid and on my old HTC Touch 
pro and MOTO Q with win-mo.  I also have noticed similar issues this with my 
MiFi router, but I'm not as hard on that, being I only get 5GB a month and I'm 
not the only person that uses it. 

Original comment by Kc2...@gmail.com on 5 Jan 2011 at 6:26

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I also had this issue, the exact same tests and results as packetwerks. When I 
ping any IP on the internet continuously, it says 'Destination Net Unreachable' 
whenever, it seems, I make any type of connection, such as ssh or loading a web 
page. It's driving me nuts!

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=8 ttl=47 time=106 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=9 ttl=47 time=119 ms
From 192.168.1.254 icmp_seq=11 Destination Net Unreachable
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=12 ttl=47 time=149 ms

netcfg showed a different IP for rmnet0 every time the message appeared.

I (semi-)solved it by assigning a static IP to rmnet0 (my network interface) 
with busybox ifconfig rmnet0 <IP>, and now it drops packets a lot less.
However, I still get the message and some icmp_seq numbers missing. I am using 
an HTC Incredible running stock HTC android 2.1 on Verizon. If I need to do any 
testing, or if I am missing a step, etc. please let me know.

Original comment by spiderca...@gmail.com on 30 Jan 2011 at 8:48

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I've had the same problem.  I've had one or two "other" disconnects (i.e. not 
with wifi-tether, which I think really were signal, and in one case VZW doing 
site work since it dropped entirely and went to US Cellular roaming).   But 
wifi-tether really does it, under certain use patterns I can drop it within 30 
seconds.  BUT, I think I have a possible solution... I had similar behavior on 
my previous aircard under certain loads.  I did the following:
(adb shell)
su
iptables -D FORWARD -j wireless-tether
iptables -A FORWARD -m state --state INVALID -j DROP
iptables -A FORARD -j wireless-tether

     (I deleted and readded the wireless-tether due to order of operations, the DROP must come before everything is run through wireless-tether or it's pretty pointless.)

iptables -A INPUT -m state --state INVALID -j DROP
     (Based on my reading of iptables I'm quite unsure that the INPUT would be needed.)

     I don't know what this drops, but some kind of bogon gets passed through the PPP link and makes VZW terminate the connection.  I haven't tested this for long, but I'm throwing some load on right now that had made it close within literally seconds, and it's been up for 20 or so minutes so far.

Original comment by hwert...@gmail.com on 19 Feb 2011 at 10:12

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     Here's a patch to tether.edify. It adds an "-A FORWARD -m state --state INVALID -j DROP" rule where they're added, and a "-D FORWARD -m state --state INVALID -j DROP" in the area where the rules are torn down.  I didn't do the "-A INPUT" rule, I think it's unneeded.

Original comment by hwert...@gmail.com on 19 Feb 2011 at 10:34

Attachments:

• tether.patch

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Thanks for the patch. It's included now: r522

A new test/experimental version is available for teting as well:
http://android-wifi-tether.googlecode.com/files/wireless_tether_2_0_7-pre1.apk

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 19 Feb 2011 at 11:59

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put on 2.0.7-pre1.  So far so good 8-)
i *am* curious why this patch does anything, since the rules already dropped 
everything not from 192.168.1.x, and nat should have nat'ed everything else.  
whatevs, kernel nat passed something vzw didn't like too; the DROP rule worked 
for years on my aircard (which i was also sharing via wifi in AP mode) and 
seems good here too.  great app btw!!!

Original comment by hwert...@gmail.com on 19 Feb 2011 at 5:01

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Well, I can't verify that. I'm not on verizon  - I'm not from the u.s. either).
So, it would be great if this could be verfied by some people ...

Thanks again.

Original comment by harald....@gmail.com on 19 Feb 2011 at 6:20

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2.0.7 pre1 experimental build seems to work great.  I installed this build on 
my DroidX, and even after ~30 minutes and 445 MB it did not drop the 3g 
connection even once

Original comment by cvenomz....@gmail.com on 21 Feb 2011 at 5:27

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Overall, 2.0.7 pre1 experimental maintains a better connection on my droid x.  
However, I have been getting a lot of "device state unknown,  try a reboot" 
errors.  Is this related to this release?

Original comment by rquel...@gmail.com on 26 Feb 2011 at 4:38

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I've gotten "device state unknown, try a reboot" as well.  In my case, I ran 
Linux-Installer (and modified the linuxboot script slightly so I could install 
Debian into /data/debian).  When I run linuxboot, it sets net.ipv4.ip_forward = 
1 (and there's nothing to set net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0 when linuxboot exits.)   
Wireless-tether also sets net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 when tethering is started, and 
net.ipv4.ip_forward=0 when it's stopped, and has a sanity check to check if 
this value is set how it expects.  I've had no problem when I get this warning 
starting the tether up.

Original comment by hwert...@gmail.com on 27 Feb 2011 at 5:34