How to fix a Galaxy Note9 that won't connect to wifi

Hello Android fans! Welcome to today’s Galaxy Note9 (#GalaxyNote9) troubleshooting article. This post provides troubleshooting steps if your Note9 is having trouble connecting to wifi. We hope you’ll find this material helpful.

Before we proceed, be reminded that we provide answers to Android problems. If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Problem: Galaxy Note9 won’t connect to home wifi

I just purchased a Note 9 last month and I am so tired of this phone. no matter what I do, it just doesn’t seem like it wants to connect to my home WiFi. I can’t use any apps when data is shut off and just my WiFi is on. That’s not normal. My WiFi should work just as good and mobile data. I won’t have a phone I can’t use my home connection and have to use all my data. What is wrong with the Note 9? Help Laura

Solution: The Galaxy Note9 is designed to be able to use both wifi and mobile data. If one these basic functions has stopped working, you need to do a series of troubleshooting steps to know where the problem comes from. This guide should help you with that.

Force restart your Galaxy Note9

A lot of minor bugs are fixed by doing this simple troubleshooting step. Before you proceed with the rest of the troubleshooting package below, be sure to reboot the phone. If you’re lucky and the reason why your Note9 is not connecting to wifi is caused by a simple bug, this can be an easy fix.

To force restart your Note9:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Connect to another wifi network

If restarting your Note9 won’t work, the next troubleshooting step that you can try is to check whether or not the phone is capable of connecting to any wifi. If you have a neighbor that can allow you to do this, then go ahead. If you can’t readily connect to another wifi in your neighborhood, visit your local library, mall, cafe, or Samsung store to connect. If your Note9 connects to another wifi fine and internet works, then the problem must be coming from your router, or how your home wifi is setup.

Verify home wifi is working

Do you have other wireless devices connected to the router? Are they able to use your wifi without problems? If the answer to both is yes, then you want to continue troubleshooting your Note9.

If there are no other wireless devices using your wifi at home, it’s possible that there’s a router issue behind it. Contact your Internet Service Provider or ISP (the one that provided your router) for help.

Reconnect to your home wifi

Another simple troubleshooting step when dealing with a wifi issue is disconnect (forget) from the network, restart, and reconnect. To forget the wifi network from your Note9:

Tap to open the Apps menu.
Tap Settings.
Tap Wi-Fi. Make sure Wi-Fi is turned on, otherwise, tap the switch to turn Wi-Fi on. A list of available Wi-Fi networks will then populate on the screen.
Tap and hold your Wi-Fi network from the list.
Then select the option to Forget or Forget network. The selected Wi-Fi network will then be deleted.
Reboot your phone after deleting your Wi-Fi network and then head back to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network.

Wipe cache partition

Some users were able to fix wifi issues by clearing the cache partition. This is a portion of your Note9’s storage device that keeps the system cache. Sometimes, the system cache may become corrupted. Deleting the system cache makes sure that the system cache is refreshed. Here’s how to do it:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Reset network settings

This is an important troubleshooting step. Whether you have an issue with wifi or mobile data, clearing your phone’s network settings is a must. If you haven’t tried it yet, follow these steps:

Tap to open Settings app.
Go to General management section.
Tap Reset.
Select Reset network settings from the given options.
If prompted, enter your device password or PIN to continue.
Then tap Reset settings to confirm.

Install updates

App and Android updates can sometimes fix network issues. Be sure to install updates for both apps and Android whenever they become available.

Try wifi on safe mode

Sometimes, third party apps may interfere with Android. To check if one of your apps is to blame, you can restart the phone to safe mode. Here’s how:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Remember, safe mode blocks third party apps from running. If your Note9 can connect to your home wifi while on safe mode but not in normal mode, you can bet a third party app is to blame. To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your Note9 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Factory reset

The final troubleshooting step that you can perform on your Note9 is factory reset. This will cover the possibility of a software bug behind your trouble. If the problem is due to an app or a firmware bug, factory reset will most likely help. Here’s how to do it:

Create a backup of your data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.
Check how wifi works (be sure to do this before you add your apps back).

Repair

Should your Note9’s wifi remain problematic after a factory reset, the problem must be hardware-related. Contact Samsung support to get your Note9 fixed.

Troubleshoot your home wifi

If your Note9 can connect to other wifi networks but not with your home wifi, there may be a router issue you need to settle. Try checking your router configuration first and see if you can isolate the issue. If you are not the administrator of your home wifi, make sure to tell the person in charge to help you figure out the cause. Otherwise, resetting the router is a good idea. Refer to your router documentation on how to do it.

Contact your ISP

If you can’t troubleshoot your router or does not know what to do exactly, get help from your ISP.

How to fix a Galaxy Note9 that won’t connect to wifi