Hi all, I believe this will end up being a hardware issue due to the movement of the hinge, but I found that my (6 month old) Z Fold 4 will disconnect from WiFi and be unable to find any networks when folded. I ran a continuous ping test to my phone from my computer and saw the pings stop as soon as I went from unfolded to folded. Interestingly enough, the cellular does still work in either mode.
I also turned on 'continue on cover screen' mode for the settings app, and watched the WiFi disconnect and not find networks after doing nothing but folding the phone closed.
I continued to verify the issue by turning the wifi off, and when the phone was folded, I attempted to turn the wifi back on. The wifi on/off slider would fail to turn on when folded.
This issue happened seemingly at random, it was not caused by a drop or other specific incident (to my knowledge). Last update was done about 2-3 weeks ago so I do not believe it to be a software issue.
Just wanted to share my experience in case anyone else is running into the smae issue. And if anyone has any suggestions for additional troubleshooting, (hopefully besides hard-resetting my phone, as backing up and restoring is inconvenient), I would love to hear them. Otherwise I will be looking into warranty/repair options.
UPDATE 6/26/23 : Noticed that wifi will also occasionally drop when unfolded. Bluetooth also seems to disconnect and reconnect randomly... But Bluetooth WILL work when the phone is folded
Bluetooth also stays connected while media is playing, but will disconnect and reconnect when idle. Going to factory reset and test further tonight.
UPDATE 2 6/26/23: Started a Samsung care support chat earlier. They had me reset settings to default and clear the memory cache from the boot menu (holding volume up after powering on), but neither of these fixed my issue. They then recommended that I visit a Samsung authorized repair center (assurion, best buy, etc.) as a walk-in. The agent said 'i assure you that they will be able to repair the phone same day'. Even after I told them that this could very well be a hardware issue, and these authorized repair centers will certainly not be opening a Z fold to repair/replace parts due to the difficulty and scope, they still 'assured me that they could repair it' because they have 'seen/dealt with this issue before'.
I decided to drive to the assurion store by my house and ask them about what they could do for me. I breifly explained the symptoms and how I could reproduce the issue, and they said that it would require a motherboard replacement to fix, and they do not provide that service. I then asked if they handled warranty replacements, and they said they did not. Seems that the original support agent had just been eager to end the chat...
Hello Mickery, Welcome to the Community. We understand the frustration of not being able to maintain stable connections. Thank you for providing the details of your experience.
If you continue experiencing the disconnects, service is recommended. You can use the following link to find a list of service centers in the U.S. that can do the repair: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/service/location or by contacting customer support at 1-800-726-7864.
