How to Fix WiFi Issues on Android TV and Google TV Devices

Android TV and Google TV are built on the same platform and share the same networking stack, which means they share the same quirks. Whether your TV won’t connect at all, drops the connection every hour, or streams at a painfully slow bitrate, the root cause is almost always one of a handful of well-known issues. This guide walks through every fix, starting with the quick and free and working up to the nuclear options.

Step 1: Power-Cycle Everything

Before you touch any settings, do a full power cycle. Unplug your TV from the wall (don’t just use the remote — physically unplug it) and wait at least 60 seconds. Do the same for your router and modem. Bring the modem back up first, wait for it to sync, then power on the router, wait for it to finish booting, and finally plug the TV back in.

This single step resolves a surprisingly large percentage of Android TV WiFi problems. The TV’s networking stack can get into a bad state after OS updates or a long period of suspend, and a hard reboot clears it completely.

Step 2: Forget and Reconnect to Your Network

If the TV connects but immediately drops, or shows “Connected, no internet,” the stored network profile may be corrupted. Navigate to Settings → Network & Internet, highlight your WiFi network, press the options button on your remote, and choose Forget network. Then select the same SSID again and re-enter your password carefully — passwords are case-sensitive and it’s easy to fat-finger them with a TV remote.

Step 3: Check Signal Strength and Router Placement

After reconnecting, go back to Settings → Network & Internet and highlight your connected network. Android TV will show a signal strength indicator. If it’s showing one or two bars, weak signal is your primary problem.

Common placement mistakes that kill signal:

Router hidden inside an entertainment cabinet or behind the TV itself
Router on a different floor with multiple concrete ceilings in between
Router placed near a microwave, cordless phone base, or baby monitor (all compete on 2.4 GHz)

Sony recommends keeping at least 1 meter (3 feet) of clearance between the TV and router. If your TV is far from the router, consider a WiFi extender or mesh node placed between them.

Step 4: Switch WiFi Bands (2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz)

Most routers broadcast two separate SSIDs — one on 2.4 GHz and one on 5 GHz. The right choice depends on your situation:

Close to the router (same room or adjacent room): Use 5 GHz. It delivers much higher throughput and is less congested, making it ideal for 4K and HDR streaming.
Far from the router or through thick walls: Use 2.4 GHz. It has worse peak speed but penetrates walls far better and maintains a more stable connection at distance.

If your router uses a single combined SSID with band steering, Android TV may stubbornly latch onto 2.4 GHz even when standing right next to the router. In that case, try temporarily splitting the SSIDs in your router settings so you can force the TV onto 5 GHz.

Step 5: Fix WPA3 Compatibility Issues

Older Android TV models (2018–2021) have limited or no support for WPA3 security. If your router is set to WPA3-only or WPA/WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise mode, these TVs will fail to connect or connect intermittently.

Log into your router’s admin panel and set the security mode to WPA2-PSK (AES) only, or the “WPA2/WPA3 Transitional” mode if you want to keep WPA3 for newer devices. This is the single most common cause of Android TV WiFi failures after a router replacement or firmware update. For a deeper dive, see our guide on fixing WPA3 compatibility issues.

Step 6: Set a Static DNS Server

Android TV’s default behavior is to use whatever DNS your router assigns via DHCP. If your ISP’s DNS servers are slow or unreliable, streaming apps will time out or fail to load even when the WiFi connection itself is fine.

To set a custom DNS:

Go to Settings → Network & Internet
Select your connected WiFi network
Choose Advanced or IP Settings
Switch from DHCP to Static
Enter your IP address, gateway, and subnet (copy from the DHCP values first)
Set DNS 1 to 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) and DNS 2 to 8.8.8.8 (Google)

Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 consistently ranks as one of the fastest public DNS resolvers globally. See our best DNS servers guide for a full comparison.

Step 7: Reserve a DHCP Address for Your TV

If your TV’s IP address changes every time it reconnects, some routers and network configurations can trigger brief disconnection events during the IP renewal. Log into your router, find your TV in the connected device list (look for the manufacturer name or “Android”), and create a DHCP reservation so it always gets the same IP. This is especially useful if you’ve also configured port forwarding or QoS rules targeting the TV.

Step 8: Check for and Install Software Updates

Google regularly pushes OTA updates to Android TV and Google TV that address networking bugs. To check manually:

Google TV: Settings → System → About → System Update
Android TV (Sony, Hisense, TCL): Settings → Device Preferences → About → System Update

Also update your router’s firmware. An outdated router can introduce WiFi instability that affects all connected devices. Most modern routers have an auto-update option in the admin panel — see our guide on how to update router firmware for step-by-step instructions.

Step 9: Use Ethernet If Possible

Most Android TVs and Google TV devices include a physical Ethernet port (or support one via USB-C adapter for dongle-style devices like the Chromecast with Google TV). A wired connection eliminates every single WiFi variable — interference, signal strength, band steering, WPA3 compatibility — and delivers rock-solid reliability for 4K streaming.

If your TV is far from your router, a MoCA adapter pair can run a gigabit-class wired connection through your home’s existing coaxial cable without running new Ethernet. Powerline adapters are another option, though they perform less consistently depending on your home’s wiring.

Step 10: Factory Reset as a Last Resort

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, a factory reset clears any corrupted network configuration or OS state that’s causing the problem. On Google TV: Settings → System → About → Reset → Factory Reset. On Android TV: Settings → Device Preferences → About → Factory Reset.

Before you reset, note down your installed apps and any login credentials, as everything will be wiped.

Quick Troubleshooting Reference

Symptom	Most Likely Cause	Fix
Won’t connect at all	WPA3 mismatch or wrong password	Set router to WPA2-PSK; forget & reconnect
Connects then drops within minutes	Weak signal or IP conflict	Move router; set DHCP reservation
“Connected, no internet”	DNS failure or ISP outage	Set DNS to 1.1.1.1; power-cycle modem
Slow buffering / low quality	2.4 GHz congestion or weak 5 GHz signal	Switch band; reposition router or add extender
Drops only during evenings	ISP congestion or neighbor WiFi interference	Change WiFi channel; check ISP speeds

Android TV and Google TV WiFi problems are rarely caused by the TV hardware itself — they’re almost always a configuration or environment issue that can be fixed without spending a penny. Work through this checklist top-to-bottom and you’ll resolve the problem in the vast majority of cases.