Smartphone turns on WiFi by Itself

[travelover]

I've got a Galaxy J3 Orbit and recently it has been turning on WiFi by itself. I can go into settings and turn WiFi off and the next time I check, WiFi is back on.

I've read that some apps can do this, but I'm at a loss as to how to determine which one is doing it. Any hints as to how to determine the culprit?

 

[Go-NoGo]

Maybe going into location services and disable wifi scanning ?

More solutions here:
https://us.community.samsung.com/t5...-automatically-after-I-turn-it-off/td-p/25436

 

[Freedom56]

You can disable the WiFi wake feature when it detects new WiFi connections by going to your settings and "WiFi preferences" and disable "Turn on WiFi automatically" and disable "Connect to Open Networks"

 

[travelover]

Thanks for the suggestions. My phone doesn't seem to have the exact options recommended, but I did find a function called "WiFi control history" which shows which apps have turned on WiFi. The culprit seems to be called "WiFi Utility". I've turned off its ability to turn on WiFi, though I've not sure of the implications of this, as it doesn't seem to be a stand alone app.

 

[retire-early]

I have two of these smartphones, and neither exhibit the behavior you describe.

Both of mine are on Tracfone Verizon network.

 

[travelover]

I have two of these smartphones, and neither exhibit the behavior you describe.

Both of mine are on Tracfone Verizon network.

Mine did not either until recently. Turning off the WiFi Utility does seem to have worked.

 

[target2019]

WiFi utility is for Tracfone. Described here:
https://www.amazon.com/TracFone-Wireless-Inc-Wi-Fi-Utility/dp/B06XPMHP7Z

Sounds like a PIA.

 

[NW-Bound]

ET needs the WiFi on, in order to call home.

How else does a rogue app call home to report on what it finds out about you?


Just joking. I don't know if the above is true. Just wanted to scare you.

 

[retire-early]

Mine did not either until recently. Turning off the WiFi Utility does seem to have worked.

What do you mean by turning it off?

I am looking at Settings ---> App info ---> Wi-Fi Utility.
On my smartphone, it is not Disabled.
However, its Permissions is set to No permissions allowed.
The app is version R4.4.0-03

 

[fritz]

Thanks for the suggestions. My phone doesn't seem to have the exact options recommended, but I did find a function called "WiFi control history" which shows which apps have turned on WiFi. The culprit seems to be called "WiFi Utility". I've turned off its ability to turn on WiFi, though I've not sure of the implications of this, as it doesn't seem to be a stand alone app.

We have two Motorola Moto E (1st generation) phones from Republic Wireless. They are old and require the wifi to be on for Republic app to work properly. We installed a widget (app) off Google Play Store called "Wifi Battery Saver Widget" by David Elizondo that does appear to keep the wifi off (doesn't constantly hunt) until we deactivate it.

It's a small sized widget app that once installed - just requires you to tap it "on" (green battery in icon) or "off" (allow wifi) to deactivate. You also have to go into your widgets that follow your apps stored on your phone when you first install it, and long tap on the widget icon to get it to your main phone screen. Might work and it's free.