Help: I would like this connected to my wifi, damn it.

[killing_rose]

Okay, so for some really annoying reasons (primarily weak grip, startle reflexes and grocery store linoleum), I had to replace my Kindle 3 last night. The Best Buy man who sold me both the new ebook and its protection plan was a little startled by the very fervent, "That one. Please god, tell me you have it in stock." He also apparently has few scruples, as he explained to me that 2.5 years from now, about 6 months before my protection plan expires, my ereader should meet with an accidental death, I can replace the ebook for free, and re-up on the protection plan for another three years.

I have to say "This is pretty much the last time you need to buy an ereader" is one of the more interesting ways I've heard a protection plan hawked.

It is bad enough that I had the option of Fire (no thank you, I already have the iPad known as my Toy), the Paperwhite (oh gods, my retinas, oh gods), and the Kindle.

I am very annoyed by the lack of my beloved Kindle 3, as I was perfectly fine with the extra space and my keyboard.

But, fine, I'm fine with the less space given that it's not emulating all the things I hate about the iPad Kindle app. And gods know that since I have years of Kindle ebook purchases and no brain to try and crack them, the Kindle was the only option for replacing my 3.

And now, for neither love nor money, can I get the damned thing to connect to our password protected wireless. My housemate's unlocked (only for this experiment) mobile hotspot? Yes.

Password protected wifi? Nope.

I have the password! That failed. 

I have a blinking WPS light! I have been next to the light. I have been next to the modem! That failed.

It will not connect.

I would like to get my collections reestablished, since apparently one of the features Amazon has introduced since my last Kindle death includes "being able to sync your collections"; I'm not putting a lot of trust in being able to do it, mind, but I'd like to at least try. I'd also really appreciate being able to quit having to drag out my USB cord to put new books on my ereader.

I mean, yes, I had to wait six and a half months with my first Kindle to get it connected to my college's wifi, but it turns out the several years since then exactly meant I'd forgotten how much I loathed that whole period.

Please gods, tell me someone knows how to fix this.

Comments

[malnpudl]

Oh, yikes. One of my worst nightmares is being without my Kindle, or any of its critical functions (including wireless). Much sympathy!

My only thought is that the password is case-sensitive. My wireless password happens to include several capital letters, which made entering it on my Kindle Keyboard tedious; I was glad I only had to do it once.

[qem_chibati]

Ok - I'm pretty sure that the reason your having problem is because amazon are a fucking incompetent company when it comes to wifi. Your problem is unfortunately, very common, and Amazon themselves are very unlikely to help you, even though it's their shitty products fault.


Do you have the ability to modify the router's wifi settings?

Because the easiest thing to do may be to set up a secondary method of authentication, then try updating your firmware to see if that will help connecting normally on other methods.

To go into more RAGE FILLED detail:

The problem may be with the type of wifi your router is using. (it was certainly the case at my work place). Supposedly there are ways of making it work***, but the easist thing for us was to modify our router to put out a secondary method of authentication solely for the kindle. (The stupid, stupid, STUPID thing wouldn't accept enterprise level authentication - and at the time on their website, and in their responses to queries they were saying that they didn't support it?!?!?)


*We set it up so that if it came from the MAC address of the kindle it didn't need to authenticate using WPA2 but instead a less secure WEP.

*** This forum thread lists a few people who were able to find work arounds, which is necessary if you need to connect at a colledge wifi or similar large organisation wifi
- http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1M0R8BHE3GX2Z


The other thing; try updating the firmware on your device. For a long time kindles would only work on channels 1-11 (but 11,12,13 are quite common in countries like the UK) - I think they've fixed this in more recent firmware updates (although I know that there was one update that broke it).


I've seen somewhere, non-reputable source, that Amazon aren't members of the WI-FI alliance (and possibly may be using the term wifi illegally as it's a trademarked term), which is why their support for wifi is so utterly disgustingly shoddy.

/end rage

[jesse_the_k]

No Kindle-specific answers, but:

Have you tried shutting the Kindle down for 30 minutes, then restarting it? (Random data can get written in the Kindle's transient memory, borking its WiFi-ability. Restart clears that.)

The MobileRead forums are frequented by ebook geniuses.

Best wishes!