Paperwhite - A cautionary tale

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wtburnette

2[H]4U
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Jun 24, 2004
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When I bought my Kindle Paperwhite a few months ago, I was overjoyed with it. I loved everything about it, the screen, the form factor, the convenience. A week ago that all changed when it suddenly wouldn't connect to, or even see any wifi networks. After restarting it, resetting it, and a half dozen other troubleshooting steps, I called their support (well, used the option to have them call me). Had their tech walk me through the same things I'd already done, then finally decide to send me a replacement. No problem. A couple days later I have a new Paperwhite I'm setting up, only to have the same exact issue. No networks found and the buttons to enter a manual connection was grayed out. UGH!

I went through all the steps again and got yet another replacement, which arrived today. You have probably guessed by now, but yes, it has the same issue. Spent an hour on the phone with another CSR and finally gave up and asked for a refund. I absolutely loved the device, but at this point, I'm not taking the risk of getting a working device, or one that will stay working for that matter. I looked in the Kindle forums and there seem to be a lot of threads for wifi issues with the Paperwhite. I'm starting to think perhaps there is either a flaw in the first generation, or a bad batch that went out with issues. I even updated the firmware via USB connection, but still no joy. Before anyone asks, yes, I've connected 3 laptops, one desktop, one smartphone and a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to the same wifi and all of them are working just fine. What's really disturbing is that they don't see ANY wireless networks. The Kindle Fire HD next to it sees 24 networks available, for comparison's sake.

I've never had this big of a problem with Amazon and I can only hope when I order the second gen Paperwhite that it doesn't have the same issues. Sent in an email complaining about the issue, so maybe I'll get a discount :D

Anyway, wanted to let other people know that there could be a possible issue with the first gen Paperwhite devices. Maybe not, but with 3 devices in a row exhibiting the same problem, it seems possible.
 
Is your router setup to offer wifi a/b/g or are you restricting to just one of those bands?
 
I'm assuming you tried it in other environments to rules out interference or some problem with your network infrastructure? What sort of testing did you do besides checking if it worked in your house?
 
If you read my post, you'll see that the Paperwhite sees NO wireless networks. None of them do. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 sitting next to it sees 22 networks and can connect to both my 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks just fine, as can my 3 laptops, phone, spare desktop, HTPC and PS3 (via a wireless n bridge). It's not an issue with the devices not being able to connect to my network, but to not even see any networks at all. Even if there were an issue with my wireless network, the devices should still see the other 20 some networks available. Taking it down the street where Starbuck's, Great Clips and Kroger all have wireless networks that my phone sees doesn't change anything. There is an issue with the wireless receiver (or whatever it's called) in these devices. Reading through the Kindle forums, it looks like a pretty widespread issue.
 
So, you didn't actually test it outside your house then...?
 
He said he to"down the street where Starbuck's, Great Clips and Kroger all have wireless networks".
 
tl;dr
Amazon is out to get you and only you.

But seriously, I have had this issue with my second Nook. So it's not just an issue with Amazon's Paperwhite. Luckily for me it was just the one unit, the next one worked fine. However, I have had other small issues with the Nook which, coupled with the fact that B&N is going down have made me want to move to the Kindles. However, not seeing wifi is a serious issue for me, and the Paperwhite is the unit I wanted to get. It most closely matches my Nook Simple which I love.
 
The Lurker said:
He said he to"down the street where Starbuck's, Great Clips and Kroger all have wireless networks".
Click to expand...

It was ambiguous to me. It's not clear if he said he did that and it didn't change anything or if he did not do it but believes that it would not have changed anything (a strange assumption).
 
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