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I ran into an issue with my Google Pixel 3a XL phone where it repeatedly crashed and rebooted. After looking into the issue, I remembered that the crashes started as soon as I connected to a specific Wi-Fi network.

The issue began as soon as I connected to it. I tried rebooting in Safe Mode to see if that fixed the problem, which initially disabled all networking features, but as soon as I switched them back on, the crashes started again. I was able to stop the crashes by disabling Wi-Fi immediately after the next restart, forgetting the network it was trying to connect to, then re-enabling Wi-Fi.

The issue seems to occur only when I connect to that specific Wi-Fi network; connecting to other networks doesn't create any problem. I was reading another help guide that said to reset the network settings to fix problems with it, but I doubt that will fix the issue as it just resets the saved networks. I already deleted the info about the problematic network by forgetting it, so I don't think this will resolve it.

The network is an unsecured network, and is a public network (so I don't have access to router info, etc.)

What could be causing the phone to crash and reboot when I connect to that one specific Wi-Fi network, and not any other network?

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  • Have you performed a Network Settings Reset? Go to Settings - System - Reset Options, and select "Reset Wi-Fi, mobile, and Bluetooth". Note this will delete ALL network settings, all saved networks, paired devices, etc. but it is would be one of the first things I would try and the first thing Google support would suggest. I own a 3a XL and am a network tech and use it to troubleshoot networks, I have literally connected to hundreds of WiFi networks and have never seen this behavior.
    – acejavelin
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 22:42
  • @acejavelin As I said in my post, I considered doing so, but I severely doubt it will resolve the issue if all it does is forget all networks and Bluetooth devices, and set network settings to default (I've never changed any network settings).
    – gparyani
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 22:46
  • Perhaps... But I have seen a Network Settings Reset fix all sorts of odd problems in many devices network related that you wouldn't expect. It is a pretty minor inconvenience and like I said this would be the first step to troubleshooting this. I am not saying it will or won't fix the issue, but it is something that should be done. It is probably the easiest step to take at this point.
    – acejavelin
    Commented Feb 23, 2020 at 15:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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This is a known, supposedly fixed but not yet pushed into production issue for Wi-Fi networks utilizing 802.11k:
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/144381412

See also:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pixel3/comments/f7mych/reboot_when_connecting_to_wifi/

It has been more than a year and still unresolved in end user devices. I don't understand why it is taking this long especially considering:

  • That they have supposedly fixed it in the code.
  • How widespread this must be, as all devices are affected (even if most people may not realize it has to do with Wi-Fi, it took me a while to connect the dots). I am personally experiencing the same on a Pixel 3.

Please upvote and comment on the Google Bug tracker link above so Google can finally take care of this.

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  • Thank you Erwin. That's an ugly bug and yet another example of how long Google takes to fix known issues... if ever. "Free support" is meaningless if the code is not quickly pushed to fix critical issues like this.
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness
    Commented Dec 13, 2020 at 5:58
  • Looking at that bug report, it looks like there's another bug report that's blocking it from being fixed. That report's details are marked as confidential, so perhaps it's a security bug.
    – gparyani
    Commented Dec 13, 2020 at 6:24
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I have the exact same problem with my Google Pixel 2 XL. It happens only in one (secured) network. I have tried "Network Settings Reset" but it didn't help. The workaround we have found:

  1. Boot into safe mode
    1. Press and hold the power button
    2. Touch and hold “Power off” button until view “Reboot to safe mode”
    3. Press “OK” to boot into safe mode
  2. Enable WiFi and connect to the problematic network
  3. Restart to normal mode. It can connect to the network as long as it is remembered.
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  • I already tried Safe Mode and it didn't work. It still crashed while in Safe Mode.
    – gparyani
    Commented Feb 25, 2020 at 19:31

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