8 Best Fixes for Android Wi-Fi Stuck on Obtaining IP Address Issue

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network on an Android phone or tablet is easy on a normal day. Other times it is a Herculean task. If your phone is not connecting to a Wi-Fi network because it is blocked in the “Obtaining IP address” step, then something is wrong. Generally, it is safe to assume that the problem could be related to your phone. Other times, the router may be responsible for the error. Whatever the reason, we’ve compiled a definitive list of troubleshooting tips to resolve when your Android phone can’t get an IP address over a Wi-Fi network.

Wi-Fi connectivity issues are quite common on Android devices. Check out our detailed guides on how to fix simple and complex Wi-Fi connectivity issues. In this article, we will highlight eight (8) ways to fix the “Obtaining IP address” error on Android device. Let’s start.

1. Disable and enable Wi-Fi

Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and turn it back on. You can turn off Wi-Fi by sliding the notification panel down and tapping the Wi-Fi icon. Or go to Settings> Network & Internet and turn off the Wi-Fi network.

Follow the same steps to re-enable Wi-Fi on your device. Now try to reconnect to the network and check whether the “Obtaining the IP address” error persists or not.

2. Move closer to the router

If you are not within the optimal connection range of your router, your phone may have difficulty connecting to the network. Therefore, the error “Obtaining the IP address”. You need to move your phone closer to the router and check if the Android operating system is now able to establish a connection with the Wi-Fi network.

3. Forget the network

If the error persists after moving your device closer to the router, try to forget about the Wi-Fi network and re-establish the connection. Go to Settings> Network & Internet> Wi-Fi and select the blocked network in the “Obtain IP address” loop. Then tap Forget to delete the network credentials from your device.

Reconnect to the Wi-Fi network, enter its authorization credentials, i.e. its password (if applicable) and check if the error persists.

4. Confirm network credentials

This is another troubleshooting check that you need to run. Entering an incorrect password can also block the network in the “Obtaining IP address” loop. Check that you have the correct PIN code / password for the network. If the error occurs on a Wi-Fi network to which you have already connected, check with the administrator if it has not changed the network identification information – SSID name and password.

If the network SSID or password / PIN has been changed, get the new details, forget the old network details on your device (see method # 3 above) and reconnect to the new network.

When you connect to a network manually, selecting an incorrect security type can also cause the Wi-Fi network status to block on “Obtain IP address” on your device.

So you need to make sure that you have all the correct details on the new network. You can recheck and confirm network details if you have access to the router’s admin panel. Or you could ask someone who does.

5. Restart the device

Yes, that could also help. Turn off your device and turn it back on after a few seconds. After that, reestablish the connection with the Wi-Fi network. If the network connection status is still blocked when obtaining the IP address, proceed to the next troubleshooting tip.

6. Is your device blocked

This connection error can also occur if your Android smartphone has been blocked from the Wi-Fi network to which you are trying to connect. If you can connect to other Wi-Fi networks effortlessly, but a particular network remains blocked on the connection step “Obtain IP address”, then your device may be blacklisted on this network.

You should also check that the router does not have a strict MAC address configuration that prevents your device from connecting to the network. If the router has a limit on the number of simultaneous connections, your device will not be able to connect to the network. Therefore, you need to check the device limits of the router.

Establish connection

At least one of the fixes listed above should eliminate the “Obtaining IP address” error on your Android device. Very often the problem is usually simple. So be sure to resolve it carefully. Let us know which trick worked for you in the comments section below.