Misc Is Streetpass working normally?

[fischermasamune]

Is the Streetpass working normally?

I was getting 10+ hits every day, since college started, in August. But for some reason I've been getting only 0,1,2,3 hits for the last two or three weeks. My habits haven't changed much, neither has my environment. Why is this happening?

One possible explanation is that I'm only streetpassing 3ds directly, and the Streetpass Relay isn't working. (I think I used to log on and off a hotspot many times a day just by walking). Maybe they need some time to adjust before allowing 6 hits as they said they hould have to?

Maybe the other 3DS users decide to turn the wi-fi off, or stop carrying around... Would there be a reason?

It could also be the cold weather, making the signal weaker... (This for both hotspots and physical 3ds's.)

Any lights on what is happening? Has anyone experienced something similar, something too odd to be within some deviation from the mean.?

 

[JRave]

Some(most?) Attwifi hotspots now require you to accept an agreement before getting access to the internet. Sadly this will stop the relay system from functioning until you accept the agreement. Next time you are out near a Nintendo Zone hotspot check your 3ds browser for an agreement page. Once you accept that you'll be good for a short period of time. (I do not recall for how long) If there are multiple relay hotspots fairly close together, logging into 1 should carry over to the others.

The only other thing I can think of, is if most of the hotspots along your route are inside of Starbucks. Starbucks is in the process of dropping attwifi for another carrier, which means they no longer count as a Nintendo Zone hotspot.

 

[fischermasamune]

Damn it, it was attwifi, and I believe it was from Starbucks.
I'll try to do your trick today and see how it goes.

 

[fischermasamune]

Problem solved.
Thanks for the clue, JRave. It was decisive in solving it.
I have a somewhat long report, in case someone experiences the same issue:

According to AT&T, I have 2 attwifi's close to me. One of them is from Starbucks, one from a bookstore (haven't tried anything with this second though). If someone's interested, my firmware version is 6.3.0-12U in a 3DS XL.

I went to the aforementioned Starbucks. Even one or two blocks away, my 3DS was picking up the Nintendo Zone signal (when the Nintendo Zone icon generates waves). However, since I was outside (didn't want to buy a coffee just for that...), the signal was weak, and even waiting two or three minutes, I couldn't use the browser or access the Nintendo Zone program (I could ask for search for access point, but after some time an error message would appear). I was unsure of the cause, so I decided to analyze the internet connections in the System Settings.

I discovered I've excluded attwifi from the 3 allowed connections (probably for having space for another). So I decided to put it back. I searched for the access point, and among many wifi connections, I chose attwifi. The 3DS tested the connection. The 3DS could connect to the wifi, but the wifi couldn't connect to the internet. Anyway, the connection attwifi was saved. [Note: I don't know if it's really important to have attwifi as a saved connection.]

So I tried to use the 3DS internet browser. After two or three minutes waiting, it finally exhibited a page stating that I was using the AT&T Hotspot through Starbucks. On the page, there was a green button "Accept the conditions and Connect" or something like that. After clicking, I could use the browser to navigate the web, although it was slow (ranging from one to three blue bars, possibly because I was outside). I also could access the Nintendo Zone program, but everything was slow. However, even staying there for some minutes, I didn't have any Streetpass hit, what was strange.

I returned there two hours later (this time inside, and the signal was better). I could access the browser and Nintendo Zone, and they were operating fast. I didn't have to log in or ask for permission to use the wifi again: it was automatic. I had to wait some minutes until getting a Streetpass hit. But when I did, I got 5 at the same minutes (3:09 pm), a clear evidence that I could hit 5 people at the same time using Streetpass Relay.