"We are unable to contact your device"

Avast Mobile Apps Avast Anti-Theft for Android
1

I am attempting to setup anti-theft free on a Galaxy S4… just updated with lollipop. It looks like everything is correct, the web portal says it is installed on the device and has obviously communicated with it… however, if I click LOCATE (the button says “off” but it is clickable so I assume that it should work), the page pops up a message saying “trying to contact your device”… then, after awhile says “We are unable to contact your device”…

  • I tried CONTACT DEVICE to send a message to the phone… same result.
  • I Tried switching off wireless in case there is a firewall issue and maybe only DATA will work… still no luck.
  • I refreshed the page and the battery state changed and it says “last communication two minutes ago”… but still no action

SO, what’s up? I saw another post a month ago with a similar question and no response. Some folks obviously must have it working.

Not impressed.

2

Hi I had this problem - I just kept fiddling and it eventually cam =e back ok - but this must be an issue since many have it.

3

Hi
I have just lost contact with my phone again! trying a locate option
does not seem very reliable!

4

If you find out what “fiddling” does the trick, PLEASE post it, so I can try it. Good/Bad to know I’m not alone, but it would be better to find the solution. The other thread from March was:

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=166118.msg1200101

I hesitate to purchase the premium version to see if it fixes the problem. If I KNEW it would do it, I’d probably pay for the functionality.

Thanks,

  • jack
5

Sorry have given up and deleted avast. But did find if you go into phone admin (dial avast pin) and scroll thru menus you should find test connection or similar.

Sorry cant help more but my version of avast seems to have become unstable setting itself off with no trigger.

Bye

6

thanks! I did test the connection from the phone and that worked fine, just not from the web.

what other anti-theft solution are you trying?? and does it actually work?

7

I’ve tried a million times, no support, no contact. I’ve been paying for premium for a long time now too

8

Same problem for me.

Samsung Galaxy S4
KitKat 4.4.2
avast! 4.0.7884

I’ve tried from the web interface to locate of to send a message.
My device is found (avast! reports ip address, battery status, etc…)
But locating or sending ends with “We are unable to contact …”

Regards.
Francis

9

Thank you very much for this comment. I was about to try to downgrade my phone from Lollipop back to KitKat
http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-downgrade-galaxy-s5-from-lollipop-to-kitkat
in the hope that Anti-Theft would then work properly for me. It appears that it is NOT just the new Android version that causes the problem. You have saved me a lot of useless effort!

10

Hi,
can anyone help a new user with a similar problem to the above. I have purchased premium and installed on an unrooted Galaxy Ace2 with 4.4.1. I can always send a message to the phone; location and tracking are working fine with no delay. However “Get Data” and “Take Picture” always present the “We are unable to contact device” message. Most frustrating as these two items were the main reason for me to purchase. Clearly, Avast is able to contact the phone but not for these two menu items. does anyone have a solution to this?
Kabe

11

I have the same issue. Galaxy S4 on lollipop. Connects from phone but not from web. Tried using every option to contact my phone but none works. Any help would be nice.
thanks

12

Have the same problem w/premium. Contacted support: after standard runaround (i.e., what version Avast? what version Anti-Theft; uninstall / reinstall) they sent me a new version of anti-theft to install. It worked for a day but now doesn’t. Avast’s server is clearly communicating with the phone – it knows battery level, for example – but times out when I request location, saying that it cannot contact phone. This is clearly Avast’s problem and if you’re considering premium I’d hold off until it is reported fixed.

13

Same problem.

Can anyone recommend a different app that actually works?

Anyone else notice that none of the problems brought up on this forum are actually adressed by Avast?

14

Mine was the gps was off on my s4.

15

I never got this message, but only because I was unable to get this program to work (or even complete setup). All I can recommend is uninstallation (or submit a support ticket).

16

I too facing the below issue.

just updated with Android lollipop. It looks like everything is correct, the web portal says it is installed on the device and has obviously communicated with it… however, if I click LOCATE (the button says “off” but it is clickable so I assume that it should work), the page pops up a message saying “trying to contact your device”… then, after awhile says “We are unable to contact your device”…

  • I tried CONTACT DEVICE to send a message to the phone… same result.
  • I Tried switching off wireless in case there is a firewall issue and maybe only DATA will work… still no luck.
  • I refreshed the page and the battery state changed and it says “last communication two minutes ago”… but still no action when we perform Locate.

Please help.

Thanks,
–Vijay

17

I am having the same problem on my rooted Samsung Note 3 - from the web it says I can’t contact my phone - from my phone in Avast Count / Fix Connection Problems it has problems and none of the proposed solutions work.

This used to work. It sees the position of my phone from 1 week ago, but not any more.

Anybody made any progress on this?

18

I have same problem. Avast support told me to remove my devices from my.avast and re add them. It helped…for a day or two and again same problem!

19

This has been an issue for a long time.
I believe the problem is that when the device goes to “sleep”, Web commands aren’t coming through.

What I found that helps SOMETIMES is when you call the device or send an sms which wakes the device up, and if you send the web command right then, it goes through most of the time.

I think there maybe no easy fix for this as if antitheft mobile keeps the device awake all the time to be able to receive Web commands it would just drain the device’s battery. On the other hand there are lots of various messaging apps that are able to receive messages even when the device is sleeping, so maybe there is a fix.
On the other hand the send commands expire way too soon on my.avast portal, I think it should keep trying for a while longer.

In any case I’m very disappointed that these essential commands don’t work and I’ve been paying premium for a year now or maybe longer.

20

Taking my previous comment back. The little trick I described used to work before, but I just tried to send some Web commands to my device from browser running on my device! It didn’t work! The phone was as awake as it can be, I was holding it in my hand trying to send some commands. It didn’t work.

It might be a time to look for the alternative solution as these are the functions that I need in case my and/or my wife’s mobiles are lost or stolen, and that is why I’ve been paying for premium!