Cannot access current network state. Type is always 'null'

Fixed the problem by performing an internet request instead of asking ionic for the connection type. It’s similar to the solution found in this post: Checking Internet connection - #6 by rapropos

Creds to @rapropos for this:

Establish a /heartbeat endpoint or something in your backend that just always returns 200 OK.

this._http.get('/heartbeat').subscribe(() => {
    // yep, good to go
  }, (err) => {
    // ruh roh
  });