How to make Intel wi-fi signal stronger in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 or 18.04?

Question

For some reason I don't know, my wifi signal is very weak in Linux but is ok in Windows. The speed doesn't seem to be the issue, but something related with the strength of the wifi signal itself. I am using ASUS N580VD-DM129T and I have iwlwifi driver for Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless AC 8265 in Linux Ubuntu 16.04 with Gnome. (I checked the name of the network card using dmesg | grep iwlwifi and looked for the output line "Detected Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless AC 8265, REV=0x230"). I also tried running Ubuntu 18.04 and still had the same problem.

The output when I run dmesg | grep iwlwifi is the following:

[    3.347436] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    3.386096] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-8265-33.ucode failed with error -2
[    3.388185] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-8265-32.ucode failed with error -2
[    3.397339] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 31.560484.0 op_mode iwlmvm
[    3.412232] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless AC 8265, REV=0x230
[    3.472665] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: base HW address: 88:b1:11:5e:93:f4
[    3.550283] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0 wlp3s0: renamed from wlan0

I thought it was weird that the loading fails twice before succeeding and wondered if that was the problem but it is not because of this. I installed iwlwifi-8265-ucode-22.361476.0.tgz available at https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/iwlwifi and it fails many times (33, 32, 31, until 23, and then work with version 22). So it is just searching for the available version.

I have also tried changing some options in the iwlwifi module as suggested here. But it didn't work. More precisely, I added options iwlwifi 11n_disable=1 swcrypto=1 to the end of the file /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf. Leaving me with the following content in it:

remove iwlwifi \
(/sbin/lsmod | grep -o -e ^iwlmvm -e ^iwldvm -e ^iwlwifi | xargs /sbin/rmmod) \
&& /sbin/modprobe -r mac80211
options iwlwifi 11n_disable=1 swcrypto=1

This didn't work even when I ran $sudo modprobe -rv iwlwifi to remove the module and then $sudo modprobe -v iwlwifi to add it again.

EDIT 2: I also tried with Linux 17.10 and 18.04 and still had the same problem (weak signal compared to Windows).

EDIT 3: Trying what was suggested for realtek did not work either: sudo modprobe -v iwlwifi ant_sel=2

https://connectwww.com/how-to-solve-realtek-rtl8723be-weak-wifi-signal-problem-in-ubuntu/4625/

EDIT 5: Trying to alter power management running

 sudo sed -i 's/wifi.powersave = 3/wifi.powersave = 2/'  /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

and then systemctl restart network-manager.service didn't work either. This was suggested here and here. This link explains how to do it.

EDIT 4: When I run $ nmcli dev wifi list I get the following results:

*  SSID           MODE   CHAN  RATE       SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY    
   neuromancer    Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  59      ▂▄▆_  WPA2        
*  waffles        Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  48      ▂▄__  WPA2        
   Stephens_iMac  Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  47      ▂▄__  WPA2        
   eduroam        Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  45      ▂▄__  WPA2 802.1X 
   mac-sfg003     Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  42      ▂▄__              
   Crumpet        Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  37      ▂▄__

Neuromancer is actually 2.5 meters from me and still is not full strength. (Note that EDIT 4 and EDIT 1 were run in different days, hence the different networks found)

EDIT 1: Running $ sudo iwlist scan gives me the following output

 lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

 enp4s0    Interface doesn't support scanning.

 wlp3s0    Scan completed :
           Cell 01 - Address: 58:97:1E:72:D0:A1
                     Channel:1
                     Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                     Quality=46/70  Signal level=-64 dBm  
                     Encryption key:on
                     ESSID:"eduroam"
                     Bit Rates:12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                               54 Mb/s
                     Mode:Master
                     Extra:tsf=00000078646f81d9
                     Extra: Last beacon: 4328ms ago
                     IE: Unknown: 0007656475726F616D
                     IE: Unknown: 01061824B048606C
                     IE: Unknown: 030101
                     IE: Unknown: 050700010900200000
                     IE: Unknown: 0706474220010D14
                     IE: Unknown: 0B051B006F093D
                     IE: Unknown: 200100
                     IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                     IE: Unknown: 2D1A2C181BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                         Group Cipher : CCMP
                         Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                         Authentication Suites (1) : 802.1x
                     IE: Unknown: 3603E21600
                     IE: Unknown: 3D1601000700000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 460573C0000000
                     IE: Unknown: 7F06001000000140
                     IE: Unknown: 851E27008F000F00FF035900636E63622D6C61625F617265615F6C001B000036
                     IE: Unknown: 9606004096001100
                     IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A44F0027A44F004243800072324100
                     IE: Unknown: DD06004096010104
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960305
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960B69
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040961409
                     IE: Unknown: DD16000B85F800015AA6AA0DD0F287C653371F84DC6C1608
           Cell 02 - Address: 58:97:1E:72:D0:A0
                     Channel:1
                     Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                     Quality=47/70  Signal level=-63 dBm  
                     Encryption key:off
                     ESSID:"OWL"
                     Bit Rates:12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                               54 Mb/s
                     Mode:Master
                     Extra:tsf=0000007864711990
                     Extra: Last beacon: 4272ms ago
                     IE: Unknown: 00034F574C
                     IE: Unknown: 01061824B048606C
                     IE: Unknown: 030101
                     IE: Unknown: 050F000108002000000000000000010000
                     IE: Unknown: 0706474220010D14
                     IE: Unknown: 0B051B006F093D
                     IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                     IE: Unknown: 2D1A2C181BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 3D1601000700000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 7F06001000000140
                     IE: Unknown: 851E27008F000F00FF035900636E63622D6C61625F617265615F6C001B000036
                     IE: Unknown: 9606004096001100
                     IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A44F0027A44F004243800072324100
                     IE: Unknown: DD06004096010104
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960305
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960B09
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040961408
                     IE: Unknown: DD16000B85F800015AA6AA0D68445B38B7430C870C13ED10
           Cell 03 - Address: 28:F0:76:49:02:32
                     Channel:11
                     Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                     Quality=40/70  Signal level=-70 dBm  
                     Encryption key:on
                     ESSID:"Stephens_iMac"
                     Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                               24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                     Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                     Mode:Master
                     Extra:tsf=0000073adbc53791
                     Extra: Last beacon: 3732ms ago
                     IE: Unknown: 000D5374657068656E735F694D6163
                     IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
                     IE: Unknown: 03010B
                     IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                     IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
                     IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                         Group Cipher : CCMP
                         Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                         Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                     IE: Unknown: 2D1AAD4917FFFFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 3D160B000400000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 7F080400000000000040
                     IE: Unknown: DD150017F209000108694D616331372C31010103010000
                     IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
           Cell 04 - Address: 58:97:1E:72:D0:AE
                     Channel:100
                     Frequency:5.5 GHz (Channel 100)
                     Quality=32/70  Signal level=-78 dBm  
                     Encryption key:on
                     ESSID:"eduroam"
                     Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                     Mode:Master
                     Extra:tsf=00000352afa2581c
                     Extra: Last beacon: 2160ms ago
                     IE: Unknown: 0007656475726F616D
                     IE: Unknown: 0104B048606C
                     IE: Unknown: 050400010100
                     IE: Unknown: 070C47422024081764051784031E
                     IE: Unknown: 0B05010006093D
                     IE: Unknown: 200100
                     IE: Unknown: 2D1A6E181BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                         Group Cipher : CCMP
                         Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                         Authentication Suites (1) : 802.1x
                     IE: Unknown: 3603E21600
                     IE: Unknown: 3D1664050400000000000000000000000000000000000000
                     IE: Unknown: 460573C0000000
                     IE: Unknown: 7F06001000000140
                     IE: Unknown: 851E03008F000F00FF035900636E63622D6C61625F617265615F6C0001000035
                     IE: Unknown: 9606004096001100
                     IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A44F0027A44F004243800072324100
                     IE: Unknown: DD06004096010104
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960305
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040960B69
                     IE: Unknown: DD050040961409
                     IE: Unknown: DD16000B85F800015AA6AA0F1A1ABC93574E004A621EB445

Please run the command: sudo iwlist scan` Next, edit your question to add the detail of Group Cipher for your router or access point. We suspect it is TKIP. — chili555, Mar 12 '18 at 15:57
Done! How does that help? I know almost nothing about TKIP (except for the few lines I just read in google. How can it affect the signal strength, and is there a way to solve this? Thank you for the help. — Homero Esmeraldo, Mar 12 '18 at 16:25
Which is the network you are connecting to that is slow? eduroam or OWL? — chili555, Mar 12 '18 at 19:29
If eduroam, please see: https://askubuntu.com/questions/841620/my-ubuntu-16-04-keeps-disconnecting-from-the-wi-fi-eduroam-why/841624#841624 — chili555, Mar 12 '18 at 19:57
I am trying to connect to Eduroam. But the issue is not that it is slow, it is the signal strength. I have a much weaker signal in Linux than what I have in Windows, both for Eduroam as for other networks. — Homero Esmeraldo, Mar 13 '18 at 13:53
Is it simply a difference in the way the signal strength is reported or an actual speed difference at, for example, http://www.speedtest.net/ ? — chili555, Mar 13 '18 at 21:20
I didn't do the speed test. But the difference in signal strength is big enough so that in Linux my notebook often doesn't find the signal, while in Windows I can use it pretty much normally. Any clue? — Homero Esmeraldo, Mar 14 '18 at 01:11
@chili555 any clue on how to solve this? I have done the speed test, and when it connects, the speed is good. But very often the signal strength is very low and it won't connect. — Homero Esmeraldo, Jun 19 '18 at 00:47
Are you quite certain both antenna wires are firmly connected? — chili555, Jun 19 '18 at 13:05
It's a new notebook, I've had the problem since I bought it, and it works perfectly in Windows. I am sure it is fine. — Homero Esmeraldo, Jun 19 '18 at 16:39
Then how come windows has good quality signal? There's people talking about problems in antenna aggregation (not sure what this is exactly though...) https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/3635641/ http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/wcn36xx/2014-February/001254.html — Homero Esmeraldo, Jul 30 '18 at 12:12
I suspect that the Windows driver does a good job of autodetecting the active, stronger antenna connection and that the Linux driver does not. Some Linux drivers have a setable parameter to prefer antenna 1 vs. antenna 2. Your driver, iwlwifi, does not. I suggest that you check to see that both antenna wires are firmly snapped in place. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Q1EQ20OTL.SX466.jpg In this example, they are identified as Main and Aux. — chili555, Jul 30 '18 at 13:06
If there was any software solution it would be better, as I would rather not open my computer which is very new. And also, would it be expected that one of them is significantly different from the other? Why do they have two? Is there anyway to check what is the strength of each one? — Homero Esmeraldo, Jul 30 '18 at 13:25

How to make Intel wi-fi signal stronger in Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 or 18.04?

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