Lubuntu 20.04 wifi intermittent problem

Question

I have an issue with the wifi in a HP 15-db0598sa that I've installed lubuntu 20.04 on.

Pinging google.com gives typical output of the form:

64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=171 ttl=53 time=12.3 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=172 ttl=53 time=96.4 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=175 ttl=53 time=1026 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=176 ttl=53 time=11.2 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=177 ttl=53 time=11.4 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=178 ttl=53 time=10.3 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=179 ttl=53 time=10.5 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=181 ttl=53 time=1035 ms
64 bytes from lhr25s26-in-f14.1e100.net (172.217.169.14): icmp_seq=182 ttl=53 time=22.9 ms

where the ping varies from ~10ms (as on my other machines) up to > 1000 ms, with the odd ping (about 24% packet loss) dropped (such as between 172 and 175 and 179 and 181 above).

The output of lspci -knn | grep Net -A3 is as follows:

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n PCIe Adapter [10ec:d723]
        DeviceName: WLAN
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n PCIe Adapter [103c:8319]
        Kernel driver in use: rtw_pci

I have disabled IPv6 on the dhcp as in this answer: https://askubuntu.com/a/1180403/489692

In furtherance to DESGUA's answer, I changed /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf. More specifically, I deleted line 18:

dhcp6.name-servers, dhcp6.domain-search, dhcp6.fqdn, dhcp6.sntp-servers,

I eventually disconnected wifi and reconnected.

and that ameliorated some issues, but the ping is still intermittently ~10ms and >1000ms.

Are there any other configuration settings I could use to improve the stability of the connection (besides using wired networking - this laptop will be in a different room to the router so this is possible, but I'd prefer to use the wireless).

To add: I've got an older machine using Ubuntu 18.04 in the same location, and the ping there is fine:

64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=4 ttl=53 time=12.8 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=5 ttl=53 time=11.6 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=6 ttl=53 time=12.1 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=7 ttl=53 time=11.0 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=8 ttl=53 time=11.0 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=9 ttl=53 time=21.8 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=10 ttl=53 time=11.3 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=11 ttl=53 time=11.5 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=12 ttl=53 time=12.3 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=13 ttl=53 time=13.2 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=14 ttl=53 time=11.6 ms
64 bytes from ams16s21-in-f14.1e100.net (216.58.212.206): icmp_seq=15 ttl=53 time=11.5 ms

EDIT: I have tried installing the driver here (for RTL8723DE) https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/tree/extended and the output of lspci -knn | grep Net -A3 remains:

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n PCIe Adapter [10ec:d723]
        DeviceName: WLAN
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8723DE 802.11b/g/n PCIe Adapter [103c:8319]
        Kernel driver in use: rtw_pci

so it looks like the new drive hasn't installed. I'm at a complete loss now

I've just tried https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/tree/rtw88, which are the latest versions and lspci -knn | grep Net -A3 is confirming that the rtl8723de driver from there is currently being used, so will test this.
EDIT: this is only giving me ~6.8Mbps, whereas wired is giving me ~30Mbps at the same distance from the router (3-4 ft) — user36196, May 31 '20 at 20:46
After a full reinstall, and installing the latest from github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/tree/rtw88, I still have 25-40% packet loss and pings reaching > 1000 ms — user36196, Jun 02 '20 at 09:58
Does this work: Wi-Fi speed on my laptop with RTL8723DE is a bit slow and its range is also very low, what to do?? — karel, Jun 02 '20 at 14:21
No, switching the antenna used between 1 and 2 (and back again) makes no difference to the packet loss/ high ping — user36196, Jun 02 '20 at 15:03
I'm going to install ubuntu to see if any of the other answers can fix it that way — user36196, Jun 02 '20 at 15:26
And it doesn't. Still the ping is high, still the packet loss, even with the driver from the github — user36196, Jun 02 '20 at 16:32
I've installed plain ubuntu, and used a USB wifi dongle (and installed the correct driver) and it appears to be working now — user36196, Jun 02 '20 at 21:05

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 02 '20 at 21:39

2

I think the fix for the internal wifi is to

sudo apt install git dkms
git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new.git
cd rtlwifi_new/
git checkout extended
git checkout 0a751e3
cd
sudo dkms add rtlwifi_new
sudo dkms install rtlwifi-new/0.6
echo "options rtl8723de ant_sel=2" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723de.conf
echo "blacklist rtw_pci" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtw_pci.conf

Reboot

answered Jun 02 '20 at 21:39

Jeremy31

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Why would you suggest the old branch? The rtw88 works quite well with rtl8723de. – Pilot6 Jun 07 '20 at 15:17
It turns out I tried both - rtw88 didn't work but the old branch did. – user36196 Jun 07 '20 at 16:03

Lubuntu 20.04 wifi intermittent problem

1 Answers1