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I'm experimenting with an interesting problem that started about a month or two ago. My Linux machine can read Wi-Fi signals and I can connect to my home Wi-Fi network. However, after anywhere between 5 to 30 minutes of uninterrupted work time, the Wi-Fi stops (it still shows up as being connected, but my browser stops working -- both Chrome and Firefox).

Interestingly I have also noticed the following:

  • Chrome and Firefox can't connect to the internet but Google Meet and Zoom can continue running as if nothing happened. Slack will also possibly halt.
  • This only happens with my home internet provider and at my Mother's house (she has the same internet provider), it works fine in other locations eg. at University/Work (with potentially the same/different) providers.
  • Internet connection will interrupt spontaneously on my computer (browsing mainly), but my Android phone can hold the connection steadily to the same Wi-Fi.
  • There are no interruptions on the internet in my computer if I use my phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot (the same service as my Wi-Fi, ironically). So I find this a bit strange.

Where is the problem in this situation? And what should I try doing first?

It doesn't seem to be an internet provider problem because my phone would have the same issue. It doesn't seem to be my laptop Wi-Fi card either because I can go with perfect internet when I use my phone as a hotspot provider. So I'm a bit stumped. I will see if I can re-install Chrome/Firefox and perhaps that is the issue.

Some extra details of my setup: ASUS Zenbook. Pure Linux Ubuntu running on MATE. No Windows Dual boot. I recall having some trouble when I bought the computer setting up the Wi-Fi card to work (and got it working by upgrading to a new kernel), but it worked smoothly for about 2 years and I'm only having trouble now.

$uname -r
6.5.0-18-generic
$uname -a
Linux alphastar 6.5.0-18-generic #18~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Feb  7 11:40:03 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$lspci [Only relevant network information shown below]
01:00.0 Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 0616

A relevant thread I've also been reading, though I don't think the kernel route will fix this, because I don't get this problem with another network or through my phone hotspot as internet: 22.04, wifi keeps disconnecting for a few seconds frequently

My usual workaround is to just disconnect and re-connect from the Wi-Fi network manually but it's extremely inefficient.

Edit: Not a Chrome/Firefox issue. These were just re-installed.

Edit2: output of

$iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp1s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"MOVISTAR_0468"

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.24 GHz  Access Point: 26:96:82:24:04:6F

          Bit Rate=39 Mb/s   Tx-Power=3 dBm

          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=42/70  Signal level=-68 dBm

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:2  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

When the error occurs out put of :

$ ping 8.8.8.8
[None, it freezes]

When the signal comes back after a minute or so,it starts giving:

 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=41 ttl=113 time=451 ms
 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=42 ttl=113 time=40.1 ms
 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=43 ttl=113 time=42.3 ms
 64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=44 ttl=113 time=44.0 ms

...

60 packets transmitted, 20 received, 66.6667% packet loss, time 59994ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 40.077/62.836/450.809/89.075 ms

There is 0 packet loss when the wi-fi is working perfectly.

-- I just encountered a similar problem at a CAFE -- This is the output of $ sudo lshw -c network When it works:

  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: MEDIATEK Corp.
       vendor: MEDIATEK Corp.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: wlp1s0
       version: 00
       serial: 30:03:c8:39:1a:4d
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=mt7921e driverversion=6.5.0-25-generic firmware=____000000-20221227123243 ip=192.168.1.168 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:108 memory:fcd00000-fcdfffff memory:fce00000-fce07fff

When it doesn't:

  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: MEDIATEK Corp.
       vendor: MEDIATEK Corp.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: wlp1s0
       version: 00
       serial: 30:03:c8:39:1a:4d
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pciexpress msi pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=mt7921e driverversion=6.5.0-25-generic firmware=____000000-20221227123243 ip=192.168.1.168 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:108 memory:fcd00000-fcdfffff memory:fce00000-fce07fff
  • Seems like they are the same.
user1282043
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  • Please [edit] with iwconfig ; ping 8.8.8.8 when the problem occurs – Daniel T Mar 01 '24 at 05:06
  • Info added, see edits above @DanielT! – user1282043 Mar 01 '24 at 16:58
  • Have you tried moving your router to WiFi 5GHz channel 153, or any 2.4GHz channel? – Daniel T Mar 01 '24 at 17:21
  • Hi @DanielT, not sure. How would I do that? Is this a manual thing to do? I know that there are 2 WiFi channels on my router (the higher speed version and the lower speed version). But this error occurs when I log on to either of those. – user1282043 Mar 01 '24 at 17:23
  • You need to go into your router settings of the "higher speed" 5GHz, perhaps show advanced settings, and find the dropdown for channel. You can look in your router's manual for exactly how it differs across models. Also if your WiFi has the same name for both fast and slow, it might be switching between them, so give them different names for reliability. – Daniel T Mar 01 '24 at 17:26
  • It seems like all is fine after doing this. However after re-booting my machine, it seems to want to connect to another cloned network (Example if the network name is MY_NETWORK (the one that was just fixed), now a new one has been created MY_NETWORK1 to which I have to re-login, and do the manual adjustment. I can't seem to re-connect to MY_NETWORK (original) again). So this is also bizarre. Good news is that we're making progress and the fix above removed the interruptions. – user1282043 Mar 02 '24 at 04:39
  • @DanielT just wanted to update that the 153 channel in 5GZ is a temp fix while the computer is on. Everytime I reboot it, the computer created a new MY_NETWORK Wi-Fi and ignores the previously fixed one that I can't access again. After restarting my computer twice now I have MY_NETWORK (inaccessible, used to be accessible with temp fix before reboot), MY_NETWORK_1 (inaccessible, used to be accessible with temp fix before reboot), MY_NETWORK_2 (accessible with temp fix). After re-starting my computer, it will likely create MY_NETWORK_3 – user1282043 Mar 02 '24 at 18:14
  • I meant set the WiFi channel on the router not the computer. Then delete all WiFi profiles and reconnect – Daniel T Mar 02 '24 at 18:17
  • Thank you @DanielT, done. I will let you know how this evolves in the next day. – user1282043 Mar 02 '24 at 18:57
  • Just updating, that it still seems clunky. It will log off, but re-login like 20 seconds later automatically, so it's not really smooth. When I check the wifi in my phone the same time it times off in my computer, it works smoothly on my phone. – user1282043 Mar 02 '24 at 19:11
  • Please post journalctl -b -0 -r -u NetworkManager -u wpa_supplicant at the time that that happens. Or you can switch to 2.4GHz and see if it's more stable – Daniel T Mar 02 '24 at 19:32
  • Could you please post the output from sudo lshw -c network? While it's working and while not... – starkus Mar 06 '24 at 06:10
  • Hello everyone, thanks for the great responses. I'm currently out of town for 2 weeks and I'm poking around with other Wi-Fi signals here. They work great with no interruptions. Will definitely run the info above when I get back. – user1282043 Mar 06 '24 at 19:30
  • Hi @starkus . I'm currently at a coffee shop abroad and bumped into the same problem, I've pasted the outputs in the update/edit above. They look the same. At other places like my past 2 AirBnb's, the WiFi has worked flawlessly. I will be returning home early next week to retry again. Thanks! – user1282043 Mar 13 '24 at 19:25
  • Hi @DanielT I'm back at home. There are about 448 lines of code that pop up when I type your command when the WiFi fails, where should I paste the whole thing? Is there a line in particular you'd want me to look for? – user1282043 Mar 18 '24 at 00:50
  • Looks like there will be an firmware update for the mt7921 chipset in future versions of the linux-firmware package. https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-firmware/20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu1 and https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs//non-free-firmware/f/firmware-nonfree/firmware-nonfree_20230625-2_changelog – starkus Mar 19 '24 at 18:18
  • Thanks @starkus, also wanted to say that streaming works perfectly but the browser gets bugged. I've noticed that the browser when I refressh it when the problem happens says "DNS Probe Started" or DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET but streaming still works fine on another tab. Bizarre – user1282043 Mar 19 '24 at 18:39

1 Answers1

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My first guess on how to solve it is to:

  1. Update your Ubuntu sudo apt update or a full update sudo apt full-upgrade (this keeps your ubuntu at 22.04, this is not a release upgrade, so don't worry)

  2. Update your Wifi driver on your ubuntu (check this URL: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-wireless-driver-chipset/)

Mostafa Najafiyazdi
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