Case of the disappearing Wi-Fi adapter

Hardware
1

I have a strange case of a disappearing WiFi connector.

A client where I installed a hp tower a few moths back reported the WiFi had stopped. When I went to see her, then problem was totally different, the computer was stuck at the bios screen and would not pass that stage. Easy fix, replace the cmos battery, reset the date and time, reboot, everything worked fine, except the internal WiFi card was not seen by the system, it is not mentioned anywhere in the bios to switch on.

No problem installed an external WiFi USB and got connected. With the plan that next time I go to clean inside will replace the card.

Fine for 2 days, then she reported the WiFi goes off after 10 hours of work, thought user error, so checked, restarted and fine.

Again 2 days later reported the WiFi goes off after several hours. So replaced the usb with another WiFi key.

Today I have left her with 2 WiFi keys installed on USB they both see the network and both are set to connect automatically

I checked the live box and that is working fine, restarted it and everything is OK on that side, she shares the live box with her partner and he reports no faults at the time she goes off.

Only other info is she tends to read her mail, then closes the internet and is busy with LibreOffice writer for several hours before returning to the internet only to find it’s not connected.

Do USB WiFi keys time out ?

Things that work for a while then stop are always difficult to find why as you test them and they work but then stop…. Any suggestions please

2

iw dev [interface] set power_save off

interface might be wlan0 … use ip a to check its name.

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3

I had a strange WiFi problem last month while on holiday. I was using my laptop and I have LM 22.2 . When streaming a show, the WiFi would just stop. After a lot of trouble shooting with AI, it came up with the following solution which solved my problem.

sudo iwconfig wlp0s20f3 power off
sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
sudo modprobe iwlwifi 11n_disable=1 power_save=0

I did not make the change permanent.

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4

How would I do that ?

Is your suggestion different to what Neville offered better or worse ?

1 Like
5

Mine changes the interface settings on the fly… Howard’s removes and reinstalls the kernel module with different settings. Howard’s is better maybe.

To make a module change permenant , put it in /etc/modules.

2 Likes
6

Of course this was for my laptop.
Edit etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi-powersave.conf
Add
[connection]
wifi.powersave = 2
Then sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Next edit /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
Add “options iwlwifi 11n_disable=1 power_save=0”
sudo update-initramfs -u

Please note;
11n_disable=1 will disables 802.11n — sometimes improves stability but reduces speed.
This fix my problem, may not help the other PC.
This info was generated with my interaction with AI - ChatGPT

3 Likes
7

Everytime one my Pi Zero 2W boots - there’s no wlan device…

PITA - tried a bunch of stuff… But I have to do it manually everytime it boots up :

sudo -i
/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off

It runs off a battery - so it hardly ever needs a boot - but sometimes if I reboot my PC (it’s powered off a USB port from my desktop machine) it reboots…

It’s running in a Beepy! chassis (it’s a tiny low power monochrome text only screen and a blackberry keyboard)… PITA - I’ve done a bunch of things to try and force WLAN0 to be powered up on boot - none of them work…

I’ve got this in my /etc/rc.local :
/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 set power_save off
which does buggerall…
I’ve got a shell-script :

╭─x@titanii ~/bin  ‹main*› 
╰─➤  cat uc                                                                                                                      2 ↵
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# what idiot decided to power down the >REDACTED-CUSS-WORD< wifi?
#
sudo /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off

Which doesn’t work as a pleb user… it runs, no errors - but still no “wlan0” device (e.g. output of “ip a” command).

So I have to sudo -i and then :
/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off
Which is EXACTLY what my shell script does, but the shell script does f–kall…

I’ve now got an alias in root’s .bashrc :
alias wu='/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 power off'

If I can remember it next time it boots…

1 Like
8

When it boots, is it loading the iwlwifi kernel module? … that is for Intel wifi chips.
Kther chils must have dricer modules… check the one you need is there.

1 Like
Wifi issues due to driver bug?
9

Out of frustration and the need to provide a good service, I have removed the WiFi usb keys, opened the tower and replac3d the internal WiFi adaptor on the motherboard expansion card, just tested the new one and it appears to work. Will put the computer back in her home and see how it goes for a few days.

The WiFi usbs were net gear and belkin but think the speeds were very low perhaps 150 or 300 given there age. But they are not marked in any way. Just 2 I had picked up during my workshop time and mainly used to test a connection not for any real work use.

3 Likes
Where are Wi-Fi security passwords kept