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I have Ubuntu 14.04, however, this problem existed on my install of 13.04 too.

When I use my laptop at university over the WI-Fi, the connection is lost often. At home on my WI-Fi network the connection never drops.

The only difference between the connections that I know of is that the university one uses a proxy and automatic proxy config script.

Are there any steps I can take to diagnose the problem and perhaps fix it?

description: Wireless interface
       product: RTL8723AE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 00
       serial: 20:16:d8:d4:14:cf
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8723ae driverversion=3.13.0-24-generic firmware=N/A ip=10.0.0.8 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
       resources: irq:18 ioport:d000(size=256) memory:f7900000-f7903fff

EDIT: This is from the log files after my internet has disconnected.

May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.463513] wlan0: associate with cc:d5:39:d1:95:90 (try 1/3)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop wpa_supplicant[4100]: wlan0: Associated with cc:d5:39:d1:95:90
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.468895] wlan0: RX AssocResp from cc:d5:39:d1:95:90 (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=41)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.469141] wlan0: associated
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.469260] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: ZA
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473538] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: ZA
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473545] cfg80211:   (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473550] cfg80211:   (2402000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473554] cfg80211:   (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 1700 mBm)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473559] cfg80211:   (5250000 KHz - 5330000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473563] cfg80211:   (5490000 KHz - 5710000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop kernel: [  407.473567] cfg80211:   (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 3000 mBm)
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> associated
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associated -> 4-way handshake
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop wpa_supplicant[4100]: wlan0: WPA: Key negotiation completed with cc:d5:39:d1:95:90 [PTK=CCMP GTK=TKIP]
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop wpa_supplicant[4100]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to cc:d5:39:d1:95:90 completed [id=0 id_str=]
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: 4-way handshake -> completed
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): roamed from BSSID (none) ((none)) to CC:D5:39:D1:95:90 (eduroam)
May 19 09:23:57 Jethro-Laptop whoopsie[968]: message repeated 6 times: [ offline]
May 19 09:23:58 Jethro-Laptop whoopsie[968]: online
May 19 09:24:00 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> wpa_supplicant die count reset
May 19 09:24:06 Jethro-Laptop ntpdate[4228]: adjust time server 91.189.94.4 offset -0.006569 sec
May 19 09:24:12 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> (wlan0): IP6 addrconf timed out or failed.
May 19 09:24:12 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) scheduled...
May 19 09:24:12 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) started...
May 19 09:24:12 Jethro-Laptop NetworkManager[767]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) complete.
May 19 09:24:14 Jethro-Laptop wpa_supplicant[4100]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-STARTED
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8
  • I have the same problem just that it's my work connection. After the connection drops, I can see all existing connections but can't connect to any of them. I have to Disable/Enable the WiFi to get it working again. Also my laptop is Asus ROG G56RJ and I use ubuntu 14.04 (with current updates).
    – Emi
    May 15, 2014 at 12:40
  • Do you see any errors in /var/log/syslog? What wifi driver are you using?
    – bain
    May 15, 2014 at 13:48
  • @bain : Here is my driver and wireless card information. I'm not at University at the moment so I can't test and check the logs, but I will try tomorrow. link
    – AceFire6
    May 15, 2014 at 14:28
  • 2
    This question looks like a possible duplicate of Wireless connection slow/inconsistent after fresh install Ubuntu 14.04 (Realtek RTL8188EE) - can you try the answer there?
    – bain
    May 15, 2014 at 14:31
  • @bain : Is there a reason to not update my kernel to that version, even if it doesn't fix my problem?
    – AceFire6
    May 18, 2014 at 12:22

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

If your wireless works, but is slow or drops the connection, examine the other signals around you:

 sudo iwlist scan

The output will be for all the wireless signals in range, including yours.

First look at the channels in use. Only channels 1,6, and 11 do not overlap to some degree. Are others using the same channel you are? Consider changing your channel to a less used one.

Next look at signal levels and quality. Is your signal level much stronger than the others on your channel? The levels are shown as negative numbers, so the stronger the signal, the smaller the negative number. A -56 dBm level is stronger than a -79 dBm level. If your signal level is not 6dBm stronger than the next strongest one, you should try to:

1) Move closer to the signal source.
2) Reorient your antenna (maybe the antenna is around the edge of the screen, so turn the laptop 90 degrees.
3) Make sure nothing is blocking the signal like fileing cabinets.
4) Try not be be around many other devices trying to connect to the same signal source.

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1
  • Unfortunately I don't have many of the answers to the questions in your post. All I know is that when I'm on Windows 8 it works perfectly and when I'm on Ubuntu it drops. That is even in exactly the same location that happens.
    – AceFire6
    May 17, 2014 at 18:12
0

In ubuntu, Wifi drivers for most of the devices are in the package linux-firmware-nonfree. So Install that Common Wifi Drivers.

Then install the Wicd Wifi network Manager and use the device with that network manager.

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree wicd wicd-gtk wicd-daemon wicd-cli wicd-curses
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4
  • It seemed to install correctly. There was one thing that said [fail]. It was "* Starting Network connection manager wicd" but it didn't stop at that step. I'll test my connection out when I go to university on Monday and hopefully it works.
    – AceFire6
    May 17, 2014 at 18:13
  • Adding user emi to group netdev * Starting Network connection manager wicd [fail] It seems like the daemon is already running. If it is not, please remove /var/run/wicd/wicd.pid and try again.
    – Emi
    May 19, 2014 at 13:38
  • Install wicd-cli and wicd-curses. I edited the answer.(package list)
    – user224082
    May 19, 2014 at 13:53
  • Installed both, but it still disconnects. The difference is that now it reconnects by itself right away. Before I had to manually disable the wifi and enable it.
    – Emi
    May 19, 2014 at 16:09

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