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A line in my /etc/network/interfaces file causes the wifi to stop working:

iface wlp12s0 inet dhcp

The Wifi symbol changes from a normal icon to the up and down arrows icon as well. Here is the code block that matters (wlp12s0 is the name of the wifi interface):

auto wlp12s0
iface wlp12s0 inet dhcp
      wireless-power off

When I comment out the second line in this block, it works just fine!

I would like to know why that particular line being omitted causes it to work.

--Update--

The output of ifconfig is as follows:

enp9s0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:18:8b:dd:24:32  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:18 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:502 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:502 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:39705 (39.7 KB)  TX bytes:39705 (39.7 KB)

wlp12s0   Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1b:77:67:70:58  
          inet addr:192.168.1.6  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::f7fb:f289:cc1f:d952/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:4293 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2203 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1314477 (1.3 MB)  TX bytes:479860 (479.8 KB)
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5
  • Now wlp12s0 interprets as: wl --> wlan interface, p12 --> physical placement of device, PCI bus 12, s0 --> slot 0, inet --> interface uses TCP/IP networking, dhcp --> dynamic host configuration protocol. Now looking at p12 I suspect no bus 12 exists on your machine, so run lsusb command. I doubt you will see a Bus 012, if I am right that means your trying to use a location that does not exist.
    – George Udosen
    Dec 12, 2016 at 1:28
  • wlp12s0 is the actual name it gives me when I run ifconfg
    – user3273814
    Dec 12, 2016 at 1:38
  • ok I see then that might not be the issue let me check again. Is you connection a static one ?
    – George Udosen
    Dec 12, 2016 at 1:51
  • To the best of my knowledge, it isn't.
    – user3273814
    Dec 12, 2016 at 2:00
  • Or do you mean something other it having a static ip?
    – user3273814
    Dec 12, 2016 at 2:00

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

The Technical Explanation

Declarations in /etc/network/interfaces will not be effective if they are incorrect in any way. Your declaration is incorrect primarily because wireless interfaces need to be directed to connect to a specific SSID and, ideally, an encryption password provided. As well, we have no evidence that wireless-power off is needed or even effective. A proper file would include:

auto wlp12s0
iface wlp12s0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid MyRouter
wpa-psk MySecretKey

The Practical Answer

I suggest that you remove all the wireless stanzas completely and simply let Network Manager do the work for you. In most cases, it is entirely adequate.

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3
  • The line wireless-power off is to turn of power saving for the wifi adapter. I have been having problems with my adapter randomly disconnecting, and I have to reboot to get it to work. Intel says my particular adapter sometimes does this because of power management and recommends that I turn off power management for the adapter.
    – user3273814
    Dec 12, 2016 at 1:36
  • Isn't there a way for me to provide the key/password from a different file by doing an include of another file?
    – user3273814
    Dec 12, 2016 at 1:49
  • Probably, but what's the point? Any file is readable with the user password. What good is it to move from one such file to another?
    – chili555
    Dec 12, 2016 at 2:50

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