[Bug 1388278] Re: WiFi randomly disconnects and won't connect again

Andrea Azzarone 1388278 at bugs.launchpad.net
Tue Jan 13 23:29:52 UTC 2015


** No longer affects: unity

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1388278

Title:
  WiFi randomly disconnects and won't connect again

Status in Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA driver:
  New
Status in The Linux Kernel:
  New
Status in The Linux Mint Distribution:
  Confirmed
Status in LinuxMint Control Center:
  Confirmed
Status in Network Manager GNOME Applet:
  New
Status in Additional Linux Wireless Drivers:
  Confirmed
Status in Wireless Tools - Tools for manipulating Linux Wireless Extensions:
  New
Status in wireless-tools package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Something odd that I have only seen in Ubuntu, Debian, and derivatives
  thereof affects something that most of us use every day, and can be a
  real hassle to beginners from what I've noticed: Many USB WiFi drivers
  will connect to an access point like usual and after long periods of
  inactivity on the network combined with user inactivity on the PC
  alone is when this problem appears to arise: The WiFi disconnects and
  does not connect again to the same hotspot using the same USB WiFi
  dongle unless the computer is restarted or reset, and a lot of the
  time, that doesn't immediately stop this error and even if so, the
  computer will disconnect yet again not too long from then.

  And why does this happen? It puzzles me. Maybe it's the USB chipset
  inside the WiFi dongle, or maybe it's a communication error between
  the Linux kernel and the automated firewall systems integrated in most
  routers and base stations today, it's hard to say. What I know is that
  this doesn't just happen on my computer, testing done by myself on
  several other computers in different locations using different WiFi
  hardware on Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, or derivatives thereof gets
  the exact same result as I am experiencing now.

  I have gone digging through Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint forums to
  try and find the "cure" patch for my computer or router and the answer
  as to why this is happening, and the best answer I could find is that
  within my system's WiFi Settings, I need to set the BSSID of the
  hotspot I am current using as the MAC address of the router which that
  hotspot is transmitting.

  Upon setting my BSSID to a clone of the Router's MAC address followed
  by a system restart, I noticed instant improvement when it comes to
  connection reliability, speed, and time to connect, yet after days of
  having that MAC as the BSSID, things went back to the usual chaos of
  an unreliable connection that no other device within the household has
  encountered, not even Android telephones and tablets that use much of
  the same underlying Linux code. I performed restarts, updates, more
  updates, resets, and even more derivatives of Debian or Ubuntu and
  this is still more of an issue than ever.

  Via further digging and through a process of trial-and-error, I
  enabled the "IPv4 is required for this connection" check box along
  with changing the BSSID to a clone of the router's MAC address in
  hopes it was a compatibility issue with the "newer" IPv6 Internet
  Protocol architecture in an attempt to basically 'force' the machine
  to get that digital handshake with the router in a more 'legacy' mode
  with IPv4, at least to get some connection. That worked for a bit as
  well, but didn't hold up just like before.

  I am now sitting here at my computer, still experiencing this issue on
  and off, currently having the issue stabilized and stalled at the
  moment with the "IPv4 is required for this connection" check box on,
  NO BSSID set, NO cloned MAC address, and NO "Restrict to Device"
  settings opted-in, hoping this time around this combination of
  settings will work, but it's a game of trial-and-error for me at this
  point now, like mentioned before.

  Has anyone else experienced such terrible connectivity issues only in
  Debian-based distributions recently? I have been using Linux for ages
  now and I feel as if this issue is now just arising within the past
  year, 2014.

  A HardInfo report generated from my computer is attached to this bug
  report. I hope we can figure out a solution soon to get pushed to all
  Debian and Debian-like distros soon! Nobody wants a bad connection.


  Current OS: Linux Mint 17 "Qiana"
  Kernel: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic (x86_64)
  Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 (850)
  RAM: 8GB DDR3

  IWLIST OUTPUT:
  jeb at MINT-PARTITION:~ > sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
  [sudo] password for jeb: 
  wlan0     Scan completed :
            Cell 01 - Address: F8:7B:8C:06:57:8D
                      Channel:6
                      Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                      Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  
                      Encryption key:on
                      ESSID:"Belkin-EXT"
                      Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                                9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                      Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                      Mode:Master
                      Extra:tsf=0000000597f8a929
                      Extra: Last beacon: 72ms ago
                      IE: Unknown: 000A42656C6B696E2D455854
                      IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
                      IE: Unknown: 030106
                      IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                      IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
                      IE: Unknown: 2D1AEE191EFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: 3D1606000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A00B400C800140005001900
                      IE: Unknown: 7F0101
                      IE: WPA Version 1
                          Group Cipher : CCMP
                          Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                          Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                      IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                          Group Cipher : CCMP
                          Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                          Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                      IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                      IE: Unknown: DD1E00904C33EE191EFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: DD1A00904C3406000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: DD0600E04C0201E0
                      IE: Unknown: DD9E0050F204104A0001101044000102103B0001031047001063041253101920061228F87B8C06578D1021001B5265616C74656B2053656D69636F6E647563746F7220436F72702E1023000752544C387878781024000D45562D323030392D30322D30361042000F3132333435363738393031323334371054000800060050F2040001101100135265616C74656B20576972656C657373204150100800020086
            Cell 02 - Address: 08:86:3B:26:59:50
                      Channel:2
                      Frequency:2.417 GHz (Channel 2)
                      Quality=36/70  Signal level=-74 dBm  
                      Encryption key:on
                      ESSID:"belkin.950"
                      Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                                18 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                      Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                      Mode:Master
                      Extra:tsf=0000002395603d46
                      Extra: Last beacon: 72ms ago
                      IE: Unknown: 000A62656C6B696E2E393530
                      IE: Unknown: 010882848B961224486C
                      IE: Unknown: 030102
                      IE: Unknown: 2A0104
                      IE: Unknown: 32040C183060
                      IE: Unknown: 2D1AEE1117FFFFFF00010000000000000000000000000C1846471100
                      IE: Unknown: 3D1602050000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: 3E0100
                      IE: WPA Version 1
                          Group Cipher : CCMP
                          Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                          Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                      IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                          Group Cipher : CCMP
                          Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                          Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                      IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                      IE: Unknown: 0B0500000B127A
                      IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A002C01C800140005001900
                      IE: Unknown: 7F0101
                      IE: Unknown: DD07000C4307000000
                      IE: Unknown: DDB10050F204104A0001101044000102103B000103104700102880288028801880A88008863B2659501021001442656C6B696E20496E7465726E6174696F6E616C1023001B42656C6B696E204E34353020576972656C65737320526F757465721024000746394B313030331042000E31323334353647383930313233341054000800060050F20400011011001B42656C6B696E204E34353020576972656C65737320526F75746572100800020084103C000101
            Cell 03 - Address: 00:7F:28:2E:0F:84
                      Channel:6
                      Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                      Quality=38/70  Signal level=-72 dBm  
                      Encryption key:on
                      ESSID:"KCS96"
                      Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                                9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                      Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                      Mode:Master
                      Extra:tsf=00000001058f7d22
                      Extra: Last beacon: 72ms ago
                      IE: Unknown: 00054B43533936
                      IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
                      IE: Unknown: 030106
                      IE: Unknown: 200100
                      IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                          Group Cipher : CCMP
                          Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                          Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                      IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                      IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
                      IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101040003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                      IE: Unknown: 2D1A8C131BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: 3D1606080800000000000000000000000000000000000000
                      IE: Unknown: DD0900037F01010000FF7F
                      IE: Unknown: DD0A00037F04010000000000
                      IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B1B

  jeb at MINT-PARTITION:~ >

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: wireless-tools 30~pre9-8ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.47-generic 3.13.9
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: KDE
  Date: Fri Oct 31 17:55:56 2014
  Dependencies:
   gcc-4.9-base 4.9.1-0ubuntu1
   libc6 2.19-0ubuntu6.3
   libgcc1 1:4.9.1-0ubuntu1
   libiw30 30~pre9-8ubuntu1
   multiarch-support 2.19-0ubuntu6.3
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-10-23 (8 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Linux Mint 17 "Qiana" - Release amd64 20140619
  SourcePackage: wireless-tools
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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