Skip to content

Commit af8ee2a

Browse files
jacobgkauLink02211986thomas-zimmerman
authored
[LFS rebase] Update wireless.md (#1389)
* Update wireless.md * Update wireless.md * Update wireless.md All requested edits have been completed, and the document is now ready for review. Thank you for the helpful feedback I appreciate your time and guidance! * Update wireless.md All requested edits have been completed, and the document is now ready for review. Thank you for the helpful feedback I appreciate your time and guidance! * Update wireless.md The requested changes have been made. I’ve fixed the list formatting, standardized the use of Wi-Fi throughout the article, and updated the heading to Initial Troubleshooting. Apologies for the oversight, and thank you for the helpful review. * Update wireless.md Fixed markdownlint issues by removing trailing punctuation from headings and trimming trailing whitespace to ensure consistent formatting and pass CI checks. * docs: fix lint issues in wireless.md * docs: fix lint issues in wireless.md * fix(CI/lint): remove trailing punctuation and whitespace * fix(CI/lint): remove trailing punctuation and whitespace * Fix wireless troubleshooting docs * Clean up wireless.md per review * Clean up wireless.md per review * Put package name in backticks for inline code formatting * Add the rest of the list items to the list * Add description back to command * Better phrasing for keyboard shortcut description * Remove obsolete CRDA info with non-existent config file * Put descriptions before commands, remove redundant commands... ...and other cleanup. * Move additional list sub-content under the list items --------- Co-authored-by: Christian <christiant@system76.com> Co-authored-by: Thomas Zimmerman <41023059+thomas-zimmerman@users.noreply.github.com>
1 parent 9871363 commit af8ee2a

1 file changed

Lines changed: 188 additions & 96 deletions

File tree

‎content/wireless.md‎

Lines changed: 188 additions & 96 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
11
---
22
title: Wireless Troubleshooting
33
description: >
4-
If you’re having problems with your wireless Internet connection, take a look at the suggestions in this article.
4+
If your computer can’t connect to wireless networks or the connection is unstable, use this guide to diagnose and resolve the issue.
55
keywords:
66
- wireless
7-
- wifi
7+
- Wi-Fi
88
- support
99
- System76
1010

@@ -16,61 +16,178 @@ section: network-troubleshooting
1616
tableOfContents: true
1717
---
1818

19-
WiFi issues are influenced by many different factors, including:
19+
If your computer can’t connect to wireless networks or the connection is unstable, this guide can help you diagnose and fix the issue.
2020

21-
- Hardware (WiFi card, access point)
22-
- Settings at both ends of the connection
23-
- The local environment
21+
---
22+
23+
## Initial Troubleshooting
24+
25+
1. Reboot the router/modem and the computer.
26+
27+
2. Toggle Airplane Mode from the system menu in the top-right corner of the screen, or using a keyboard shortcut (most commonly **Fn + F11**, depending on your System76 model).
28+
29+
3. If you've installed the `backport-iwlwifi-dkms` package for your Intel wireless card and your Wi-Fi issues began after an update, removing that package may resolve the issue. Run this command:
30+
```bash
31+
sudo apt remove backport-iwlwifi-dkms
32+
```
33+
...then restart your computer.
34+
35+
4. Temporarily use a phone hotspot to confirm whether the network or your computer is the issue.
36+
37+
5. [Boot from a Live USB](https://support.system76.com/articles/live-disk) of your distribution to determine whether the issue exists outside your installed system.
38+
39+
## Router and Access Point Recommendations
40+
41+
- Make sure your access point is configured for stability and compatibility.
42+
43+
- Use 2.4 GHz channels 1, 6, or 11 to minimize overlap.
44+
45+
- Set the channel width to 20 MHz for crowded networks.
46+
47+
- For 5 GHz, use an explicit channel instead of “Auto” when troubleshooting.
48+
49+
- Use mixed mode (b/g/n/ax) if devices vary by generation.
50+
51+
- If a single device struggles, temporarily set your router to a widely supported mode (such as **802.11n-only**) and test connectivity.
52+
53+
- Avoid complex access point features such as:
54+
55+
- Band steering
56+
57+
- Aggressive airtime fairness
58+
59+
- Deep MAC filtering
60+
61+
- Ensure your device’s MAC address isn’t being filtered.
62+
63+
- Check your MAC address with:
64+
65+
```bash
66+
ip link show | grep ether
67+
```
68+
69+
Then confirm that MAC address is allowed in your router’s admin panel.
2470

25-
## Basic Troubleshooting
71+
- Confirm what channel and frequency your connection is using:
2672

27-
If you’re having problems, try these steps first:
73+
```bash
74+
iw dev
75+
iwlist wlan0 scan | grep -E 'SSID|Channel|Frequency'
76+
```
2877

29-
- Try unplugging the wireless router or modem to reboot it.
30-
- Try airplane mode by pressing <kbd>Fn</kbd>+<kbd>F11</kbd>, waiting 10s, then disabling.
31-
- Try rebooting the computer.
78+
## Device-Level Checks and Commands
3279

33-
Some router settings can cause problems. Try adjusting your access point to these settings:
80+
These commands help verify whether your wireless card and drivers are functioning correctly.
3481

35-
- WPA2-AES is preferred over WPA/WPA2 mixed mode or TKIP.
36-
- A channel width of 20 MHz in the 2.4 GHz band is more stable than automatic 20/40 MHz or fixed 40 MHz.
37-
- Set 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz SSID names differently.
38-
- Pick a fixed channel. Use either 1, 6, or 11 in the 2.4 Ghz band, rather than automatic selection.
39-
- Check if the router is set to N speeds only. Auto B/G/N is preferred.
40-
- Lower the max/burst speeds, turn off channel bonding, and reduce channel width. Setting the speed to 600 Mb/s or 450 Mb/s will use spread frequencies to achieve those speeds and may decrease stability. Try setting it to 289/300 Mb/s (N speed) or or 54 Mb/s (G speed).
41-
- After making these changes, reboot the router.
82+
- List all wireless network interfaces to confirm that your Wi-Fi interface (usually `wlp2s0` or `wlan0`) is recognized:
83+
```bash
84+
ip a
85+
```
86+
- Show wireless devices and their states:
87+
```bash
88+
iw dev
89+
```
90+
- Check for hardware or software Wi-Fi blocks:
91+
```bash
92+
sudo rfkill list
93+
```
94+
- Check NetworkManager device states:
95+
```bash
96+
nmcli device status
97+
```
98+
- Restart the network stack (safe to run at any time):
99+
```bash
100+
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
101+
```
102+
- View network-related boot logs:
103+
```bash
104+
journalctl -b | grep -i network
105+
```
106+
- View driver and firmware kernel logs:
107+
```bash
108+
sudo dmesg | grep -i -E 'wifi|wlan|firmware|ieee80211|rtl|brcm|ath'
109+
```
110+
- To save the logs to a file:
111+
```bash
112+
sudo dmesg | grep -i -E 'wifi|wlan|firmware|ieee80211|rtl|brcm|ath' > ~/wireless-dmesg.txt
113+
```
42114

43-
If the issues started after you applied updates, try running this command to make sure a bad WiFi driver has not been installed, then reboot your computer:
115+
## Driver and Firmware Checks
116+
117+
If the device is detected but unstable, verify the driver and firmware setup.
118+
119+
- Check for missing firmware messages:
120+
```bash
121+
dmesg | grep -i firmware
122+
```
123+
- Reinstall firmware packages:
124+
```bash
125+
sudo apt update
126+
sudo apt install --reinstall linux-firmware
127+
```
128+
- Test with a different router or mobile hotspot.
129+
130+
## NetworkManager and Configuration Tips
131+
132+
NetworkManager controls Wi-Fi connections on many Linux systems, including Pop!_OS and Ubuntu systems by default.
133+
134+
To restart NetworkManager, run this command:
44135

45136
```bash
46-
sudo apt remove backport-iwlwifi-dkms
137+
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
47138
```
48139

49-
## Advanced Troubleshooting
140+
To delete and recreate saved connections, run these commands:
50141

51-
If the above steps aren't working, or you would like to fine tune and improve you connection, see the following steps.
142+
```bash
143+
nmcli connection delete <SSID>
144+
nmcli device wifi connect <SSID>
145+
```
146+
147+
If network connectivity seems unstable, try setting IPv6 to “Ignore” in the network settings:
52148

53-
### Regulatory Domain
149+
1. Open Settings → Network.
150+
2. Select your Wi-Fi connection.
151+
3. Go to the IPv6 tab → change the method to Ignore.
54152

55-
In many cases, it's recommended to explicitly set the WiFi regulatory domain. Check yours with this command:
153+
## Bluetooth and Airplane Mode Interactions
154+
155+
The `rfkill` command can be used to view whether Bluetooth, Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), or both are disabled at a software or hardware level:
56156

57157
```bash
58-
sudo iw reg get
158+
sudo rfkill list
159+
```
160+
161+
Sample output where Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both enabled looks like this:
162+
163+
```
164+
0: hci0: Bluetooth
165+
Soft blocked: no
166+
Hard blocked: no
167+
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
168+
Soft blocked: no
169+
Hard blocked: no
59170
```
60171

61-
If you get 00, that is a one-size-maybe-fits-all setting. Find yours here: [ISO_3166](http://wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1).
172+
If anything is blocked, check that airplane mode is off and that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled in your system settings.
62173

63-
And set it permanently with this command:
174+
This command can be used to restart the Bluetooth stack:
175+
176+
```
177+
sudo systemctl restart bluetooth
178+
```
179+
180+
If Wi-Fi drops after you've used Bluetooth (or vice versa), run the following command to add modprobe configuration to allow both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to transmit at the same time:
64181
65182
```bash
66-
sudo gedit /etc/default/crda
183+
echo "options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=0" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
67184
```
68185
69-
Change the last line to read:
186+
Reboot after running this command. Note that transmitting both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time can cause interference between the two; only certain wireless cards that don't track transmission properly (e.g. acting as if Bluetooth is always transmitting) need this option applied.
70187

71-
> REGDOMAIN=US
188+
## Advanced Troubleshooting
72189

73-
Save and close the text editor.
190+
If the above steps aren't working, or you would like to fine tune and improve you connection, see the following steps.
74191
75192
### IPv6
76193
@@ -107,22 +224,13 @@ If you have trouble with a Bluetooth headset and keeping a steady downlink speed
107224

108225
### Power Management
109226

110-
Another way to help with Wifi issues is to turn off power management for the hardware. To do so, edit the configuration file with this command:
227+
Another way to help with Wi-Fi issues is to turn off Wi-Fi power management. This can be done by adding the appropriate NetworkManager configuration using the following command, then rebooting your computer:
111228

112229
```bash
113-
sudo gedit /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf
230+
echo -e "[connection]\nwifi.powersave = 2" | sudo tee /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-off.conf
114231
```
115232

116-
And change the file to read (effective upon reboot):
117-
118-
> \[connection\]
119-
> wifi.powersave = 2
120-
121-
If `tlp` is installed, take a look at the settings file found here for additional Wifi power saving being enabled:
122-
123-
```bash
124-
sudo gedit /etc/default/tlp
125-
```
233+
If TLP is installed, it may also enable Wi-Fi power saving. You can review its configuration in `/etc/default/tlp`.
126234

127235
## Useful Programs
128236

@@ -140,70 +248,54 @@ sudo wavemon
140248

141249
## Useful Commands
142250

143-
```bash
144-
iwevent
145-
```
146-
147-
Run this command to watch what the Wifi hardware is doing. Pay attention to the disconnect reasons, and ignore the scans.
148-
149-
```bash
150-
sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
151-
```
152-
153-
This command will restart the service that manages all Internet traffic on the computer, which is usually easier than restarting the computer.
154-
155-
```bash
156-
dmesg | grep iwlwifi
157-
```
158-
159-
This will check the hardware startup and driver loading messages.
160-
161-
```bash
162-
lspci | grep Network
163-
```
164-
165-
This will check if the hardware is being detected by the kernel.
166-
167-
```bash
168-
lsmod | grep iwlwifi
169-
```
170-
171-
This will check to see if the device driver (module) is loaded.
172-
173-
```bash
174-
sudo rm /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*
175-
```
176-
177-
This will erase the stored information about all wireless access points.
178-
179-
```bash
180-
sudo apt install --reinstall network-manager
181-
```
182-
183-
This will reinstall network-manager, which can fix some network issues.
184-
185-
**NOTE:** After reinstalling the above packages, fully shut down the machine and then power it back on, rather than rebooting. This ensures the hardware completely resets.
251+
These are miscellaneous commands that may be useful for troubleshooting.
252+
253+
- To watch what the Wi-Fi hardware is doing, including disconnection reasons and scan logs:
254+
```bash
255+
iwevent
256+
```
257+
- To check what hardware network controllers are detected by your system:
258+
```bash
259+
lspci | grep Network
260+
lsusb | grep Network
261+
```
262+
- To check if the Intel Wi-Fi kernel module is loaded:
263+
```bash
264+
lsmod | grep iwlwifi
265+
```
266+
- To erase all saved network information, such as Wi-Fi passwords and other configuration:
267+
```bash
268+
sudo rm /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*
269+
```
270+
- To reinstall NetworkManager:
271+
```bash
272+
sudo apt install --reinstall network-manager
273+
sudo systemctl poweroff
274+
```
275+
After the system has completely powered off, power it back on. (This allows network hardware to fully reset.)
186276

187277
## Additional Info
188278

189-
Wifi Speeds and Frequencies:
279+
Wi-Fi Speeds and Frequencies:
190280

191281
- 54 Mb/s uses the 802.11g & 802.11b standards.
282+
192283
- 145 Mb/s and 300 Mb/s modes use the 802.11n standard and 20MHz or 40MHz bandwidths.
284+
193285
- 300Mbps / 40Mhz will provide the maximum performance in most cases.
286+
194287
- 145Mbps / 20MHz will work better in areas with more access points.
195-
- 450Mbps uses a 60Mhz channel width and 600Mbps uses a 80Mhz channel width, and is typically less stable.
196288

197-
The name of the Linux driver for Intel Wifi cards is called <u>iwlwifi</u> and is included in the kernel by default. All information about the driver can be found here:
289+
- 450Mbps uses a 60Mhz channel width and 600Mbps uses a 80Mhz channel width, and is typically less stable.
198290

199-
[wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi](https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi)
291+
The name of the Linux driver for Intel Wi-Fi cards is called <u>iwlwifi</u> and is included in the kernel by default. All information about the driver can be found [on the Kernel.org wiki](https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi).
200292

201-
The newest version of the <u>linux-firmware</u> package, which contains the iwlwifi driver, can be found here:
293+
Sometimes the newest version of the `linux-firmware` package will clear up occasional bugs. You can download the newest `.deb` package from [the Kernel.org Ubuntu mirror](https://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware).
202294

203-
[mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware](https://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware)
295+
### Windows Dual Boot
204296

205-
Sometimes the newest version of the firmware will clear up occasional bugs. Please download the newest `.deb` package.
297+
If you're dual booting Windows, you may lose access to your Wi-Fi card entirely after running driver/OS updates in Windows. You may be able to gain access to your Wi-Fi card again by disabling "Fast Startup" in the Windows power options before booting back into Pop!_OS.
206298
207-
### Windows Dual Boot
299+
## Contact System76 Support
208300
209-
If you are dual booting Windows, you may lose access to your wifi card entirely after running driver/OS updates in Windows. You may be able to gain access to your wifi card again by disabling "Fast Startup" in the Windows power options before booting back into Pop!_OS.
301+
If you purchased a System76 computer and you’ve tried all the steps above, but your wireless connection still isn’t working as expected, please collect the output from the diagnostic commands and [contact System76 support](https://system76.com/contact/support).

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)