WiFi connection randomly drops - Mint 20.1 - newbie

[SpookyCat]

Hello,

Newbie here... I moved earlier this year and had to start using a wireless network connection. I am experiencing disconnects at random times after startup. I was originally thinking it happened after my PC went to sleep but have since experienced this problem while surfing the web. Restarting the WiFi interface doesn't help. The only way I have been able to reconnect to the Internet is to reboot the box. I do use NordVPN.

This is an older machine; set it up to learn and get away from Windows eventually. I'm fine with doing troubleshooting but am not sure how to diagnose the problem given my lack of Linux experience.

Here's some hopefully helpful information...

USB Wifi Device

TP-Link USB WiFi Adapter for PC(TL-WN725N), N150 Wireless Network Adapter

inxi -Fxzd output

System: Kernel: 5.8.0-55-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa
base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine: Type: Desktop System: Seneca product: PRO312280 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Intel model: DH61CR v: AAG14064-207 serial: <filter> UEFI: Intel v: BEH6110H.86A.0042.2012.0327.2202
date: 03/27/2012
CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-2120 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 L2 cache: 3072 KiB
flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 26338
Speed: 1745 MHz min/max: 1600/3300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2037 2: 1842 3: 2190 4: 1889
Graphics: Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 2000 (SNB GT1) v: 3.3 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes
Audio: Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-55-generic
Network: Device-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f080 bus ID: 00:19.0
IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter type: USB driver: r8188eu bus ID: 1-1.3:5
IF: wlx984827c61a12 state: up mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: nordlynx state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A
Drives: Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 34.26 GiB (14.4%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 830 Series size: 238.47 GiB
Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVDRAM GH22NS90 rev: HN00 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw
Features: speed: 12 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition: ID-1: / size: 233.24 GiB used: 34.25 GiB (14.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info: Processes: 221 Uptime: 26m Memory: 3.75 GiB used: 1.62 GiB (43.3%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0
Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38

lsusb output

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0bda:8179 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188EUS 802.11n Wireless Network Adapter
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0a5c:21e8 Broadcom Corp. BCM20702A0 Bluetooth 4.0
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 045e:00db Microsoft Corp. Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 V1.0
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 046d:c077 Logitech, Inc. M105 Optical Mouse
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:5411 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

iwconfig output

lo no wireless extensions.

eno1 no wireless extensions.

wlx984827c61a12 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"Impulse_power" Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: C0:61:9A:92:12:35
Bit Rate:72.2 Mb/s Sensitivity:0/0
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=100/100 Signal level=70/100 Noise level=0/100
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

nordlynx no wireless extensions.

Suggestions as to how to troubleshoot?

Thank you.

John

[Larry78723]

Try this:

Copy the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo sed -i 's/3/2/' /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf 

Open a terminal and paste (Ctrl-Alt-V)
Hit Enter. It will ask for your password. Enter it and hit Enter.
Reboot

In many cases, this will cure the problem. If the problem continues, we can go further in diagnosing the problem.

[kelebek333]

If above suggestion regarding power management does not solve the issue, You can try to install rtl8188eu vendor based driver with following commands from PPA repository.

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kelebek333/kablosuz
apt update
apt install rtl8188eu-dkms

Then reboot and disable secureboot.

[sleeper12]

Looks to me like power management is already off & wifi driver is present. Any special reason you are using the 5.8 kernel? Maybe the 5.4 would be better on that older machine.

You can also try Disable IPv6:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... html#ID2.2