[SOLVED]Internet cut off while WIFI is still on? Cause and Fix?

[loveLM]

Hi there,

I recently got a new laptop but found the following issues
1. The WIFI signal shows as 3/4, instead of 4 as my older laptop, does it mean it has a "weaker" network card?
2. Occasionally I experienced disconnecting such as :

This site can’t be reached
forums.linuxmint.com’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

However, the WIFI is always on. When I refresh the page, it usually comes back normally. I don't think this appears in my old laptop.
My seller only provides Windows support, and asked me to install Windows for testing, but I prefer not to.

I wonder what caused this? Is there anyway to detect problems in Linux? What should I check?

[Spearmint2]

This site can’t be reached
forums.linuxmint.com’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

It means the DNS server which converts names to IP addresses has a problem finding a match for that web address, so the server is deficient. You could try some other DNS server like Free DNS or just use google's at IP 8.8.8.8 and secondary DNS at 8.8.4.4

https://www.google.com/search?q=free+DN ... channel=fs

[Pjotr]

As Spearmint says. Easy how-to:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... our-system
(item 10, right column)

[loveLM]

@Spearmint2 @ Pjotr
Thank you very much. I will try that and test for a day and see how it goes.

@Pjotr
I found the other tips you have on that site are very useful too. Will give it a read and do some tricks here and there.

Thanks for putting those up there for us newbies!

[loveLM]

Hey guys,

I did exactly what the it says and I checked

Code: Select all

more /etc/resolv.conf

to make sure googles ones are listed. But I still see the occasional DNS error message.

Does it have something to do with my ISP or my hardware? Anything more I could do? Thanks!

[Spearmint2]

Probably has to do with the DNS setting in your router. Access it's program and change that too.

[loveLM]

I am suspecting my laptop though. As this doesn't seem to happen in my old laptop, iphone, ipad or anything else who shares the same WIFI connection. I want to make sure it's not a defect due to hardware.

[Spearmint2]

Yes, there are DNS you can set on each computer's LAN and wifi connection, so should take a look there in the networking. The problem computer, was it used previously in a university setting? Reason I ask is they often assign a DNS server that is theirs which helps them restrict some content sites.

[loveLM]

Hi there,

NOPE. The "problem" computer was bought last week. They installed a thrial Windows but I didn't test enough then I just directly installed LinuxMint. Now I found some issues but they can't provide support for Linux and I don't want to install Windows. So I would say... so far there is nothing else except the google ones I added in DNS configuration.

The problem isn't very serious. It usually connected again quickly after DNS error appeared. However it bothers me a bit and I want to make sure it's not due to hardware malfunctioning or anything.

[Spearmint2]

It could be the wifi device internal on laptop, that happens a lot with laptops, the way to see is use a USB wifi device and see if the problem goes away. If so, you have the choice of putting a new internal wifi into the laptop, or just continuing to use the external USB wifi. This is my favorite external that always works in Linux. You can see your neighbor's wifi signals half a block away, LOL.

[loveLM]

Ah I see! Perhaps this means my new laptop might just have a "weaker" WIFI connection compared to the old one then.

I will mark the USB wifi for future reference and it seems interesting.

Right now I will mark it as solved for the moment.

Thank you for helping!

[JeremyB]

I would try

Code: Select all

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

Code: Select all

systemctl restart network-manager.service

And see if the disconnects disappear