Wi-fi connection keeps disconnecting

Question

The wifi connection I use on my laptop keeps disconnecting randomly and it happens many times during a day. First, wifi signal starts to flash then it asks for wifi password even though it's been already saved. I need to turn off wireless network, turn it back on and connect to the wireless network back again to reconnect.

My network adapter is:

02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 3160 (rev cb)

I don't think if it is a hardware related issue as it wasn't happening when I was using Windows and it's also not a router issue as other devices connecting to the network are ok.

I have Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS installed and there is no additional drivers available. Is there any solution you can offer to me?

iwlwifi commands are here: https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/p/tjwzKRXZ6F/

$ uname -a
Linux SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 5.13.0-37-generic #42~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 15 15:44:28 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ sudo lshw -class network
*-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Wireless 3160
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlp2s0
       version: cb
       serial: b4:6d:83:ff:02:8f
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=5.13.0-37-generic firmware=17.3216344376.0 3160-17.ucode ip=192.168.1.242 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:49 memory:b1100000-b1101fff

$ lspci -knn | grep Net -A2
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Wireless 3160 [8086:08b3] (rev cb)
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Dual Band Wireless AC 3160 [8086:8170]
    Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi

$ls -al /etc/pm/config.d/
ls: cannot access '/etc/pm/config.d/': No such file or directory
$ ls -al /etc/modprobe.d/
total 56
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Şub  7 12:50 .
drwxr-xr-x 130 root root 12288 Mar 23 12:34 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  2507 Tem 31  2015 alsa-base.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Şub 16  2020 amd64-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   325 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-ath_pci.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  1518 Mar 12  2020 blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   210 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-firewire.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   677 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-framebuffer.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   156 Tem 31  2015 blacklist-modem.conf
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    41 Şub  7 12:28 blacklist-oss.conf -> /lib/linux-sound-base/noOSS.modprobe.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   583 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-rare-network.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Haz 10  2020 intel-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   347 Mar 12  2020 iwlwifi.conf
$ sudo iwlist freq
lo        no frequency information.

wlp2s0    32 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 36 : 5.18 GHz
          Channel 40 : 5.2 GHz
          Channel 44 : 5.22 GHz
          Channel 48 : 5.24 GHz
          Channel 52 : 5.26 GHz
          Channel 56 : 5.28 GHz
          Channel 60 : 5.3 GHz
          Channel 64 : 5.32 GHz
          Channel 100 : 5.5 GHz
          Channel 104 : 5.52 GHz
          Channel 108 : 5.54 GHz
          Channel 112 : 5.56 GHz
          Channel 116 : 5.58 GHz
          Channel 120 : 5.6 GHz
          Channel 124 : 5.62 GHz
          Channel 128 : 5.64 GHz
          Channel 132 : 5.66 GHz
          Channel 136 : 5.68 GHz
          Channel 140 : 5.7 GHz
          Current Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)

$ iwlist scan | egrep -i 'ssid|quality'
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

                    Quality=70/70  Signal level=-36 dBm  
                    ESSID:"ardic"
$ sudo iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp2s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"ardic"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 60:31:97:F0:0D:4D   
          Bit Rate=72.2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=57/70  Signal level=-53 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:137   Missed beacon:0

$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.13.0-37-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Gnome 3.36.9 Distro: Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS (Focal Fossa) 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE Radius 14 L40W-C-102 
  v: PSLZAE-00R00STE serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: FF40 model: 06A0 v: 2.0 serial: <filter> UEFI: INSYDE v: 5.00 
  date: 07/01/2015 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 13.1 Wh condition: 22.7/46.3 Wh (49%) 
  model: TKBSS G71C000JV110 status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-5005U bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Broadwell rev: 4 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 15999 
  Speed: 883 MHz min/max: 500/1900 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1026 2: 969 
  3: 800 4: 927 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 vendor: Toshiba driver: i915 v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: i915 resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 5500 (BDW GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio vendor: Toshiba driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:03.0 
  Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio vendor: Toshiba 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.13.0-37-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 3040 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 111.79 GiB used: 14.19 GiB (12.7%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Gigabyte model: GP-GSTFS31120GNTD size: 111.79 GiB 
  temp: 33 C 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 109.04 GiB used: 14.18 GiB (13.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 54.0 C mobo: 27.8 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 235 Uptime: 7h 36m Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 2.14 GiB (27.9%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: N/A Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 
  inxi: 3.0.38 

$ nmcli device wifi list
IN-USE  BSSID              SSID                       MODE   CHAN  RATE        >
*       60:31:97:F0:0D:4D  ardic                      Infra  11    130 Mbit/s  >
        00:31:92:66:37:60  TurkTelekom_TP3760_2.4GHz  Infra  8     270 Mbit/s  >
        00:31:92:66:37:61  TurkTelekom_TP3760_5GHz    Infra  36    270 Mbit/s  >
        74:DA:88:22:03:20  TP-Link_0320               Infra  2     130 Mbit/s  >
        8C:DE:F9:0E:2B:48  TP-Link_0320_plus          Infra  2     130 Mbit/s  >
        8C:15:C7:E9:98:24  VodafoneNet-D7VDST         Infra  11    270 Mbit/s  >

  $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8001 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 04f2:b446 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd TOSHIBA Web Camera - HD
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 04f3:20d3 Elan Microelectronics Corp. Touchscreen
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 048d:8350 Integrated Technology Express, Inc. ITE Device(8350)
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

$ systemctl status bluetooth
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor pre>
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-03-29 10:17:38 +03; 9min ago
       Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
   Main PID: 920 (bluetoothd)
     Status: "Running"
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 9356)
     Memory: 1.5M
     CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
             └─920 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd

Mar 29 10:17:38 SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 systemd[1]: Starting Bluetooth s>
Mar 29 10:17:38 SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 bluetoothd[920]: Bluetooth daemo>
Mar 29 10:17:38 SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 systemd[1]: Started Bluetooth se>
Mar 29 10:17:38 SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 bluetoothd[920]: Starting SDP se>
Mar 29 10:17:38 SATELLITE-Radius-14-L40W-C-102 bluetoothd[920]: Bluetooth manag>

Make sure you're using the recommended wireless security settings in the router (WPA2-AES or better, no WPA/WPA2 mixed mode, no TKIP); reboot the router. — ChanganAuto, Mar 12 '22 at 16:46
Please try my trobleshooting steps here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1353705/ubuntu-20-04-wifi-keeps-dropping/1353723#1353723 — chili555, Mar 12 '22 at 17:06
I've made the changes. I'll see if there's improvement in few days. — Andrew Harlan, Mar 12 '22 at 17:16
It happened again. Asking authentication password when it disconnects. — Andrew Harlan, Mar 12 '22 at 20:37
Let's see a full wireless diagnostic: https://askubuntu.com/questions/425155/my-wireless-wifi-connection-does-not-work-what-information-is-needed-to-diagnos/425180#425180 — chili555, Mar 12 '22 at 21:36
@chili555 Please check: https://pastebin.ubuntu.com/p/bC8rQ2RPqY/ — Andrew Harlan, Mar 13 '22 at 08:10
Your router appears to be set to auto select the channel. I suggest a fixed channel; 1, 6 or 11. — chili555, Mar 13 '22 at 13:20
I've tried to fix the channel but it keeps returning to auto. I don't know why it's not being saved. — Andrew Harlan, Mar 24 '22 at 17:16
If you disable IPV6, is there any improvement in connectivity? — ubfan1, Mar 26 '22 at 04:58
It might be an attack, do you have neighbours in wifi range ? The fact that it asks for the password again is my clue. But then the attacker should be satisfied if you gave the password to his fake access point even once, so if it keeps on happening while you entered the password, forget this. — Yvain, Mar 30 '22 at 09:45

sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-30T14:20:45.313

EDIT:

As per you pastebin, your current driver configuration includes:

bt_coex_active=enable
power_save=enable
power_level=1

so I would say it is worth trying option 1 below.

As per specifications, your Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 has WiFi bands 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and Bluetooth Version 4.0. It is quite frequent to see interference between WiFi and Bluetooth in integrated adapters. A solution would have varied difficulty, depending on the configuration options of the driver.

I am listing below a few answers I have posted on this. There you could find useful links. As for your particular case, more info is needed to narrow down the options. On one hand, I will provide a list of commands to get related info from your system. OTOH, I will provide a list of options you could try, assuming you have driver iwlwifi (also this).

Info to post

Please post the following info

Output of commands below. Please copy-paste verbatim, in your terminal, the commands listed. Then copy-paste verbatim, here, both the commands entered and the output obtained. Also add any behaviour you may observe that is worth noting. Enter your results as properly markdown-formatted text, not as screenshots. If needed for very long output, you could use pastebin.
```
 $ uname -a
 $ sudo lshw -class network
 $ lspci -knn | grep Net -A2
 $ ls -al /etc/pm/config.d/
 $ ls -al /etc/modprobe.d/
 $ sudo iwlist freq
 $ iwlist scan | egrep -i 'ssid|quality'
 $ sudo iwconfig
 $ inxi -Fxz
 $ nmcli device wifi list
 $ lsusb
 $ systemctl status bluetooth
 $ hcitool dev
 $ hciconfig -a

 $ modinfo iwlwifi
 $ sudo lsmod | grep iwlwifi
 $ cat /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
 $ grep [[:alnum:]] /sys/module/iwlwifi/parameters/*
```
The last series of commands assume you have driver iwlwifi. Replace it with whatever driver you have.
Brand/model of your computer

Things to try

Post the resulting behavior / output. Assuming you have driver iwlwifi, try:

Using driver options (parms): sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-opt.conf <<< "options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=N power_save=0 power_level=5". If that doesn't work, you could add 11n_disable=1, disable_11ac=1, disable_11ax=1. Reboot. Note that, from documentation, it is not clear if the highest number (5) gives the maximum power or the maximum power saving, so you could also try the other end (power_level=1). To check the power level, using the PC on battery and running powertop may help.
Disabling bluetooth. You can do this via CLI with systemctl stop bluetooth, via GUI with Settings -> Bluetooth -> Move the slider at the top right, or perhaps via BIOS configuration. Reboot.
Disabling the 5GHz band in the router.
If the problem happens for a specific network, this may be your solution, but check the Details tab instead. I know it happens without your Ubuntu going to sleep, but it still might apply. And it may be the solution even if it happens more widely, although it is less likely in this case.
Change the channel with iw wlp2s0 set channel <no.>.

Some related answers

First of all I don't use bluetooth and it's off by default. 5Ghz band is not available on my router. — Andrew Harlan, Mar 28 '22 at 14:34
@AndrewHarlan - 1) Please report results for the 3 commands added below `lsusb`. 2) Please also try item #1. It doesn't hurt, even if it may not be the solution. 3) Does the problem happen when connecting to other routers as well? 4) Do you need to enter the password when you turn off and on wifi? — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Mar 29 '22 at 01:38
1) I've added bluetooth status command. hcitool and hciconfig commands do not return anything. 2) I'll try item #1 and inform. 3) I have only one router. 4) No, I don't. — Andrew Harlan, Mar 29 '22 at 07:31
@AndrewHarlan - Did you have a chance of trying #1? I also added #5. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Mar 30 '22 at 14:21
"iw wlp2s0 set channel " Which channel do you think I should use? — Andrew Harlan, Mar 30 '22 at 20:14
@AndrewHarlan - You said your router only has 2.4GHz. So try anything between 1 and 13 (as per your output). You are currently using #11. Make sure the router is set accordingly. — sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio, Mar 31 '22 at 05:53

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 26 '22 at 04:44

1

Maybe power management issue ? change wifi.powersave value to 2

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf
#edit this line change from whatever to 2
wifi.powersave=2

If this does not work try passing this parameter in grub

sudo nano /etc/default/grub 

# Edit the following line and add pcie_aspm=off

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="splash pcie_aspm=off"

sudo update-grub

answered Mar 26 '22 at 04:44

Utkarsh Chandra Srivastava

984
4
17

wifi.powersave value was already "2". For your other suggestion, I don't want to disable all pcie power saving capabilities to fix this issue. – Andrew Harlan Mar 28 '22 at 15:14

Jey · Answer 3 · 2023-08-04T19:42:12.583

I was able to solve a similar issue. To be clear my WiFi and Ethernet interfaces where acting the same way. And sometimes my USB ports too. But those were quickly coming back online by themself. With assistance from @UtkarshChandraSrivastava's answer. I'm providing more details on what was required here in case it helps others.

It turns out that it was something related to power management after all. Since I have disabled it everything is working fine. No more random network disconnection on my laptop.

This is what I did and suggest:

Try to disable the Advance System Power Management on the PCI express bus by passing this value to GRUB at boot: pcie_aspm=off. You will use a lite more power. But rebooting all day does to.

To do so:

Edit the following config file as root: /etc/default/grub
Add pcie_aspm=off at the end of the line that starts with: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=

Note: Only one set of quotes ("") must be used. All parameters (if there are multiples) must be separated by one space. The line should then look like this:
```
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="parameter1 parameter2 pcie_aspm=off"
```
Or like this if there were not other parameters already:
```
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="pcie_aspm=off"
```
Save the changes to the config file.
Then the new config must be applied to GRUB (boot manager) so the ASPM will be disable at each boot. Use the command sudo update-grub to do so.
Then reboot and try for a day then a week.

Note: If for some reason GRUB default config file is reinstalled and reapplied you might need to do the same again afterward.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 28 '22 at 22:40

0

A couple of things you can look at. In my own /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf it contains:

[connection]
#wifi.powersave = 3
# Slow sleep fix: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1670041
wifi.powersave = 2

Since you are already using 2 you can try 3.

Intel does make WiFi drivers for Linux:

answered Mar 28 '22 at 22:40

WinEunuuchs2Unix

99,709
34
237
401

1

I've change wifi.powersave state to "3". We'll see. I've checked the lib/firmware directory. I have already iwlwifi-3160 drivers there: iwlwifi-3160-7.ucode, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17 while the driver on Intel's website has iwlwifi-3160-14.ucode. I don't know what is the difference? – Andrew Harlan Mar 29 '22 at 08:44
@AndrewHarlan I don't know the difference either for your 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16 & 17 other than the fact you are strangely missing the 14 that Intel is offering up. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Mar 29 '22 at 23:36

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 30 '22 at 19:48

0

I had this same problem about a year ago and I found a solution in Settings>Power>Suspend & Power Button>Automatic Suspend. Set On Battery Power to OFF. Now I never lose my wifi. I have no idea why this works, and if it was explained to me I'm sure I would not understand.

Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS

answered Mar 30 '22 at 19:48

QRP

66
8

My connection seem to have been improved after changing power save values as other people suggested but I have disabled that automatic suspend as well. – Andrew Harlan Mar 30 '22 at 20:12

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 13 '22 at 20:55

0

My issue turned out to be wifi extender too close to laptop. Moved it a few feet away and fixed issue.

answered Jul 13 '22 at 20:55

6reg

1

Wi-fi connection keeps disconnecting

6 Answers6

Info to post

Things to try

Some related answers