Score:0

Wifi can connect to one AP, but not to another AP

cn flag

Kubuntu 20.04

Wifi: BCM43228 802.11a/b/g/n Driver manager function in Kubuntu system setting finds and install the driver for me automatically.

Symptom:

On DDWRT (Kernet 4.x) AP: All ssids can be connected without problem

On OpenWrt (v20.02, stable release, Kernel 5.x) AP: All ssids can't be connected, with error message "wlp2s0 can't be found". iwconfig shows wlp2s0 is there and active

If I boot the same PC into Windows 10, no problem connecting to all APs'ssids.

What could be the possible cause? Thank you.

Terrance avatar
id flag
That's very strange, but try disabling "Allow legacy 802.11b rates" which is found in the 2.4GHz Radio settings under Advanced Settings on your OpenWRT. It seems to me that once I turned that off on mine all my other things like Rokus and Google Chromecasts would now see each other on my network.
bthoven avatar
cn flag
Thanks. I tried that you and still can't connect...strange
Terrance avatar
id flag
Maybe try installing the `broadcom-sta-dkms` package. I have seen around and people claim that installing the `broadcom-sta` package seemed to help their wireless chipset. Mind you, I am only guessing because I am not in your same situation and nor have I seen it. `sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms`.
bthoven avatar
cn flag
Thanks. I tried installing broadcom-sta-dkms successfully, restart network manager, but still no luck.
Terrance avatar
id flag
Hmmm, I really have no idea. One last thing maybe try playing with the Operating Frequencies in OpenWRT, like I have mine set to N, (whatever channel recommend 1, 6 or 11 if in the US), 20MHz. Transmit power I leave at auto. It could honestly be a bug in the drivers for the Broadcom, but it is not unheard of out there where sometimes companies release updates and then peoples devices can no longer see certain WiFi SSIDs.
bthoven avatar
cn flag
I think it is not the Kubuntu driver issue, but the OpenWrt 20.02. I can connect to another OpenWrt 19.07 wifi with the exact same setup, it works without problem.
Terrance avatar
id flag
That's good to know. I too have an OpenWRT router running, but mine is the 18.06.4 version and the only issue I have had was when I had the Legacy rates enabled since none of my devices anymore support Legacy at all. I also set mine to reboot every 20 days since around 30 days the 5GHz decides to just stop working at random. I have used DD-WRT in the past and it seems really stable, but one thing that drew me to the OpenWRT is the configuration ability of it.
bthoven avatar
cn flag
Unfortunately, Openwrt only supports my AP, D-link DIR2660, from version 20.02.0 onwards. My Archer C9 running dd-wrt is quite stable, but I don't like dd-wrt because there are number of setups to be done only via cli. The only reason I use these alternative firmwares is because they support vlan setup and many other granular tweaks. I've raised the issue in OpenWrt forum, but no one seems to have a clue.
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