Score:1

WIFI not working or very slow, wired connection ok

cn flag

I have found fixes for this problem using different hardware and find most solutions quite hard to follow, I am not very techy, please use small steps! Thanks.

Dell Inspiron 15R 20.04.3 LTS ProtonVPN

waltinator avatar
it flag
Read https://askubuntu.com/help/how-to-ask
Will avatar
id flag
You need to give some information - what you’ve tried, what you think caused it … there’s just nothing to go on here.
guiverc avatar
cn flag
Make model of a device doesn't mean that much; as products often change during production which is why companies like Dell use service tags allowing owners to find out what's actually inside their box. With GNU/Linux it's the chipset used that matters; you provided no details. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide maybe of help (esp. *Device Recognition and Operation* section which allows you to search online, or provide us with details needed to help you).
guiverc avatar
cn flag
Being exact also helps, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server? Desktop? which kernel tack did you opt to use (some ISOs give you a choice at install time, others are selected by the ISO you used to do your install; currently we don't even know if it's a Server or Desktop install you're asking about which influences the default...)
cn flag
Thanks for all your replies, the only helpful information was from Alex Fullam.
Score:0
ar flag

I had the same problem, and I went to /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.confand found the following:

[connection]
wifi.powersave = 3

So I changed the 3 to 2, rebooted, and the wifi connected faster.

The short answer to why this works is because you're essentially turning off wifi power management.

How to do it:

First, open a terminal window and type the following: sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf. You will have to enter your password since you are getting root permissions from sudo. Then, you can use your cursor keys to edit the file with nano and when you're done, do ctrl+x and then click y when it says "Save to modified buffer?" at the bottom. Then, reboot your system and you are good to go.

Alternate Solution

The first solution kind of stopped working for me, so I did this: sudo gedit /etc/nsswitch.conf. Then I replaced the line that started with hosts: with hosts: files dns

Essentially, you're fixing a bug in Avahi-daemon, which is a bug in Debian, but since Ubuntu is based off of Debian, it appears in Ubuntu as well.

Then I rebooted.

cn flag
Thanks for the information, can you please explain in baby steps how to get to the file, edit and save it?
AlexFullinator avatar
ar flag
@spider Ok! I'll edit my answer. :)
AlexFullinator avatar
ar flag
@spider I added the steps. Tell me if you need any more help!
cn flag
Thanks very much, I followed the steps and it now works fine. Really pleased to be unplugged again!
cn flag
OK so it's still not right, very slow just browsing, taking up to 20 seconds to load ebay homepage. I have tried with and without VPN, no change. I have checked the WIFI file and it is still set to 2, I have carried out a speedtest and get varying results from 20 to 60 mbps but still any web page takes ages. Any idea what I could check next?
AlexFullinator avatar
ar flag
@spider Uh oh! It didn't work? What DNS server are you using? I recommend Google's DNS server. Also, are you sure it's just not your internet?
cn flag
Hi Alex, thanks for getting back, I have just booted the same machine on windows 10 and internet is fine- very fast. I am sorry but I am not sure what dns server I am using, it will be default as I have never tried to change it. I am averse to using google wherever possible. I have been using Ubuntu for years and re-installed it recently to try and fix this problem.
AlexFullinator avatar
ar flag
@spider Sorry for responding very very late, but does this help? - edit /etc/nsswitch/conf - Replace the line that starts with "hosts:" with "hosts: files dns" - Restart computer
cn flag
Hi Alex, Thank you very much for persisting with this, I tried it yesterday and it seemed to fix it straight away, still working today. I don't have a clue what it all means but I can confirm I have normal speed wifi and don't have to plug in any more. Thanks again.
AlexFullinator avatar
ar flag
@spider No problem! I'm so glad this helped. If you're wondering what the solution did, you're essentially fixing a bug in Avahi-daemon.
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