My google-fu is failing me on this; researching where to turn next is leaving me baffled.
I have an MSI laptop from around 2017 with Kubuntu 22.04 installed on it. I work at a hotel desk, and I often use the guest wifi on my personal devices during my downtime. It's not great wifi, but usually it works fine.
Starting around March 1, 2023 (date provided in case an update is relevant...) I came back from a three-day weekend to find that I now have internet issues at work.
It goes like this: I connect to the guest network automatically. I use Mozilla VPN, which makes it very easy to tell when the network has dropped. Everything will work fine at first. I usually get between 1 and 10 minutes of internet use, and then... everything just stops. It's still connected to the network, but MVPN has a little red "no signal" icon. This persists for about a minute, maybe minute and a half? I haven't timed it, but the amount of time it spends being dead is very consistent. After this time has elapsed, I get a notification that says "IP Configuration was unavailable", the computer disconnects and reconnects to the network, and it instantly starts working again.
I can manually disconnect and reconnect to the connection, and it will immediately work even if very little time has passed. Since this seems to happen every 2-3 minutes (on average), I obviously don't want to do that. (addendum: While typing this, manually toggling it apparently decided to stop working
Some information about my system that might be relevant (ask for more if needed)
- Laptop model: MS-16K2
- Wifi adapter: Intel Corporation Wireless 8265 / 8275 (shows up in network settings as wlp62s0)
- Kubuntu 20.04
- Kernel Version: 5.15.0-60-generic or 5.15.0-67-generic (These are both the ones I have installed as of troubleshooting... exact same behavior)
- I have not monkeyed with the drivers, or any system settings related to network (or devices at all).
Network:
- The network I'm having issues with is provided by AT&T (and so is my home network)
- Coworkers mentioned that the wifi was having issues when I came to work the day the problem started, but nobody was able to be specific as to what was going on, or what the tech support people were up to. From what I gathered, it seemed to be related to switches not working on upper floors, probably not in the lobby area?
Things I have tried:
- I set IPv4 to "Manual" and set myself a static IP address. I tried a few. This worked to connect to the internet, but I had the exact same problem as before.
- I disabled IPv4 and tried to make it use IPv6. Connection said no. It requires IPv4.
- I booted my laptop at home and puttered around on it for over an hour. No problems!
- I called the hotline that's available for guests/employees to get help from the ISP with network and connection issues. The person helping me was able to see my laptop on the network (identified via mac address), and claimed that the connection to my device was steady. He saw no issues from his end.
- I shut my VPN off entirely, no change.
- I pulled up a website that would run a ping test indefinitely and let it go. Strangely enough, while running that, it seemed like I got to stay connected for much longer before it crapped out? It still did, though.
- I tried a ping test and just general monitoring on my android tablet, and didn't see issues. My coworkers don't seem to be having issues.
At this point, I'm stuck. All questions I've found online with similar errors are people just having no connection whatsoever.
Edit: I have now tried a different hotel's network, and had no issues.
What can I do to diagnose this? Is there anything else I can try to narrow down whether it's my computer or the network causing the problem?
As suggested, I ran these in the terminal:
service NetworkManager status
● NetworkManager.service - Network Manager
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/NetworkManager.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2023-03-15 15:41:36 CDT; 2min 49s ago
Docs: man:NetworkManager(8)
Main PID: 800 (NetworkManager)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 28568)
Memory: 9.7M
CPU: 1.018s
CGroup: /system.slice/NetworkManager.service
└─800 /usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5151] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: disconnected -> authenticating
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5206] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5207] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5430] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5431] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5431] device (wlp62s0): ip:dhcp4: restarting
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5569] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): canceled DHCP transaction
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5570] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5570] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): state changed no lease
Mar 15 15:44:07 mylaptop NetworkManager[800]: <info> [1678913047.5571] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
ip link;ip route
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp61s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 4c:cc:6a:de:19:d9 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp62s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 00:28:f8:81:af:4c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
6: moz0: <POINTOPOINT,NOARP,PROMISC,DEBUG,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1420 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/none
default via 10.20.0.1 dev wlp62s0 proto dhcp metric 600
10.20.0.0/20 dev wlp62s0 proto kernel scope link src 10.20.15.195 metric 600
169.254.0.0/16 dev moz0 scope link metric 1000
I also ran sudo journalctl -b 0 -U NetworkManager but only got Failed to parse timestamp: Networkmanager so I looked the command up and used sudo journalctl _COMM=NetworkManager instead. I truncated the first 250+ lines of the output because it was long as all hell and some of it didn't seem relevant, but this is what I got that seemed to span one of these disconnection periods.
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.1258] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_LOCAL
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.1264] device (wlp62s0): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.1488] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): canceled DHCP transaction
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.3054] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.3055] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6523] policy: auto-activating connection 'problem_wifi' (5510ab7a-66f1-415b-8f3d-c2794f4f91e6)
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6537] device (wlp62s0): Activation: starting connection 'problem_wifi' (5510ab7a-66f1-415b-8f3d-c2794f4f91e6)
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6540] device (wlp62s0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6550] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6559] device (wlp62s0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6568] device (wlp62s0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'problem_wifi' requires no security. No secrets needed.
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6569] Config: added 'ssid' value 'problem_wifi'
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6570] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6570] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-70:86400'
Mar 10 17:56:02 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492562.6571] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'NONE'
Mar 10 17:56:03 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492563.6794] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Mar 10 17:56:03 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492563.6795] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.3878] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.3878] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: scanning -> authenticating
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.3933] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.3934] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4052] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4053] device (wlp62s0): Activation: (wifi) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful. Connected to wireless network "problem_wifi"
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4054] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4063] device (wlp62s0): state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4073] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4248] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): state changed new lease, address=10.20.15.195
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4300] device (wlp62s0): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4365] device (wlp62s0): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4375] device (wlp62s0): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4386] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_LOCAL
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4403] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_SITE
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4406] policy: set 'problem_wifi' (wlp62s0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4420] device (wlp62s0): Activation: successful, device activated.
Mar 10 17:56:04 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492564.4427] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_GLOBAL
Mar 10 17:58:28 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492708.6832] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 10 17:58:28 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492708.6833] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.8813] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> authenticating
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.8814] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: disconnected -> authenticating
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.8871] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.8872] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9040] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9041] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: associating -> completed
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9042] device (wlp62s0): ip:dhcp4: restarting
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9328] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): canceled DHCP transaction
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9329] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9329] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): state changed no lease
Mar 10 17:58:30 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492710.9330] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.1288] device (wlp62s0): state change: activated -> failed (reason 'ip-config-unavailable', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <warn> [1678492756.1294] device (wlp62s0): Activation: failed for connection 'problem_wifi'
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.1298] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_LOCAL
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.1305] device (wlp62s0): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.1687] dhcp4 (wlp62s0): canceled DHCP transaction
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.4387] device (wlp62s0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 10 17:59:16 mylaptop NetworkManager[810]: <info> [1678492756.4388] device (p2p-dev-wlp62s0): supplicant management interface state: completed -> disconnected
(the network isn't named problem_network, I redacted the name in the output file)
EDIT: Okay, so I've been bonking my head against this for a couple weeks, and have a couple more details:
- The issue is local not just to this hotel's wifi, but to the wifi in a particular area. When I'm in the lobby, I have this problem. When I'm on the other end of the building (on a different access point), I do not. There are 34 access points in the building (according to tech support, anyway), and I don't know where all of them are, so idk if I can narrow this down very much.
- When the tech support person input my device's MAC address, IP, and the promo code I'm using, it said it was invalid. Same promo code I've been using for months, but it said no! However, when she put in a promo code I've never heard of and her system said it was valid, it didn't fix anything.
I guess it's time to boot into Windows (ugh) and see if the issue persists.
At this point I don't expect that ask Ubuntu can help, but I'm going to keep updating this until I figure it out or have to admit defeat.
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, thank you for the wifi power saving tip! I can't believe it was that simple.
