[MyL5] Received my Librem 5, WiFi doesn't work :-(

I’m next to the router, no doubt the signal strength is good. I’ll try on another network … even if on this I can connect everything.
Thanks for helping.

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Update: I’ve tried an Android Phone as Wi-Fi Hotspot, it provides a stable internet connection to my Librem 5. So the problem is not on my phone, neither on the router I’d say, but rather on the coupling.
In order to summarize:
Android --))) – Router WiFi OK
Librem5 --))) – Router WiFi KO
Librem5 --))) – Android WiFi Hotspot OK
Any idea?

By coupling, you mean the ability of your L5 to connect to your router? i.e. some problem in the software?

Next would be to compare which WiFI protocols each are using (2.4Ghz?, 5Ghz?, WPA2?) to see if there is a pattern.

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I would also jump on the router and see whether it logs / records anything of use regarding disconnection.

I would also verify which 802.11?? standards are available on the router and (I assume) the phone is limited to 802.11n (whether on 2.4 GHz or on 5 GHz). (So I would limit the phone to the 2.4 GHz band if you have e.g. 802.11ac devices on the 5 GHz band.)

On my WAP I have multiple SSIDs (per band) so that I can use different settings for older equipment or equipment requiring older 802.11?? standards - while still allowing the latest and greatest for equipment that supports it. I have found older equipment to be problematic when using aggressive latest-and-greatest settings - and the documentation for the WAP is not always good enough at explaining what exactly all the settings do!!

To that end, I would try to quiesce the wireless network so that the only client is the Librem 5 and see whether it then has a stable connection.

Does it disconnect immediately or does it stay connected for an unpredictable short amount of time? You may be able to test that by pinging your router.

FWIW there is a newer kernel driver from Redpine that we don’t have yet in our published kernel but might be worth trying. I’ll try to prepare some instructions on how to get it running after the holidays.

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Wifi problems can be boring. I have at home five Ubuntu mobile phones BQ E4.5 (they all run an Android kernel with an Ubuntu system on top). They all connect fine to my AP at home, minus one. This one connects, gets IP addr, but a lot of package losses. Then disconnects. This one works also fine with any other AP I could find to test with (in my office, in public areas, etc.) What I planned to do as next test is take my AP and this phone to another location (for example to my office) to see if it works there. This would proof that the problem is perhaps caused by radio noise in my home…

OK, thank you very much, but there is no need to bother, I can wait for a forthcoming update. I’m relying more often on the mobile data connection, being often away from home.

802.11b/g/n on 2.4GHz are available, but I don’t have control on which one is used.

Nothing changes

It’s pretty random, most of the time 40 seconds on and 90 seconds off

@fiacco Maybe try disabling IPv6 in the Wi-Fi connection settings

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Bingo! I didn’t find an option to disable IPv6, but while searching I found the option “Bandwidth”. It was set on 20/40 MHz, I thought I would try to change it and I set it at 20 MHz. Now the connection’s working like a charm.

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Great to hear that you found a way to make it work. This was in the settings for your router, not on the Librem 5 itself?

Does it have explanation of what the “Bandwidth” option is supposed to do? (I’m wondering if it’s possible to understand why it would cause disconnects like you had, and if that is due to a bug somewhere.)

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Yes, it was on the settings of the router. It is a Technicolor TG788vn v2, if it matters to you.
I don’t know what the option is intended for … on the user manual they don’t even mention it. It’s under the section “Advanced Wireless Options”

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Shortly, with 40 Hz you get better throughput, with 20 Hz you decrease interference.

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I have mine set to 20/40 and 20/40/80… Hopefully my router is intelligent enough, although I have my doubts. Seems to be working OK, though.

Edit: Lol! Discourse just hinted that I’m posting too much. Sorry, everybody! :upside_down_face:

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Great that it’s stable now.

It seems as if this is an issue to watch.

I don’t really want to drag my whole (2.4 GHz wireless) network down. Fortunately most devices are on 5 GHz anyway. (I see that my 2.4 GHz radio is on 20 MHz width by default, with the other option being 40 MHz - while my 5 GHz radio is on 40 MHz width by default, with the other options being 20, 80 and 160 MHz.)

If you are in a congested environment - lots of neighbors using WiFi or you yourself have multiple WAPs - then there isn’t a lot of point using 40 MHz channels on the 2.4 GHz band. So you aren’t losing much by limiting your access point to using 20 MHz channels.

It is also possible that the WiFi card in the L5 is capable of using a 40 MHz channel on the 2.4 GHz band but the settings from the host aren’t right for that at the moment. Needs more investigation …

In case someone wants to try the newer driver, you can install the deb from CI artifacts at https://source.puri.sm/sebastian.krzyszkowiak/linux-next/-/commits/rsi-2.0.0.0024/ and see whether it improves things (for reference, this is MR 258, just rebased on top of latest commits).

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I also had big problems with unstable WiFi but changing the router (TP-link C7) setting to 20MHz (from auto) made it stable. But Librem5 is not the only device with this problem. We had to change bandwidth to 20 MHz for several other connections.

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