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#1 2016-04-24 12:02:03

drmr
Member
Registered: 2016-04-24
Posts: 12

WiFi randomly stops working

I'm not sure how to even begin figuring this out, so please bear with me. I hope this is the right place to ask. For a while now, my WiFi connection would randomly stop working. It would look like I'm still connected, but requests just don't get a response. Ping freezes, websites load forever or until time-out, and the only way to make it work again is with a netctl restart. Sometimes it happens frequently, sometimes not. I'm not sure what the cause of this could be, where to start looking, what to Google, etc.

Some (maybe?) pertinent info:

  • When it stops working, dumpcap shows nothing but me sending constant ARP requests.

  • The only network I tried this with is eduroam, which has it's own issues, so it may be related. I can't test anything else.

  • I use netctl only to connect. Profile looks like this:

    Description='Automatically generated profile by wifi-menu'
    Interface=wlp3s0b1
    #Interface=wlp0s20u2
    Connection=wireless
    Security=wpa-configsection
    IP=dhcp
    WPAConfigSection=(
    	'ssid="eduroam"'
    	'key_mgmt=WPA-EAP'
    	'proto=RSN WPA'
    	'auth_alg=OPEN'
    	'eap=PEAP'
    	'phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"'
    	'identity="*****"'
    	'password="*****"'
    	'ca_cert="/etc/ssl/certs/NetworkSupportRootCA-cacert.cer"'
    )
  • I also have TimeoutDHCP=40 in /etc/netctl/hooks/timeout because otherwise I can't connect because it takes too long.

  • iwconfig says power management is off:

    ~ » iwconfig wlp3s0b1 
    wlp3s0b1  IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"eduroam"  
              Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 5C:83:8F:26:9F:20   
              Bit Rate=24 Mb/s   Tx-Power=1 dBm   
              Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
              Power Management:off
              Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=0 dBm  
              Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
              Tx excessive retries:37  Invalid misc:231   Missed beacon:0
  • Chipset info (this is a 2012 MacBook Pro; Wifi issues are not uncommon):

    ~ » sudo lspci -vv | grep -A 44 -i network
    03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 02)
    	Subsystem: Broadcom Corporation BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n
    	Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
    	Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
    	Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 256 bytes
    	Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
    	Region 0: Memory at c1a00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
    	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
    		Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
    		Status: D0 NoSoftRst+ PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=2 PME-
    	Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
    	Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
    		Address: 0000000000000000  Data: 0000
    	Capabilities: [d0] Express (v1) Endpoint, MSI 00
    		DevCap:	MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <4us, L1 unlimited
    			ExtTag+ AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE+ FLReset-
    		DevCtl:	Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
    			RlxdOrd- ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-
    			MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes
    		DevSta:	CorrErr+ UncorrErr- FatalErr- UnsuppReq+ AuxPwr+ TransPend-
    		LnkCap:	Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <32us
    			ClockPM+ Surprise- LLActRep+ BwNot- ASPMOptComp-
    		LnkCtl:	ASPM L0s L1 Enabled; RCB 64 bytes Disabled- CommClk+
    			ExtSynch- ClockPM+ AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-
    		LnkSta:	Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive+ BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
    	Capabilities: [100 v1] Advanced Error Reporting
    		UESta:	DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
    		UEMsk:	DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
    		UESvrt:	DLP+ SDES- TLP- FCP+ CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF+ MalfTLP+ ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-
    		CESta:	RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr+
    		CEMsk:	RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr+
    		AERCap:	First Error Pointer: 14, GenCap+ CGenEn- ChkCap+ ChkEn-
    	Capabilities: [13c v1] Virtual Channel
    		Caps:	LPEVC=0 RefClk=100ns PATEntryBits=1
    		Arb:	Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128-
    		Ctrl:	ArbSelect=Fixed
    		Status:	InProgress-
    		VC0:	Caps:	PATOffset=00 MaxTimeSlots=1 RejSnoopTrans-
    			Arb:	Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128- TWRR128- WRR256-
    			Ctrl:	Enable+ ID=0 ArbSelect=Fixed TC/VC=ff
    			Status:	NegoPending- InProgress-
    	Capabilities: [160 v1] Device Serial Number 00-00-00-ff-ff-00-00-00
    	Capabilities: [16c v1] Power Budgeting <?>
    	Kernel driver in use: bcma-pci-bridge
    	Kernel modules: bcma

Happy to provide any and all info that may be of use. Any help at all would be much appreciated!

Last edited by drmr (2016-04-24 12:08:15)

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#2 2016-04-24 14:52:50

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,791

Re: WiFi randomly stops working

You did not enable dhcpcd or wpa_supplicant services using systemctl, did you?


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

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#3 2016-04-24 14:58:39

drmr
Member
Registered: 2016-04-24
Posts: 12

Re: WiFi randomly stops working

Nope, both disabled. I remember I had issues connecting to begin with when I was messing with those (and also netctl-auto) but now just netctl.

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#4 2016-04-24 18:21:37

nartes
Member
From: Minsk, Belarus
Registered: 2014-07-05
Posts: 62
Website

Re: WiFi randomly stops working

Hi, drmr. Please provide the following logs to make whole picture.

1. system log for a period at least few hours unless it is impossible

journalctl -S -2h > system.log
gist system.log // optional, provide link to file on gist.github.com

2. ping log (take it during connection problems)

ping -v google.com > ping.log

3. provide kernel version, network stack package's versions (netctl, wifi driver that in use, etc.)
4. describe severity of a bug and time period you are experiencing it

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#5 2016-04-25 07:28:47

xvzf
Member
Registered: 2014-05-18
Posts: 86

Re: WiFi randomly stops working

Hi there - is it only in this wifi network?

I have the same problems connecting to eduroam at university - my connection breaks down after 5-30 minutes.
I'm using a MacBook Air 2k12. A USB wifi dongle fixed it. It seems the driver for the integrated card isn't that great.

Cheers

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#6 2016-09-14 16:25:18

drmr
Member
Registered: 2016-04-24
Posts: 12

Re: WiFi randomly stops working

To anybody experiencing this, I think xvzf is correct in saying that it is a driver issue.  When I changed from broadcom-wl to b43, the problem lessened. Now it's sort of back after some updates. Maybe more pertinent info, shortly after the connection goes, systemd journal shows:

Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac dhcpcd[8388]: wlp3s0b1: carrier lost
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: deauthenticated from 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (Reason: 7=CLASS3_FRAME_FROM_NONASSOC_STA)
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac dnsmasq[19399]: no servers found in /etc/resolv.conf, will retry
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac dhcpcd[8388]: wlp3s0b1: deleting route to 192.168.1.0/24
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac dhcpcd[8388]: wlp3s0b1: deleting default route via 192.168.1.1
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authenticate with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 1/3)
Sep 14 17:21:06 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 2/3)
Sep 14 17:21:07 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 3/3)
Sep 14 17:21:07 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authentication with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 timed out
Sep 14 17:21:09 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authenticate with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68
Sep 14 17:21:09 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 1/3)
Sep 14 17:21:09 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 2/3)
Sep 14 17:21:09 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 3/3)
Sep 14 17:21:09 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authentication with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 timed out
Sep 14 17:21:12 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authenticate with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68
Sep 14 17:21:12 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 1/3)
Sep 14 17:21:12 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 2/3)
Sep 14 17:21:12 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 3/3)
Sep 14 17:21:12 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authentication with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 timed out
Sep 14 17:21:23 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authenticate with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68
Sep 14 17:21:23 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 1/3)
Sep 14 17:21:23 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 2/3)
Sep 14 17:21:23 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 3/3)
Sep 14 17:21:23 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authentication with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 timed out
Sep 14 17:21:48 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authenticate with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68
Sep 14 17:21:48 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 1/3)
Sep 14 17:21:48 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 2/3)
Sep 14 17:21:48 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: send auth to 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 (try 3/3)
Sep 14 17:21:48 amarmac kernel: wlp3s0b1: authentication with 84:80:2d:42:dd:68 timed out
...

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