ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-26 19:59:13

This is an issue I've had on my previous arch install for several months. I just did a clean reinstall for unrelated issues, and see that it's still present.

NetworkManager connects to a network just fine, and I can use it for a pretty long period of time sometimes, (sometimes hours or days before I have this issue), but eventually I become unable to access the internet. nm-applet reports that I am still connected to the network, and nmcli's output indicates that I am connected with full connectivity. If I try to ping google or any other website, it simply times out with a "Name or Service not known" error.

I think I may have noticed that the problem occurs more frequently when the signal strength is lower, but obviously this is rather hard to replicate and test, so that's just a hunch.

Disconnecting from the network and reconnecting fixes the issue, which is perhaps one reason it's taken me so long to get around to fixing it...

Has anyone experienced this issue before? Where should I look to find the most relevant logs? I'm reasonably certain this machine is using intel graphics, but I can double-check to confirm this if anyone can suggest where to do so. Thanks in advance!

jasonwryan · 2016-08-26 20:55:02

Card? Driver? What in the journal when it happens?

Moving to NC...

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-26 21:16:03

Looked up what I think would be the answers to those questions, but let me know if I'm reading the wrong thing or something.

From lspci -k:

03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7265 (rev 59)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
        Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
        Kernel modules: iwlwifi

From dmesg | grep firmware:

[    3.956441] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 21.302800.0 op_mode iwlmvm

Here is a pastebin of the output of journalctl -u NetworkManager > journal.txt (I assume this is what you wanted, please correct me otherwise.):
http://pastebin.com/dgJE6GA5

Unfortunately that pastebin is a little long, and there was a point after I had the issue and reconnected to the network that I ran powertop --calibrate for unrelated reasons, so unfortunately there's a decent bit of random turning off and on of my wifi card. The next time I experience the issue I will try to update with a more concise, relevant journal log.

jasonwryan · 2016-08-26 21:43:44

You really just want the section of the journal immediately after the performance degrades.

Stebalien · 2016-08-26 21:47:18

I've noticed the same thing on my X220 (different firmware but still iwlwifi). It may not be related but, next time you disconnect, try running

ip route

and see if you have a default route (or any) listed. For me, the routes seem to just disappear. Unfortunately, I don't know *why* this happens.

Last edited by Stebalien (2016-08-26 21:47:33)

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-27 03:57:11

It just happened a couple minutes ago, here's the relevant bit from the journal

I made the paste as soon as I disconnected and reconnected, but I'm not certain at what point the issue actually occurred. I erred on the side of caution though, and went more than an hour back, so hopefully it should be in there. If you want me to include more, I will of course.

EDIT: Crud, I forgot to run ip route. Will do so the next time the issue occurs.

Last edited by TheGuyWithTheFace (2016-08-27 03:57:46)

jasonwryan · 2016-08-27 04:34:14

Aug 26 23:40:33 ThinkPadX NetworkManager[284]: <info>  [1472269233.5915] device (wlp3s0): state change: activated -> deactivating (reason 'user-requested') [100 110 39]
Aug 26 23:40:33 ThinkPadX NetworkManager[284]: <info>  [1472269233.5919] manager: NetworkManager state is now DISCONNECTING
Aug 26 23:40:33 ThinkPadX NetworkManager[284]: <info>  [1472269233.5926] audit: op="device-disconnect" interface="wlp3s0" ifindex=2 pid=558 uid=1000 result="success"
Aug 26 23:40:33 ThinkPadX NetworkManager[284]: <info>  [1472269233.5930] device (wlp3s0): state change: deactivating -> disconnected (reason 'user-requested') [110 30 39]
Aug 26 23:40:33 ThinkPadX NetworkManager[284]: <info>  [1472269233.5933] dhcp4 (wlp3s0): canceled DHCP transaction

Are you running some sort of power management? TLP?

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-27 04:43:29

No. I'm planning on setting up TLP and/or powertop at some point, but haven't gotten around to it yet. As far as I can recall, I haven't set up any kind of powersaving yet, aside from whatever is turned on by default.

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-27 17:00:47

It happened again, here is the output from ip route after it happened:

default via 192.168.1.1 dev wlp3s0  proto static  metric 600
192.168.1.0/24 dev wlp3s0  proto kernel  scope link  src 192.168.1.136  metric 600

Stebalien · 2016-08-28 03:27:14

Damn. Different problem. Good luck.

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-08-29 16:38:27

If I wanted to check my power saving settings somewhere, where would be the best place for that? Like I said, I haven't done any specific tweaking yet, but maybe there's still something going on there?

TheGuyWithTheFace · 2016-09-07 16:55:55

I'm still having the problem, but here are a few observations I've made since getting a new router (for unrelated reasons):

1. I seem to only have the issue when I'm on a network operating on 2GHz.

2. The issue seems to occur more frequently when the signal is weaker (that is, when I'm further away from the router).

These may only be coincidences, since the issue is a little unpredictable and I'm unable to replicate it on demand, but I was on a 5GHz network for several days with no issue, then switched to 2GHz and immediately lost internet access.

Last edited by TheGuyWithTheFace (2016-09-07 17:37:02)

Arch Linux

#1 2016-08-26 19:59:13

ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#2 2016-08-26 20:55:02

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#3 2016-08-26 21:16:03

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#4 2016-08-26 21:43:44

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#5 2016-08-26 21:47:18

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#6 2016-08-27 03:57:11

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#7 2016-08-27 04:34:14

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#8 2016-08-27 04:43:29

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#9 2016-08-27 17:00:47

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#10 2016-08-28 03:27:14

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#11 2016-08-29 16:38:27

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

#12 2016-09-07 16:55:55

Re: ThinkPad X250 intermittently dropping internet connection

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