PC Connects to Wi-Fi, But Only Has Internet Over Ethernet
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Cyba.Cowboy Oct 12
My System Info

Linux Distribution: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS
Desktop Environment: GNOME 42.9
Graphics Card: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2)
GPU Driver Version: i915

Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

If this is not Steam, you can still give us a system readout using inxi with "inxi -SbCGxx" in terminal (please put that into Pastebin/Gist as linked above!):
https://pastebin.com/mWak7k60

You can note your issue below here

My second computer, a Sony VAIO Tap 20 SVJ20215CB "sees" and connects to our Wi-Fi network, but it doesn't actually have Internet connectivity. No other device in our household, including other Linux-based laptops, have this issue. This particular computer also has perfect connectivity (i.e. no issues) when connected ti my modem / router by ethernet.

I thought it was something related to the modem / router I was previously using, but I just changed to Starlink and it is the same issue with the new modem / router. Again, no other device in the household, including other Linux-based laptops, have issues, suggesting the problem is unique to this computer.

Obviously I can leave it connected by ethernet, and that is my "Plan B", but it would not be ideal.

Any ideas?
This topic has an answer marked - jump to answer.
LoudTechie Oct 12
Quoting: Cyba.CowboyMy System Info

Linux Distribution: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS
Desktop Environment: GNOME 42.9
Graphics Card: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2)
GPU Driver Version: i915

Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

If this is not Steam, you can still give us a system readout using inxi with "inxi -SbCGxx" in terminal (please put that into Pastebin/Gist as linked above!):
https://pastebin.com/mWak7k60

You can note your issue below here

My second computer, a Sony VAIO Tap 20 SVJ20215CB "sees" and connects to our Wi-Fi network, but it doesn't actually have Internet connectivity. No other device in our household, including other Linux-based laptops, have this issue. This particular computer also has perfect connectivity (i.e. no issues) when connected ti my modem / router by ethernet.

I thought it was something related to the modem / router I was previously using, but I just changed to Starlink and it is the same issue with the new modem / router. Again, no other device in the household, including other Linux-based laptops, have issues, suggesting the problem is unique to this computer.

Obviously I can leave it connected by ethernet, and that is my "Plan B", but it would not be ideal.

Any ideas?

Try updating your wifi card driver separately.

Edit:
how to do that:
lspci -vq
look for the one with wireless in the name
post the name and kernel-module here
sudo apt install -only-module [kernel-module]

Last edited by LoudTechie on 12 October 2024 at 4:04 pm UTC
whizse Oct 12
Output of ip addr and ip route might be helpful.
Caldathras Oct 12
Quoting: Cyba.CowboyMy second computer, a Sony VAIO Tap 20 SVJ20215CB "sees" and connects to our Wi-Fi network, but it doesn't actually have Internet connectivity. No other device in our household, including other Linux-based laptops, have this issue. This particular computer also has perfect connectivity (i.e. no issues) when connected ti my modem / router by ethernet.
Could be poor driver support for your Wi-Fi chipset.

I have this problem with my Lenovo ThinkPad T440p laptop as well. Like you, the Internet is rock-solid on Ethernet but completely unreliable/unstable on Wi-Fi. I traced the problem to poor driver support for the Intel Wireless-N 7260 chipset.

This problem was present regardless of the distro. I'm currently on Pop!_OS like you. Prior to that, I was on Manjaro. Interestingly enough, Manjaro seemed to have stabilized the driver over time but, initially, the Wi-Fi was just as unstable as on Pop!_OS. Ironically, the Wi-Fi driver is rock-solid in Windows 10.

Unfortunately, I never did resolve the issue in Pop!_OS. The problem with the Intel Wireless-N 7260 Linux driver is a notorious one all over the web. I gave up and I just use the Ethernet connection instead.

Edit: Verified chipset model.

Last edited by Caldathras on 12 October 2024 at 5:33 pm UTC
Cyba.Cowboy Oct 13
Quoting: whizseOutput of ip addr and ip route might be helpful.

ip addr:
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: enp3s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 54:53:ed:bb:3d:e6 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 0c:d2:92:3d:62:7e brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.1.24/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlp1s0
       valid_lft 3404sec preferred_lft 3404sec
    inet6 fd9a:2aa7:35e2:10:5ebd:35bf:dad2:43ad/64 scope global temporary dynamic 
       valid_lft 604624sec preferred_lft 86193sec
    inet6 fd9a:2aa7:35e2:10:ecc9:f75:b293:7ba6/64 scope global mngtmpaddr noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 2406:2d40:444f:f910:42b8:e06f:8a22:306d/64 scope global temporary dynamic 
       valid_lft 218sec preferred_lft 68sec
    inet6 2406:2d40:444f:f910:a9a:ff7c:b60:5798/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute 
       valid_lft 218sec preferred_lft 68sec
    inet6 fe80::7916:2ad1:bc6f:b5e8/64 scope link noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever


ip route:
default via 192.168.1.1 dev wlp1s0 proto dhcp metric 600 
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlp1s0 scope link metric 1000 
192.168.1.0/24 dev wlp1s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.24 metric 600



Quoting: CaldathrasCould be poor driver support for your Wi-Fi chipset.

I have this problem with my Lenovo ThinkPad T440p laptop as well. Like you, the Internet is rock-solid on Ethernet but completely unreliable/unstable on Wi-Fi. I traced the problem to poor driver support for the Intel Wireless-N 7260 chipset.

This computer has the Centrino Wireless-N 135 (rev c4) chipset... I always thought Intel generally had pretty good hardware support under Linux-based operating systems, but your theory is certainly plausible.

I might have to see if anybody else is complaining about this particular chipset online...

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 13 October 2024 at 8:28 am UTC
Valck Oct 13
Quoting: Cyba.Cowboyip addr:
2: enp3s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff


2: enp3s0: […] state DOWN
doesn't look like it's using the wire at all. Have you tried with the ethernet cable unplugged?


I may be wrong, I'm certainly rusty ;) wrt the OSI layer model, but I seem to recall "link/ether" refers to the link layer using MAC addresses, which are what IEEE802.11 aka. WiFi uses as well.
whereas wlp1s0: […] state UP  ff. certainly looks like it has connectivity and routing over the wireless adapter.

I'd maybe look into the significance of "noprefixroute", that'sdisregard
what it looks to me at first glance is some routing/DHCP or maybe DNS misconfiguration?

Last edited by Valck on 13 October 2024 at 10:56 am UTC
Valck Oct 13
You could try
$ traceroute www.gamingonlinux.com
and
$ traceroute6 www.gamingonlinux.com
to see where the route ends, as a first indicator.

...and I can't help but notice how forums – with their latency on the order of avian IP – aren't really suited for this kind of troubleshooting :)
Cyba.Cowboy Oct 13
Quoting: Valckdoesn't look like it's using the wire at all. Have you tried with the ethernet cable unplugged?

The ethernet cable is unplugged, to demonstrate that it is connected to my wireless network, but that the Internet connectivity is not working... As I said, everything works fine when the ethernet cable is connected; but when it is disconnected and I am using Wi-Fi, I have no internet connectivity.

This computer claims that it is connected to my wireless network and my modem / router can "see" this computer, but I have no Internet connectivity on this computer unless there is an ethernet cable connected.


Quoting: Valckwhat it looks to me at first glance is some routing/DHCP or maybe DNS misconfiguration?

This is a relatively fresh installation of Pop!_OS and I've not changed any of the networking settings, besides connecting to different wireless networks... So maybe something has corrupted these settings?

How would I fix routing / DHCP issues, or correct a DNS misconfiguration?
Valck Oct 13
Quoting: Cyba.CowboyHow would I fix routing / DHCP issues, or correct a DNS misconfiguration?
Can of worms, and I'm really not that up to speed. Anytimi I'm confronted with that kind of problem on my end, I have to go and RTFM myself, and locate again all the places where information could hide itself...
As I said, I'd first try to find out how far along the way the connection ends as a first indicator; if it's not even reaching your router/modem, or if it can't find a route beyond that. "ping" and "traceroute", along with a good deep look into the /etc directory tree maybe. Ideally get someone who knows at least a bit about networking to look over your shoulder...
I might remember a thing or two when I actually see it in front of me, but off the top of my hat, over a high-latency communication... chances are slim at best, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Try "ping"-ing the IP address of your router first, ie. $ ping -c1 192.168.1.1; the -c1 is to "send one ping only"... even if it might not matter much on your own local net, it's good practice to do your best to avoid flooding other people's networks by accident. As long as it's an 192.168.x.y address, you're on the safe side. Everything else, be as polite as possible (I hope Liam can forgive my using his site in the traceroute example above...)
From there, you can try more remote locations, but the issue is most likely either on your machine, or on the router/modem anyway.
whizse Oct 13
If you can reach the router using the ping example above, you might also try:
ping 1.1.1.1
It's a Cloudflare server, if that works you are technically connected to the internet.

For DNS, you can check nameservers with cat /etc/resolv.conf  and compare it with the wired connection.

That file is autogenerated, so you can't just edit the file. I'm not clear on what Pop uses for DNS (systemd-resolved?) or even general network setup.
Cyba.Cowboy Oct 13
Quoting: ValckTry "ping"-ing the IP address of your router first, ie.

All I got was:
PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.1.24 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable

--- 192.168.1.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 received, +1 errors, 100% packet loss, time 0ms

That means it's not even receiving a response from the modem / router, right?

How does that work, when my modem / router can "see" the computer connected in the Starlink app (Starlink manage their modem / router exclusively via an app, rather than via a Web-based interface)?

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 13 October 2024 at 2:45 pm UTC
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