Wifi internet connection cuts out -often after a few minutes

[darkcity]

New install of Debian 10 Buster.

I'm using a USB dongle (RealTek) to connect to wifi, I installed non-free drivers for the device.

Wifi internet connection cuts out - often after a few minutes. Connection works on boot up but then is lost. The only way I can find to make it work again is to reboot.

Any idea how to diagnose the problem?

The command 'ifconfig' isn't present, 'ip' is.

Problem may have developed after installing wget and opera.

Thanks in advance.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I'm using a USB dongle (RealTek) to connect to wifi, I installed non-free drivers for the device.

Please be more specific. The kernel already includes drivers for most RealTek devices but if the official Debian ISO images are used to install then the device firmware will be missing.

Otherwise see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ne ... ss#Realtek for some suggestions.

[darkcity]

Thanks for the reply. I install Debian XFCE via usb stick graphical installer. Then I installed firmware-realtek from https://packages.debian.org/buster/firmware-realtek

The device is rtl8168, and I believe the driver being used is:

rtl8168g-2.fw

[stevepusser]

The Realtek 8168 is a wired Ethernet NIC.

We need the actual wi-fi device chipset. Try lsusb if it doesn't show up in lspci.

Your kind of connection dropouts can often be fixed by turning off automatic power saving for the driver in a .conf file, and you'll have to create one depending on what driver your device is really using.

[sunrat]

The device is rtl8168, and I believe the driver being used is:

rtl8168g-2.fw

That's the firmware, not the driver. Driver is probably rtl8168 but you can confirm with lspci -k .

[stevepusser]

From the first post:

'm using a USB dongle (RealTek) to connect to wifi,

They must use

Code: Select all

 lsusb -k

, since that will help show the kernel module in use.

[darkcity]

Thanks for the replies

I think the device is acutally RTL8188, but will double check next time I'm on the machine. I will also lsusb -k (or and lspci -k) for full details.

- - -

Actually, changing the wifi mode, in nm-connection-editor, from 'client' to 'hotspot' seems to have helped.

[darkcity]

Hi, Still having intermittent problems with Mobile Wifi -> USB Wifi Dongle. More so than I'd expect, and also more than on another Linux box with same setup, apart from that box having built-in wifi hardware.

So I have more infos to try to help solve the problem.

Edit from lsusb -v

Code: Select all

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:8171 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8188SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0bda Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
  idProduct          0x8171 RTL8188SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
  bcdDevice            2.00
  iManufacturer           1 
  iProduct                2 
  iSerial                 3 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x002e
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           4
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 Vendor Specific Protocol
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x04  EP 4 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x06  EP 6 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x0d  EP 13 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0

From lsusb -t

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/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 5000M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/6p, 480M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/10p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
    |__ Port 5: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Vendor Specific Class, Driver=r8712u, 480M
    |__ Port 9: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M

Edit from usb-devices

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T:  Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=04 Cnt=02 Dev#=  3 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=0bda ProdID=8171 Rev=02.00
S:  Manufacturer=Manufacturer Realtek 
S:  Product=RTL8188S WLAN Adapter 
S:  SerialNumber=00e04c000001
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=500mA
I:  If#=0x0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 4 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=ff Prot=ff Driver=r8712u

I'm guessing RTL8188SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter is Device 3 and is using Driver=r8712u, which may not be quite right.

thanks

[Head_on_a_Stick]

That is the correct driver. Try the fwlps=0 module option.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ke ... le_options