WiFi connected but no page is loading

[jr91]

Hi,

I have been using debian for a while, but came across this issue... Basically, my debian (10) will not load any page, but is connected to the wifi network. The funny thing is, it is the only distro I have been using, that is unable to perform this basic task. All other distros on my laptop had no issue with that, all other devices connected to this network work perfect. My debian work on every other wifi network I have connected to with no problems, apart from this one. I have tried to change the DHCP to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 under IPv4 settings, I have also tried adding namesrevers to the resolve.conf, however after the NetworkManager restart, the resolve.conf file does not show edited nameservers. I believe it must be getting overwritten by the service..... Any ideas guys ? It is also worth mentioning, that I have never had to reconfigure anything in any devices that use this network, nor I had to configure the router.....

[coppolino97]

Hi,
Can you check if DHCP server is working properly?
Did you get an IP address from your DHCP server (it could be the wireless router that you have at home)?

Regards

[jr91]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the router's DHCP is working ok... I get an IP, everything seems to be fine. In fact,the connection works sometimes (for lets say a minute) then gets really slow, actually it show as connected (no disruption in IP address) , but the pages won't load.... there is another identical laptop in my household, running windows and it works just perfect on that wifi... wondering, if I should replace Debian's NetworkManager with something else - let's say IWCtl and get rid of wpa_suplicant..... Another thing that makes me wonder , looking at systmectl.... :

● NetworkManager-wait-online.service loaded failed failed Network Manager Wait Online

[steve_v]

I have also tried adding namesrevers to the resolve.conf, however after the NetworkManager restart, the resolve.conf file does not show edited nameservers. I believe it must be getting overwritten by the service.

Yeah, NetworkMangler will do that for you. It's a "feature". IIRC there's a way to specify nameservers in your NM config instead, but I haven't used it in a while. GIYF.

wondering, if I should replace Debian's NetworkManager with something else - let's say IWCtl and get rid of wpa_suplicant..... Another thing that makes me wonder , looking at systmectl.... :

Or you could use the tools at your disposal (ping, nslookup, route, traceroute, a real ethernet cable etc.) to find out what's actually wrong, rather than randomly replacing parts on a hunch... Just a suggestion.

[jr91]

Or you could use the tools at your disposal (ping, nslookup, route, traceroute, a real ethernet cable etc.) to find out what's actually wrong, rather than randomly replacing parts on a hunch... Just a suggestion.

I have... can ping the router ok, but nothing else... non local or public IPs.... it literally looks like a bad signal in your mobile phone.... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. Mostly does not.... and I mean, it will work for a short period of time ,then it stops... worth mentioning, I remain connected to the network. The page just wont load, or in other words , no IP is accessible for a while.

Have not tried the cable yet... but the routers placement makes it really awkward to use a cable....

[arzgi]

I use wpa_supplicant, has worked flawless so no need to change. Network manager makes things too complicated, for me at least.

Open terminal, and try:

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~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Dynamic resolv.conf(5) file for glibc resolver(3) generated by resolvconf(8)
#     DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND -- YOUR CHANGES WILL BE OVERWRITTEN
nameserver 192.168.1.1

192.168.1.1 is my router, works as dhcp server and nameserver too.

And still in terminal

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 ~$ ip route show
default via 192.168.1.1 dev wifi1 onlink 
192.168.1.0/24 dev wifi1 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.29 

And that it works a while, then not, would indicate your wifi goes to sleep mode.

As root or with sudo:

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:~$ sudo rfkill
[sudo] salasana henkilölle arto: 
ID TYPE DEVICE             SOFT      HARD
 0 wlan phy0          unblocked unblocked
 1 wlan acer-wireless unblocked unblocked
 2 wlan phy1          unblocked unblocked

[jr91]

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jr91@Luke-deb:~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
# Generated by NetworkManager
nameserver 192.168.8.1
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

I have managed to add the nameservers eventually - should not cause any issues....

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jr91@Luke-deb:~$ ip route show
default via 192.168.8.1 dev wlp2s0 proto dhcp metric 600 
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlp2s0 scope link metric 1000 
172.16.16.0/24 dev vmnet1 proto kernel scope link src 172.16.16.1 
192.168.8.0/24 dev vmnet8 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.8.1 
192.168.8.0/24 dev wlp2s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.8.182 metric 600 

vmnet are obsiously the VMs. Not running currently....

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jr91@Luke-deb:~$ sudo rfkill
ID TYPE      DEVICE                 SOFT      HARD
 0 bluetooth Toshiba Bluetooth unblocked unblocked
 1 bluetooth hci0              unblocked unblocked
 2 wlan      phy0              unblocked unblocked

[arzgi]

More moving parts vms Well seems ok if those vmnets are excluded. To me network manager has been only trouble, so I nowadays don't even install it when I install Debian. Obviously can not speak of it, as I don't know it better. Sorry, can't help further.

[jr91]

No problem, thanks a lot. What do use instead of Network Manager? I am eager to try something else.... kind of loads of tools to choose from... maybe its time to experiment ...

[mm3100]

You can use iwd instead of wpa_supplicant. I found iwd as network manager replacement rather doable, since iwd has interactive mode it is easy to set it up.

On the other hand you can use iwd as backend for network manager as well. You might have more luck with it, I had some issues with wpa_supplicant.

As for now, iwd is currently in Buster only as a technical preview, but under Bullseye it is working rather fine.

[arzgi]

There are also many frontends to wpa_supplicant. I agree iwd will replace it in the long run. but in buster I think wpa_supplicant is the most simple to set up.

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# /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
network={
	ssid="ssid of your wifi"
	psk="password of your wifi"
}

wpa_supplicant.conf must be only *root readable. Don't need anything else, maybe firmware for your wifi.

EDIT:
clarifation for *

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$ ls -l /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf 
-r-------- 1 root root 168 kesä   20 18:30 /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

[jr91]

Ok guys, I have experimented .... so, everything is working great now. What I had done was upgrading to BullsEye (debian 11) with a hope, that maybe that will solve my problem.

Well, it did not.

So, I got rid of wpa_supplicant and NetworkManager (both disabled via systemctl) and installed iwd alngo with IWCtl .... the configuration is very easy and it works flawlessly now. Thank you all for help. Hope this thread will serve someone else.

===== UPDATE ======

Sorry guys, it worked ok for about an hour.... until I ran a VM machine with Kali linux installed on it... the exact issue reproduced and is now driving me crazy. The connection remains established, but after a while - a minute or less, that is without running the VM and after the reboot, it wont ping any IP , including 1.1.1.1 until I

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 service iwd restart 

..... then it works for a while again and the problem replicates......

[sunrat]

Did you investigate whether your device is going into power saving mode as was mentioned above?

[jr91]

Did you investigate whether your device is going into power saving mode as was mentioned above?

Yes - that's when I can't ping any IP's

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jr91@Luke-deb:~$ sudo rfkill
ID TYPE      DEVICE                 SOFT      HARD
 0 bluetooth Toshiba Bluetooth unblocked unblocked
 1 wlan      phy0              unblocked unblocked
 2 bluetooth hci0              unblocked unblocked

[jr91]

Also please note, that if I switch to a different WiFi - for example my mobile's HotSpot, the connection remains settled and sound.... No issues at all.... also, all other devices connected to the debian-giving-problems WiFi network work just perfect.....

[jr91]

Another funny update.... I started a download of a 4GB file , using the Opera (my default browser)... the file downloaded with no interruptions, however, during the download, Opera would not open any website - reported "NO INTERNET CONNECTION" error..... I also could not ping any IP's (external), like 8.8.8.8..... Any suggestion guys? I become powerless

[arzgi]

Another funny update.... I started a download of a 4GB file , using the Opera (my default browser)... the file downloaded with no interruptions, however, during the download, Opera would not open any website - reported "NO INTERNET CONNECTION" error..... I also could not ping any IP's (external), like 8.8.8.8..... Any suggestion guys? I become powerless

The router's wifi might be dying. Has happened for me many times, router works, but wifi is unstable, and soon can't connect at all over wifi.

I purchased a wireless router, which I connect to router, and disabled wifi on the router.

[jr91]

Guys, got it sorted.... one of the VM's configured while connected to a different network was causing an IP clash on this particular network.... Editing few lines in the VMware network config file solved the issue

Thank you all for help ..... I believe I will stay with iwd alng with IWCtl , as it works a lot smoother then wpa_supplicant along with NetworkMnager. Just a thought. ....

Cheers!