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Internet Does Not Work Over Wi-Fi (Ethernet Fine)
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Cyba.Cowboy Mar 16, 2022
My System Info
Linux Distribution: Pop!_OS 21.10
Desktop Environment: GNOME 40.4.0
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2)
GPU Driver Version: 09

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/M9j2ybi6

You can note your issue below here
My computer can successfully connect to my Wi-Fi (wireless) network using the correct password, but when I try to access anything online (websites, updates, etc...), I am told that the computer cannot connect to the Internet.

This issue occurs even when within one meter (3.2 feet) of my modem / router.

No other devices have connectivity issues with this particular Wi-Fi (wireless) network, even devices physically further away and / or devices close to things that will likely cause interference.

This issue does not occur when connecting via ethernet (physical connection).

This issue is intermittent when using my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max as a "hotspot"; though it generally leans towards being unable to connect to the Internet (probably 99% of the time). My cellular network has ample 4G / LTE coverage in the area, and limited 5G NR coverage (besides, here in Australia, our cellular network is far superior to our fixed broadband network - which is why my wife and children primarily use that for all of their Internet connections at home!).

I do not have my VPN running (it's not even logged-in yet, because I am not able to go online), and this issue persists regardless of whether my firewall (ufw) is activated or not.

With the exception of my VPN - which is installed, but has not been configured, is not logged-in and has never been used on this particular computer - this is a "clean" system (i.e. it just had a "fresh" installation of Pop!_OS)... All of the available updates or upgrades for a "fresh" installation of Pop!_OS have been installed at the time of writing.

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 17 March 2022 at 11:00 am UTC
damarrin Mar 16, 2022
nvm.

Can you try with a different wifi card?

Also, with the card you already have, have you looked at the system log for any errors related to wifi? Especially firmware errors?

Last edited by damarrin on 16 March 2022 at 10:17 am UTC
Cyba.Cowboy Mar 16, 2022
Quoting: damarrinCan you try with a different wifi card?

It's one of those stupid "all in one" things. It seemed like a good idea at the time. 🤦‍♂️

From memory, I think the Wi-Fi card might be a RAM-like "plug-in" module though... Not designed to be replaceable or anything like that, but accessible (the guts of this computer is basically the same as a laptop, slapped onto the back of a giant touchscreen, complete with a battery); so I'll check the seating of the Wi-Fi module in the morning.

I honestly don't think that will be the problem though, because this computer maintains a consistent - and strong - connection to my Wi-Fi network... It just can't connect to the Internet itself.

Were the Wi-Fi module itself the issue, I would expect to see a weak Wi-Fi signal or more likely, complete loss of signal. That's not the case here.

But it never hurts to check, just to rule it out...


Quoting: damarrinAlso, with the card you already have, have you looked at the system log for any errors related to wifi? Especially firmware errors?

This is a good idea, but in what directory do I actually find the system log? I'm not using the affected computer at the moment, but I can see an awful lot of logs on my "primary" computer, so I imagine it will be the same on the affected computer...

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 16 March 2022 at 12:36 pm UTC
whizse Mar 16, 2022
A couple of things from the top of my head:

* I don't think the card would be enabled or connect if firmware wasn't loaded. But I could be wrong. There's usually messages in dmesg (the kernel log) for firmware.

* There are some odd issues with iwlwifi and a few options to try:
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Iwlwifi#No_internet_connection

* if the VPN stuff is something not bundled with your distro I guess it's possible for it to screw something up by just being installed, but probably unlikely.

* You don't have to remove/replace the built-in WiFi card. Trying a WiFi USB dongle would help to figure out if the problem is with the iwlwifi driver/hardware or something else. Another option is to try a live USB of another distro to rule out broken hardware.
whizse Mar 16, 2022
An example from my laptop with firmware successfully loading:

dmesg | grep -i iwl
[Wed Mar 16 14:56:54 2022] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[Wed Mar 16 14:56:54 2022] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware iwlwifi-8000C-36.ucode
[Wed Mar 16 14:56:54 2022] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: loaded firmware version 36.ad812ee0.0 8000C-36.ucode op_mode iwlmvm


For network logs something like
sudo journalctl -f -u NetworkManager  before connecting to the router should hopefully give some clues. (Assuming PopOS uses NetworkManager?)

Also, checking and comparing network settings between the wired and the wifi, using something like ip route might be useful.


Last edited by whizse on 16 March 2022 at 2:19 pm UTC
damarrin Mar 16, 2022
There's also the question of various firmware versions for a given card and some of them working and some not.

I'm not saying you should replace the built-in card, just connect one through USB if you can and see if there's connectivity then.
Cyba.Cowboy Mar 17, 2022
Quoting: whizse* You don't have to remove/replace the built-in WiFi card. Trying a WiFi USB dongle would help to figure out if the problem is with the iwlwifi driver/hardware or something else. Another option is to try a live USB of another distro to rule out broken hardware.

I don't have one of those... I know they're out there, but the last time I even saw something like that was probably 20 years ago (or close to it), because pretty much everything since then has had Wi-Fi built-in or an ethernet (physical) connection port.


Quoting: whizseFor network logs something like
sudo journalctl -f -u NetworkManager  before connecting to the router should hopefully give some clues. (Assuming PopOS uses NetworkManager?)

Here's the output:
-- Journal begins at Sun 2022-03-13 13:00:51 AEST. --
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6193] device (wlp1s0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6200] device (wlp1s0): supplicant interface state: associating -> 4way_handshake
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6205] device (wlp1s0): DHCPv4 lease renewal requested
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6414] dhcp4 (wlp1s0): canceled DHCP transaction
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6416] dhcp4 (wlp1s0): state changed bound -> terminated
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6439] dhcp4 (wlp1s0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Mar 17 14:28:33 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491313.6863] device (wlp1s0): supplicant interface state: 4way_handshake -> completed
Mar 17 14:28:36 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491316.1569] dhcp4 (wlp1s0): state changed unknown -> bound, address=192.168.20.32
Mar 17 14:29:13 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491353.1556] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_GLOBAL
Mar 17 14:31:43 admin-vaio-tap20 NetworkManager[865]: <info>  [1647491503.5396] agent-manager: agent[e170969baf31a144,:1.86/org.gnome.Shell.NetworkAgent/1000]: agent registered



Quoting: whizseAlso, checking and comparing network settings between the wired and the wifi, using something like ip route might be useful.

The output for my Wi-Fi (wireless) connection:
default via 192.168.20.1 dev wlp1s0 proto dhcp metric 600 
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlp1s0 scope link metric 1000 
192.168.20.0/24 dev wlp1s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.20.32 metric 600


And my ethernet (physical) connection:
default via 192.168.20.1 dev enp3s0 proto dhcp metric 100 
default via 192.168.20.1 dev wlp1s0 proto dhcp metric 600 
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlp1s0 scope link metric 1000 
192.168.20.0/24 dev enp3s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.20.34 metric 100 
192.168.20.0/24 dev wlp1s0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.20.32 metric 600


And stated before, the ethernet (physical) connection is able to access the Internet, but my Wi-Fi (wireless) connection is not...

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 17 March 2022 at 10:58 am UTC
tuxintuxedo Mar 17, 2022
Things to consider:
-Try out a different distribution in Live mode.
-Try out a different router if possible.
-Try a different wireless network from your own (e.g. library, café, ...).
The above things can help you find the root cause.
whizse Mar 17, 2022
I'm still leaning towards some driver issue as mentioned in the Gentoo wiki in the link above.

Do you have working DNS? What does cat /etc/resolv.conf say? (After connecting the WiFi, Ethernet unplugged).

Can you ping the router? E.g. ping 192.168.20.1 (or Google, 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare 1.1.1.1?)

Anything interesting concerning iwlwifi or NetworkManager in the more general logs like dmesg or journalctl?


(Apologies if this sounds like a wild goose chase. I'm trying to thing of things I would try under similar circumstances, and it is very much a throw everything on the wall and see what sticks kind of approach!)

Last edited by whizse on 17 March 2022 at 11:54 pm UTC
HyperRealisticRock Mar 18, 2022
Quoting: Cyba.Cowboy169.254.0.0/16 dev wlp1s0 scope link metric 1000

I think this is the issue.
Cyba.Cowboy Mar 20, 2022
Quoting: tuxintuxedoThings to consider:
-Try out a different distribution in Live mode.

So I tried Manjaro with KDE Plasma, 21.2.4, Fedora 35 and Ubuntu 21.10... All three were able to connect to the Internet, without issue when running in "live" mode.

Interestingly, Ubuntu 21.10 is what Pop!_OS 21.10 is based on and to the best of my knowledge, they use the same network stuff (i.e. anything relating to the networking is the same for both distros)...

Clearly the issue is a software issue, considering the above distros were able to connect just fine in "live" mode.


Quoting: tuxintuxedo-Try a different wireless network from your own (e.g. library, café, ...).

Yeah, I tried using my iPhone as a "hotspot" with mobile data (i.e. Wi-Fi turned off)... Same issue.


Quoting: whizseDo you have working DNS? What does cat /etc/resolv.conf say? (After connecting the WiFi, Ethernet unplugged).

This is /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf managed by man:systemd-resolved(8).
# Do not edit.
#
# This file might be symlinked as /etc/resolv.conf. If you're looking at
# /etc/resolv.conf and seeing this text, you have followed the symlink.
#
# This is a dynamic resolv.conf file for connecting local clients to the
# internal DNS stub resolver of systemd-resolved. This file lists all
# configured search domains.
#
# Run "resolvectl status" to see details about the uplink DNS servers
# currently in use.
#
# Third party programs should typically not access this file directly, but only
# through the symlink at /etc/resolv.conf. To manage man:resolv.conf(5) in a
# different way, replace this symlink by a static file or a different symlink.
#
# See man:systemd-resolved.service(8) for details about the supported modes of
# operation for /etc/resolv.conf.

nameserver 127.0.0.53
options edns0 trust-ad
search Home



Quoting: whizseCan you ping the router? E.g. ping 192.168.20.1 (or Google, 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare 1.1.1.1?)

The first time I pinged my router, I got:
PING 192.168.20.1 (192.168.20.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.20.32 icmp_seq=19 Destination Host Unreachable
64 bytes from 192.168.20.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=5.33 ms


The last line would repeat, seemingly endlessly (I'm assuming it'll just pining repeatedly until I close Terminal?), changing the number after 'icmp seq=' each time by one. The ping timings would vary considerably with each entry.

When I pinged my router a second time, I got the same as the above, but it did not show this line:
From 192.168.20.32 icmp_seq=19 Destination Host Unreachable

If I tried to ping Google or Cloudflare, I got the same resule without the 'unreachable' line above...


Quoting: whizseAnything interesting concerning iwlwifi or NetworkManager in the more general logs like dmesg or journalctl?

Oh boy, 'journalctl' has some content... I got up to about 3,000 lines before I gave up any hope of copying its entire contents!

What is 'journalctl'? A journal of everything that's ever happened on this computer?

As for dmesg, you can find its output over here:
https://pastebin.com/PpFBgPnM
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