Wifi worked before Ubuntu-MATE install, but now works terribly

Support & Help Requests
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#1

So, for the record, I’m not great with Tech. I’m running on an HP Stream Notebook PC 13. The windows operating system was maxing out the CPU, so I was looking for an alternative, and I was thinking of getting Chromium OS but then found Ubuntu-MATE. Here is what happened.

On the Windows System, the wifi was having problems because my CPU and RAM were basically maxed out, but I had no issues connecting to the wifi. I could connect the wifi all the way to my room. I then installed Ubuntu Mate. Now, the RAM and CPU are fine and aren’t overburdened, but for some reason I can only connect to the wifi now if I am literally in the same room as the modem, sometimes right beside the modem. There is no ethernet port, so I have to work on it by wifi.

I have tried resetting the network manager, updating, all that jazz. I am on the 16.04 LTS.

Does anyone have any clue as to what happened and what I can do to solve it?

#2

Is it possible that your Windows wifi driver is using an older 802.11 standard and Ubuntu MATE is using the newest 802.11n or ac? Your router might not support the newer versions and could be causing problems.

#3

That is certainly possible. This laptop is an older model, although it could run Windows 10 (barely).

So, probably the best solution then is to install an older version of Ubuntu-Mate, perhaps the 15.04 instead of the newer one which might be buggier (assuming that this is the problem).

#4

Hi
Please provide the output of:

inxi -N

Cheers

#5

I had this exact same notebook (it died after 7 months, eMMC failure). The wifi was always terrible. I did a lot of research and it seems that it’s simply the chip (Windows was better, but it was still slow). I compiled 3 different drivers myself and tried them, every time the wifi was slow (like 5 minutes to open wikipedia) and would cut out after about 10 minutes of use.

I bought a GNU/Linux wifi stick and used that instead and it was much better.

1 Like
#6

I hate to say it, but it sounds like a manufacturer issue and you’d have better luck buying a Linux-compatible Wi-Fi USB adapter as @ad4m did. :frowning:

Ubuntu* 15.04 is unsupported (15.10 still has a few months left). You could try 14.04 and see how it’s like in a live session… but I don’t think it would improve things.

#7

Hey there. The output of inxi -N

Realtek RTL8723BE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8723be

So I would have to get a wifi stick compatible with Linux, probably.

Has anyone ever had a Chromebook before? How well did it work for you?

#8

Before thinking about buying a wifi stick, try this:

echo “options rtl8723be fwlps=0” | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf
sudo modprobe -r rtl8723be
sudo modprobe rtl8723be

#9

And just a word on what this does (because there are many who blindly copy and paste terminal commands). It appends to your .conf file for your wireless driver the ‘options …’ string so that fwlps is set to 0. Usually it ‘can’ improve some wireless drivers (it tells it to essentially not attempt at conserving power/resources). If I’m not mistaken.

2 Likes
#10

Quite. I should loose the habit of giving commands without explaining what they do.
Here’s the description of that particular option obtained using the command modinfo rtl8723be :

parm:           fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1)
 (bool)
#11

Thanks for filling me in on what I was doing there.

So i switched over to super power mode on the wifi, and I am getting better results. The internet is half working in my room. However, it’s still incredibly slow and youtube basically chokes upon opening a video. So, still not ideal, but at least I can access Facebook from my room now, and I can probably get back to my Google Docs.

I may still switch to a Chromium OS, but this has been very helpful. Aside from the wifi stick idea, does anyone else have any suggestions?

#12

This isn’t practical as such, but just throwing it out there… :bulb: If you have an Android device, most support USB Tethering (via Wi-Fi). This works out of the box in Ubuntu MATE.

  1. Plug the phone in, ensure it’s connected to Wi-Fi.
  2. On the phone, go to Settings → More Networks → Tethering & portable hotspot
  3. Turn on “USB tethering”.

My phone’s Wi-Fi blows the water out of my old WN111v2 NETGEAR adapter, but I have a Powerline Ethernet, but it’s an option for speed. :wink:

#13

Possibly your initial assessment On the Windows System, the wifi was having problems because my CPU and RAM were basically maxed out wasn’t the sole issue with wifi performance.

2 links that might help

If you decide on Chrome OS I suggest trying it in a live environment to test wifi prior to installing it.

#14

Hi, check this. It might be of some help :

" Quite often, the weak signal is a symptom of the antenna wire being connected to connection #1 on the card when the default driver is expecting to see the signal at connection #2. Of course, you could open the laptop and switch the wire or you could install a newer driver that permits antenna selection at the driver level. "

The quoted text and the solution for this can be found at the following link :