wireless.md

title	Wireless and Basic Troubleshooting
description	If your computer can’t connect to wireless networks or the connection is unstable, use this guide to diagnose and resolve the issue.
keywords	wireless Wi-Fi support System76
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section	network-troubleshooting
tableOfContents	true

If your computer can’t connect to wireless networks or the connection is unstable, use this guide to diagnose and resolve the issue.
Start with the quick checks, then follow the targeted diagnostic and recovery steps.

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Initial Troubleshooting

1.Reboot the router/modem and the computer.

2.Toggle Airplane Mode by pressing Fn + F11 →.

3.If your Wi-Fi issues started after an update, try removing the backported Wi-Fi driver using the command line. Open the Terminal by pressing Super+t and type the following and press Enter:

  sudo apt remove backport-iwlwifi-dkms

Then restart your computer.

4.Temporarily use a phone hotspot to confirm whether the network or your computer is the issue.

5.Boot from a Live USB of your distribution to determine whether the issue exists outside your installed system.

Router and Access Point Recommendations

Make sure your access point is configured for stability and compatibility.

Use 2.4 GHz channels 1, 6, or 11 to minimize overlap.

Set the channel width to 20 MHz for crowded networks.

For 5 GHz, use an explicit channel instead of “Auto” when troubleshooting.

Use mixed mode (b/g/n/ax) if devices vary by generation.

If a single device struggles, temporarily set your router to a common mode and test.

Avoid complex access point features such as

Band steering

Aggressive airtime fairness

Deep MAC filtering

Ensure your device’s MAC address isn’t being filtered

Check with

ip link show | grep ether

Then confirm that address is allowed in your router’s admin panel.

You can also confirm what channel and frequency your connection is using:

iw dev
iwlist wlan0 scan | grep -E 'SSID|Channel|Frequency'

Device-Level Checks and Commands

These commands help verify whether your wireless card and drivers are functioning correctly.

ip a

List all network interfaces and IP addresses confirms your Wi-Fi interface (usually wlp2s0 or wlan0) is recognized.

iw dev

Show wireless devices and their states.

sudo rfkill list

Check for hardware or software Wi-Fi blocks.

nmcli device status 

Check NetworkManager device states.

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager 

Restart the network stack (safe to run anytime).

journalctl -b | grep -i network

View network-related boot logs.

dmesg | grep -i -E 'wifi|wlan|firmware|ieee80211|rtl|brcm|ath'

View driver and firmware kernel logs.

To collect diagnostic info automatically:

sudo dmesg | grep -i wlan > ~/wireless-dmesg.txt

Driver and Firmware Checks

If the device is detected but unstable, verify the driver and firmware setup.

Confirm the kernel has loaded the correct driver and firmware.

Check for missing firmware messages:

dmesg | grep -i firmware

Reinstall firmware packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall linux-firmware

Test with a different router or mobile hotspot.

Try a Live USB session to determine if the issue is system-specific.

NetworkManager and Configuration Tips

NetworkManager controls Wi-Fi connections on most Linux systems.

Restart NetworkManager:

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Delete and recreate saved connections:

nmcli connection delete <SSID>
nmcli device wifi connect <SSID>

For unstable networks, set IPv6 to “Ignore” in the network settings

1. Open Settings → Network.

2. Select your Wi-Fi connection.

3. Go to IPv6 tab → change method to Ignore.

Bluetooth and Airplane Mode Interactions

If Wi-Fi disappears when Bluetooth is active:

sudo rfkill list
sudo systemctl restart bluetooth

You can also disable Bluetooth coexistence in the Intel Wi-Fi driver configuration file:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf

Add the following line:

options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=0

Save, then reboot.

Advanced Troubleshooting

If the above steps aren't working, or you would like to fine tune and improve you connection, see the following steps.

Regulatory Domain

In many cases, it's recommended to explicitly set the Wi-Fi regulatory domain. Check yours with this command:

sudo iw reg get

If you get 00, that is a one-size-maybe-fits-all setting. Find yours here: ISO_3166.

And set it permanently with this command:

sudo gedit /etc/default/crda

Change the last line to read:

REGDOMAIN=US

Save and close the text editor.

IPv6

Unless specifically required, you can set IPv6 to Ignore in Network Manager. Go to System Settings → Network and click the orange arrow next to your network, then click Settings → Network → Ethernet → Gear Icon → IPv6 Settings then change Automatic to Disable.

Antenna Aggregation

If these changes do not help, you can try enabling antenna aggregation:

sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
sudo modprobe iwlwifi 11n_disable=8

Then, test to see if that helps. To make it permanent:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf

Then, add this line to the bottom (effective upon reboot):

options iwlwifi 11n_disable=8

N Mode

You can try disabling N mode completely by using 11n_disable=1 in the previous settings. N mode can be more unstable than G mode, and the speed gained isn't typically useful as total bandwidth available in/out from/to the Internet is less than N speeds.

Bluetooth Coexistence

If you have trouble with a Bluetooth headset and keeping a steady downlink speed, try disabling Bluetooth coexistence in the configuration file above:

options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=0

Power Management

Another way to help with Wi-Fi issues is to turn off power management for the hardware. To do so, edit the configuration file with this command:

sudo gedit /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/default-wifi-powersave-on.conf

And change the file to read (effective upon reboot):

[connection]
wifi.powersave = 2

If tlp is installed, take a look at the settings file found here for additional Wi-Fi power saving being enabled:

sudo gedit /etc/default/tlp

Useful Programs

The program wavemon can be used to see info about nearby access points, such as power levels, channels, and BSSIDs. It can be installed with this command:

sudo apt install wavemon

And run with this command:

sudo wavemon

Useful Commands

iwevent

Run this command to watch what the Wi-Fi hardware is doing. Pay attention to the disconnect reasons, and ignore the scans.

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

This command will restart the service that manages all Internet traffic on the computer, which is usually easier than restarting the computer.

dmesg | grep iwlwifi

This will check the hardware startup and driver loading messages.

lspci | grep Network

This will check if the hardware is being detected by the kernel.

lsmod | grep iwlwifi

This will check to see if the device driver (module) is loaded.

sudo rm /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*

This will erase the stored information about all wireless access points.

sudo apt install --reinstall network-manager

This will reinstall network-manager, which can fix some network issues.

NOTE: After reinstalling the above packages, fully shut down the machine and then power it back on, rather than rebooting. This ensures the hardware completely resets.

Additional Info

Wi-Fi Speeds and Frequencies:

• 54 Mb/s uses the 802.11g & 802.11b standards.

• 145 Mb/s and 300 Mb/s modes use the 802.11n standard and 20MHz or 40MHz bandwidths.

• 300Mbps / 40Mhz will provide the maximum performance in most cases.

• 145Mbps / 20MHz will work better in areas with more access points.

• 450Mbps uses a 60Mhz channel width and 600Mbps uses a 80Mhz channel width, and is typically less stable.

The name of the Linux driver for Intel Wi-Fi cards is called iwlwifi and is included in the kernel by default. All information about the driver can be found here:

wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi

The newest version of the linux-firmware package, which contains the iwlwifi driver, can be found here:

mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware

Sometimes the newest version of the firmware will clear up occasional bugs. Please download the newest .deb package.

Windows Dual Boot

If you are dual booting Windows, you may lose access to your Wi-Fi card entirely after running driver/OS updates in Windows. You may be able to gain access to your Wi-Fi card again by disabling "Fast Startup" in the Windows power options before booting back into Pop!_OS.

Contact System76 Support

If you purchased a System76 computer and you’ve tried all the steps above, but your wireless connection still isn’t working as expected, please collect the output from the diagnostic commands and contact System76 Support