Peculiar wireless problem

**groovedspines** · June 7th, 2013

Originally Posted by chili555

It looks like it connected perfectly; yes?

In a world where technology worked consistently and made perfect sense to the average user it might!

Here's what actually happens at the cafe 99% of the time:

1. Use internet for a while, asymptomatic.
2. After 5-10 min usually, the top right of the screen will indicate that I am by all means connected to the router (berkeleyespresso)
3. Symptoms begin: Internet stops working (pages will remain stuck on "loading..." and never resolve)
4. At first, all indications on the GUI will say that I'm connected to the router. Sometimes, after a while, it will disconnect and try to reconnect indefinitely, being unable to for some unexplainable reason.
5. I can also force #4 to happen after the internet stops working by manually telling the computer to reconnect to the router.

When I ran the cat command, that was after it was disconnecting and reconnecting indefinitely.

for the record, I'm running Xubuntu 13.04, but I've had the same issue with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS/13.04.

It could just be a quirk of my hardware, perhaps? I have a Compaq Presario CQ62-231NR laptop. I'm not going to pretend that technology always makes sense, I've had too many weird problems to try to fix to believe that. I was considering installing Lubuntu 13.04 since it claims to be the one made for older/lower hardware, I hadn't known about it when I installed xubuntu. I could attempt that to see if there was any difference, though since it's also an ubuntu variant, i'd probably just get better battery life.

Ah, what a strange problem indeed!

EDIT: There is also apparently a password-protected router in the same building with the same name. This could perhaps lead to conflict?

I'm more than happy to try the commands you gave me earlier again after forcing a disconnect to see if I can get different results, if you've got nothing to work with.

Have a wonderful day!

**chili555** · June 7th, 2013

EDIT: There is also apparently a password-protected router in the same building with the same name. This could perhaps lead to conflict?

It is, as they say in the movies, a usual suspect. Network Manager often tries to roam to an apparently 'better' access point often resulting in a drop and failuah to commun'cate. If you grep the syslog for network (i.e. Network Manager) you can often see the process unfolding as the MAC address changes; something roughly like:

wlan0: Trying to associate with xx:d7:19:41:54:ef (SSID='myrouter' freq=5745 MHz)
wlan0: Trying to associate with xx:d7:19:41:54:ab (SSID='myrouter' freq=5745 MHz)

Do you see anything like that?

You can ask Network Manager to stick to the desired access point by specifying its MAC in the BSSID box as in the attached. Find out the MAC with a scan:

Code:

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: xx:D7:19:41:54:EF
Channel:149
Frequency:5.745 GHz (Channel 149)
Quality=46/70 Signal level=-64 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"myrouter"
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
<snip>

**groovedspines** · June 9th, 2013

Originally Posted by chili555

It is, as they say in the movies, a usual suspect. Network Manager often tries to roam to an apparently 'better' access point often resulting in a drop and failuah to commun'cate. If you grep the syslog for network (i.e. Network Manager) you can often see the process unfolding as the MAC address changes; something roughly like:

wlan0: Trying to associate with xx:d7:19:41:54:ef (SSID='myrouter' freq=5745 MHz)
wlan0: Trying to associate with xx:d7:19:41:54:ab (SSID='myrouter' freq=5745 MHz)

Do you see anything like that?

Apparently it says the same MAC address?

Here's the relevant results from the scan command!

This is the desired router to connect to (the one without a required password)

Code:

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 06:25:BC:8C:1E:27
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=63/70  Signal level=-47 dBm  
                    Encryption key:off
                    ESSID:"berkeleyespresso"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=0000000030c468f1
                    Extra: Last beacon: 249880ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 00106265726B656C6579657370726573736F
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
                    IE: Unknown: 030106
                    IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B1E
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
                    IE: Unknown: 2D1A0C501BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 33027E9D
                    IE: Unknown: 3D1606001700000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 46050200010000
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101020003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                    IE: Unknown: DD07000393016C0208
                    IE: Unknown: DD0E0017F207000101060025BC8C1E28

This is the undesired one, the one that requires a password. Apparently, I already had put the MAC address in my network settings to connect to it, but the MAC address is the same!

Code:

Cell 02 - Address: 00:25:BC:8C:1E:27
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=69/70  Signal level=-41 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"berkespresso's Network"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=000000003fa5f81d
                    Extra: Last beacon: 272ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 00166265726B657370726573736F2773204E6574776F726B
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
                    IE: Unknown: 030106
                    IE: Unknown: 050401030000
                    IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B1E
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: 2D1A0C501BFFFF000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 33027E9D
                    IE: Unknown: 3D1606001700000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 46050200010000
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101010003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
                    IE: Unknown: DD07000393016C0320
                    IE: Unknown: DD0E0017F207000101060025BC8C1E28
                    IE: Unknown: DD0B0017F20100010100000007

**chili555** · June 10th, 2013

but the MAC address is the same!

Not quite, but maybe there's a typo here. Didn't you do a straight copy and paste?

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 06:25:BC:8C:1E:27
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=63/70 Signal level=-47 dBm
Encryption key:off
ESSID:"berkeleyespresso"

...and then:

Cell 02 - Address: 00:25:BC:8C:1E:27
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=69/70 Signal level=-41 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"berkespresso's Network"

Also, it appears the SSID is different.

**groovedspines** · June 11th, 2013

My apologies for not noticing that!

I had entered the MAC address of the desired access point (SSID berkeleyespresso BSSID 06:25:BC:8C:1E:27), though sadly to no change.

Other settings I have:
General: Automatically connect. All users can connect to this network.
Wifi: Mode: infrastructure. Entered the BSSID and SSID. MTU set to automatic
Wifi security: none.
IPv4: Method Automatic(DHCP)
IPv6: Method Automatic (DHCP only) <-- This was a recent change just to see if it would make a difference. Was originally set to automatic(DHCP).

**chili555** · June 11th, 2013

IPv6: Method Automatic (DHCP only) <-- This was a recent change just to see if it would make a difference. Was originally set to automatic(DHCP).

You might also try 'Ignore.'

Let's see what the logs say about this peculiar problem:

Code:

cat /var/log/syslog | grep wlan | tail -n20

Obviously, as it tries to connect to berkeleyespresso and either fails or drops.

**groovedspines** · June 13th, 2013

Hi again, reporting in at the cafe thus far -

At first, I lost my connection rather quickly, but after disconnecting, changing the ipv6 setting to 'ignore', I am still on the net after 10 minutes! This may have been all that was required, but I'll keep trying for a couple hours while I'm here to see if it's consistent.

**groovedspines** · June 13th, 2013

Sadly, it was not to last. I have run your command multiple times from different states:

When the net has gone down, but the system reports no problem (other than that you can't connect to anything).

Code:

Jun 12 19:31:05 meridian dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.16.42.133 on wlan0 to 172.16.42.1 port 67 (xid=0x6a2fbfc8)
Jun 12 19:31:05 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): DHCPv4 state changed reboot -> renew

When I force the issue to happen by trying to reconnect to what i'm supposedly connected to.

Code:

daniel@meridian:~$ cat /var/log/syslog | grep wlan | tail -n20
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device (reason 'none') [0]
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): canceled DHCP transaction, DHCP client pid 4563
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Withdrawing address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Interface wlan0.IPv6 no longer relevant for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Withdrawing address record for 172.16.42.133 on wlan0.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv4 with address 172.16.42.133.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Interface wlan0.IPv4 no longer relevant for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian kernel: [ 7129.260598] wlan0: deauthenticating from 06:25:bc:8c:1e:27 by local choice (reason=3)
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) starting connection 'berkeleyespresso'
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none') [30 40 0]
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled...
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started...
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled...
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
Jun 12 19:45:57 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none') [40 50 0]
Jun 12 19:45:58 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:45:58 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: New relevant interface wlan0.IPv6 for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:45:58 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Registering new address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.*.
daniel@meridian:~$ cat /var/log/syslog | grep wlan | tail -n20
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) started...
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none') [50 70 0]
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Beginning DHCPv4 transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Withdrawing address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Interface wlan0.IPv6 no longer relevant for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) complete.
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): DHCPv4 state changed nbi -> preinit
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian dhclient: Listening on LPF/wlan0/70:f1:a1:c1:6e:b1
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian dhclient: Sending on   LPF/wlan0/70:f1:a1:c1:6e:b1
Jun 12 19:46:24 meridian dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.16.42.133 on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3baab1fa)
Jun 12 19:46:25 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:46:25 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: New relevant interface wlan0.IPv6 for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:46:25 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Registering new address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.*.
Jun 12 19:46:27 meridian dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.16.42.133 on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3baab1fa)
Jun 12 19:46:34 meridian dhclient: DHCPREQUEST of 172.16.42.133 on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 (xid=0x3baab1fa)
Jun 12 19:46:44 meridian dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x77f43d00)
Jun 12 19:46:47 meridian dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6 (xid=0x77f43d00)
Jun 12 19:46:53 meridian dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8 (xid=0x77f43d00)
Jun 12 19:47:01 meridian dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 18 (xid=0x77f43d00)
daniel@meridian:~$ cat /var/log/syslog | grep wlan | tail -n20
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Withdrawing address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Interface wlan0.IPv6 no longer relevant for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian kernel: [ 7201.537027] wlan0: deauthenticating from 06:25:bc:8c:1e:27 by local choice (reason=3)
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Jun 12 19:47:09 meridian wpa_supplicant[985]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=00:00:00:00:00:00 reason=3
Jun 12 19:47:11 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1.
Jun 12 19:47:11 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: New relevant interface wlan0.IPv6 for mDNS.
Jun 12 19:47:11 meridian avahi-daemon[809]: Registering new address record for fe80::72f1:a1ff:fec1:6eb1 on wlan0.*.
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) starting connection 'berkeleyespresso'
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none') [30 40 0]
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled...
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started...
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled...
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none') [40 50 0]
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): connection 'berkeleyespresso' requires no security.  No secrets needed.
Jun 12 19:47:12 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Jun 12 19:47:15 meridian NetworkManager[893]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning