Intel Wireless 7260 randomly dropping connection on ubuntu 18.04

**rbailo** · July 10th, 2018

I have got a somewhat strange issue with my wifi connection and I haven't managed to find a solution.

The laptop connects to wifi without issue right after boot. The connection will work fine for a while (30 seconds to a couple of hours) before spontaneously dropping (often when streaming video but not always, sometimes just opening a news site). Switching wifi off and on does not help, nor restarting the network service. The issue persists after logging off and on, leaving the laptop idle for a few hours or hibernating through any length of time. However, the connection always works right after reboot.

Wireless script output: http://paste.ubuntu.com/p/KwGrQCqsv6/

Due to the random occurrence of the issue this is proving tricky to debug. Any ideas?

**chili555** · July 10th, 2018

There appear to be several SSIDs available named Imperial-WPA. I am quite confident that your wireless device, much like my old girlfriend, is roaming to another instance looking for a better connection.

I suggest that you bind to the strongest like is described here. https://askubuntu.com/questions/4255.../425617#425617

**rbailo** · July 11th, 2018

Thanks for the suggestion, chili555. Unfortunately I get the same issue at home, where there is only one SSID for my network (as there is only one router).

**chili555** · July 11th, 2018

First, check the settings in the router. WPA2-AES is preferred; not any WPA and WPA2 mixed mode and certainly not TKIP. Second, if your router is capable of N speeds, you may have better connectivity with a channel width of 20 MHz in the 2.4 GHz band instead of automatic 20/40 MHz, although it is likely to affect N speeds. I also have better luck with a fixed channel, either 1, 6 or 11, rather than automatic channel selection. Also, be certain the router is not set to use N speeds only; auto B, G and N is preferred. After making these changes, reboot the router.

Then set your regulatory domain explicitly. Check yours:

Code:

sudo iw reg get

If you get 00, that is a one-size-maybe-fits-all setting. Find yours here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2 Then set it temporarily:

Code:

sudo iw reg set IS

Of course, substitute your country code if not Iceland. Set it permanently:

Code:

sudo nan /etc/default/crda

Change the last line to read:

Code:

REGDOMAIN=IS

Proofread carefully, save and close the text editor.

Any improvement?

**rbailo** · July 16th, 2018

I have a number of devices connected to the router which work fine, so I think I will leave changing its configuration as a last resort. I have set the regulatory domain explicitly, and I have also both disabled power management and chosen the option for antenna aggregation as described in https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/c...nt_in_iwlwifi/ .

It seems to be working fine, but I will wait a couple of days before claiming victory just to be sure. In the meantime, thanks for the suggestions!

**rbailo** · July 17th, 2018

Got the bug again. Strangely enough, lshw shows the wireless card as disabled (https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/ZGzwZ6RcmR/) but the wireless script reckons there is no software or hardware lock on the wireless LAN (https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/hVmXmsYqnC/). Do you think it is still worth trying to configure the router?

**chili555** · July 17th, 2018

I do think you should change the settings in the router. I have worked on many cases where these exact same settings improved connectivity immensely, including my own! For what it's worth, I also, obviously, run Ubuntu, and I use an Intel 7260.

I have many other devices here that connect easily and quickly using my suggested settings. They include a generation 1 iPad, a Chromebook, Roku, two smart TVs and more. I need none of the parameters that you are using:

Code:

options iwlwifi power_save=0 swcrypto=1 11n_disable=8

However, the wireless isn't going to connect no matter the settings because of this:

[17317.868939] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Could not load the [0] uCode section
[17317.868945] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to start INIT ucode: -5
[17317.868947] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to run INIT ucode: -5
[17317.868948] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to start RT ucode: -5
[17320.742629] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Could not load the [0] uCode section
[17320.742639] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to start INIT ucode: -5
[17320.742641] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to run INIT ucode: -5
[17320.742642] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to start RT ucode: -5
[17323.609684] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Could not load the [0] uCode section
[17323.609691] iwlwifi 0000:04:00.0: Failed to start INIT ucode: -5

In short, the firmware file is corrupted in some way or else, the card is failing to load it because the card is failing.

Let's check the firmware:

Code:

md5sum /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-17.ucode

We hope we see:

Code:

cfb5b4d56795ec43ea79a7abfc345f79  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-17.ucode

If not, let's reinstall the firmware:

Code:

sudo apt install --reinstall linux-firmware

Reboot and show us:

Code:

dmesg | grep iwl

**rbailo** · September 15th, 2018

I eventually came back to fix the issue with the laptop. I tried reinstalling the firmware, which didn't solve things. I eventually changed the router settings and it worked like a charm, it has been a week with no incidents. Thank you very much, I should have tried that the first time!