[GRLUG] wifi connection drops under Ubuntu

[John-Thomas Richards]

On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 05:34:21AM -0400, peyeps at iserv.net wrote:
> For comparison purposes, I am running Ubuntu 9.04 oan  an Aspire One.
> 
> When I run iwconfig I get:
> 
> wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"Network_Netgear"
>           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.432 GHz  Access Point: 00:22:3F:A4:95:CE
>           Bit Rate=24 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm
>           Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B
>           Power Management:off
>           Link Quality=46/100  Signal level:-53 dBm  Noise level=-83 dBm
>           Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
>           Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
> 
> I don't see a noise level on your report, but noticed your signal level is
> about the same as my noise level.  I assume the difference is due to the
> version of Ubuntu you installed.  I refrained from going up to 10, because
> I heard some things did not work as well.  I don't know if you want to try
> an install of 9.04.  You could try it on a memory stick, and see if that
> helps.  (Like a live CD).   The other two things I can think of, I noticed
> you are running a much faster network than I am.   The Netgear router I am
> using is a relatively because we were having problems with the signal
> dropping with the Linksys router we had, with my wife's Macbook.  I think
> the Netgear router was something like $35.00.  The cheapest thing to try
> at the moment to my mind might be to try the 9.04 on a memory stick.  I've
> used nothing but the Ubuntu 9.04 on this netbook.  It did come with XP
> pre-installed, and the partition for that still exists, but never booted.

I've used Linux since 1997 and I can only recall reinstalling once
because of a problem I couldn't solve (modules wouldn't load) due to
serious time constraints.  Had I more time then, I would have followed
the instructions for fixing it in an online Debian forum (it was a
lengthy process; I *really* didn't have the time to do it).  In Linux,
it seems, the problem is always solvable.  It isn't like this in the
Windows world.  Microsoft Tech Support has told me on at least two
occasions to reinstall the operating system in order to fix a problem.
This doesn't fix it; it postpones it.

In this case I discovered there is a problem with the driver.  I
upgraded the driver and the problem is solved.

> > Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2010 18:19:12 -0400
> > From: John-Thomas Richards <jtr at jrichards.org>
> > Subject: [GRLUG] wifi connection drops under Ubuntu
> >
> > I bought an Acer Aspire One for my wife.  It came with Win7 Starter
> > Edition.  W7SE is a dog.  I installed Ubuntu (full, not Netbook Remix)
> > on it.  It is much snappier than Win7.  However, wifi does not work as
> > well under Ubuntu as it does under Win7.  Win7 shows signal strength
> > around 85% and Ubuntu (NetworkManager) shows it around 42%.  Googling
> > has revealed that these figures may not be accurate.  I am inclined to
> > trust them since Win7 never experiences loss of network connectivity
> > whereas Ubuntu experiences frequent drops.  I disabled power management
> > on the wifi card (thinking that perhaps Ubuntu is mistakenly reducing
> > the power to it in an effort to save power).  This does not eliminate
> > the loss of connectivity.  I am not sure what else to do, but no matter
> > what, I cannot tell my wife to just boot into Windows.  Any ideas?
[snip]
-- 
john-thomas
------
I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order
to enjoy ourselves.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (1889-1951)