Sudden and very strange persistent WiFi issues ...
by LinWinux from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4SSQY)
I have two Lenovo R500 Laptops with 4GB RAM and 64GB SSD drives. Both of them have the latest stable MX Linux installed and both of them had WiFi working without a problem, did all of the updates, did some web browsing, etc. Both laptops have the same hard wired on/off switch in the front and both of them also have an FN Keyboard shortcut to enable/disable WiFi. On the first of these two laptops the WiFi still works fine right now.
On the second identical laptop the WiFi inexplicably just stopped working. When I open a web browser to pages which I know to be working, I receive error messages that a connection could not be established.
The WiFi hardware light (not desktop symbol) on the laptop continues to work. The WiFi hardware switch continues to enable/disable the WiFi connectivity (message on the screen tells me so). The FN Key combination on the keyboard also works, to disable/enable WiFi. If I left-click on the network/wifi desktop symbol, I can see a list of all available nearby WiFi connections. I can also enable/disable connectinos from there. If I right-click on the desktop network/wifi symbol I can enable/disable the type of conenctivity (LAN, WiFi) and I can also view information on the current connection. If I check the information, I can see that I'm connected at 67% connectivity which is actually pretty darn fast since our router has wifi G/N/AC working.
For all intents and purposes, based on everything that I can see, the WiFi should actually be working, but still the web-browser pages won't load. Network Manager is version 4.4
I'm at a complete loss ... :(
EDIT: The problem is actually worse than I thought. Tried a separate Ralink 802.11n adapter which works on all of my Linux machines without fail. The adapter is recognized, the adapter shows the same available connections as the built-in Intel adapter, and the Ralink can be enabled/disabled as well as have recognized connections assigned to it. Yet the Ralink adapter won't work either! :(
Alright, last test ... brought the laptop over to the router, connected a LAN cable directly. Sure enough, the WiFi disables itself which is perfectly normal, and immediately recognizes and connects with the LAN connection. The desktop symbols are switching and doing everything that they're supposed to be doing. Bummer, not even the connection via LAN is working. I simply can't get an internet connection going, even though everything that I can see on the computer tells me that everything "should" indeed be working. This is nuts ... :banghead:
.
On the second identical laptop the WiFi inexplicably just stopped working. When I open a web browser to pages which I know to be working, I receive error messages that a connection could not be established.
The WiFi hardware light (not desktop symbol) on the laptop continues to work. The WiFi hardware switch continues to enable/disable the WiFi connectivity (message on the screen tells me so). The FN Key combination on the keyboard also works, to disable/enable WiFi. If I left-click on the network/wifi desktop symbol, I can see a list of all available nearby WiFi connections. I can also enable/disable connectinos from there. If I right-click on the desktop network/wifi symbol I can enable/disable the type of conenctivity (LAN, WiFi) and I can also view information on the current connection. If I check the information, I can see that I'm connected at 67% connectivity which is actually pretty darn fast since our router has wifi G/N/AC working.
For all intents and purposes, based on everything that I can see, the WiFi should actually be working, but still the web-browser pages won't load. Network Manager is version 4.4
I'm at a complete loss ... :(
EDIT: The problem is actually worse than I thought. Tried a separate Ralink 802.11n adapter which works on all of my Linux machines without fail. The adapter is recognized, the adapter shows the same available connections as the built-in Intel adapter, and the Ralink can be enabled/disabled as well as have recognized connections assigned to it. Yet the Ralink adapter won't work either! :(
Alright, last test ... brought the laptop over to the router, connected a LAN cable directly. Sure enough, the WiFi disables itself which is perfectly normal, and immediately recognizes and connects with the LAN connection. The desktop symbols are switching and doing everything that they're supposed to be doing. Bummer, not even the connection via LAN is working. I simply can't get an internet connection going, even though everything that I can see on the computer tells me that everything "should" indeed be working. This is nuts ... :banghead:
.