ubuntu 16.04, weak wifi signal, wifi bugs

[linuxtim]

searching around the internet, seems like people have connectivity issues with 16.04 and prior Ubuntu builds. Lots of workarounds it seems.. Someone was saying "wifi issue is fixed in maui 2.1". So i have the live disk running right now, really weak signal, keeps forgetting wifi password, and won't stay connected. I've found a few threads with people having these issues.

New antennas and wifi card(atheros 9285). Have Debian testing installed, no connectivity issues, not greatest signal strength vs other devices, but no performances issues. Which is to say however, its functioning, while non functional under ubuntu 16.04(Maui 2.1).


Installing Maui, any reassurance that these issues would be resolved with the full install or an update? or would i be looking at scrambling to find the right workaround?

[leszek]

There is a thread on installing the latest ubuntu hwe kernel. This one is based on Linux 4.8.0 and would be worth trying out after install.

https://forums.mauilinux.org/showthread.php?tid=24285

[kdemeoz]

Hi linuxtim. I know this does not guarantee you anything, but FYI...

My Lappy used to run Mint 17.x KDE4 for a few years, & its WiFi performance/reliability was good. Late last year i upgraded it to Mint 18 Xfce, & its WiFi performance/reliability was terrible... constant dropouts, & constant complete breakages of its applet, requiring reboot. It was just horrible, & none of the ideas i found in the Mint fora solved it. At the end of last year in exasperation i replaced Mint Xfce with Maui 1... & Lappy's WiFi was once more simply excellent. That continued with 2 & 2.1.

My Lappy has not yet been upgraded to the HWE package [& i might not bother, since it's now a fairly old machine]. It uses kernel 4.4.0-64.

I hope it works out for you as nicely as it did for me.

[linuxtim]

There is a thread on installing the latest ubuntu hwe kernel. This one is based on Linux 4.8.0 and would be worth trying out after install.

https://forums.mauilinux.org/showthread.php?tid=24285

I'll check back after the kernal/graphics stack update.  Currently under full installation, seeing similar issues. but we'll see. writing from an asus netbook(AMD APU 2012 era)

At the end of last year in exasperation i replaced Mint Xfce with Maui 1... & Lappy's WiFi was once more simply excellent. That continued with 2 & 2.1.

I hope it works out for you as nicely as it did for me.

Yeah, in a perfect world, thats Debian stable. "just works". so much has been changing in the linux world however, similarly with plasma/QT towards QT5. a few years back there was a post for help with kde/debian, KDE hasn't been a priority on debian for awhile(multiple impending priorities like wayland. kDE4 even had known bugs in stable).

LXQT on debian testing has been pretty nice, still early into its development, few rough edges. I prefer QT apps so being able to run them natively is nice, and KDE has always been built to be highly customizable. I can compromise with a non QT windower, but, ultimately only for so long.

(also, i didn't realize how much of an issue ubuntu has been having with wifi. many moons ago that was the downfall of linux, but that was like 2011. So many hits come up from "ubuntu weak wifi signal").

[linuxtim]

welp, post-update. Wifi signal is still very weak.

i have this visual stutter issue when scrolling in an Internet browser and when moving any window around the desktop. the picture gets all chopped up and missing parts. Also when minimizing a window and when minimizing it gets stuck or appears to be stuck until the mouse is clicked/held/dragged on the screen..

Anywho, thanks for the suggestions/help, i was mostly hoping for an 'install and go' set up. better luck next time maybe. thanks again.


----edit
So, writing this now after installing debian 9/testing. around 3 months ago, KDE was nonfunctional, but it seems stable and usable right now, i take back what i said(however, three months is a good amount of time for development). Anyhow, neat thing, after the kernal update, Maui was using 440mb idle after startup. KDE5 on debian is using 550mn at idle(pretty sure it could be trimmed down). LXQT was using 350 at idle.

But what i really wanted to add is that right now the signal strength has not changed on this new install.. btw, there is a neat command line input "nmcli d wifi" which will give a numerical value for signal strength if network manager is being used. What weird is that network manager reports a lower signal than WICD or wavemon. but i guess thats not new? https://answers.launchpad.net/wicd/+question/214922 However, my initial issue was holding a connection at all. Under the Maui live i kept getting a disconnection while fine under the debian install.

Overall, this seems a more or less smaller issue, i still recommend Maui to newcomers, but in my experience, my journey with linux tends to be an odd exception of issues and such.