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On Mon, 11 Nov 2019 09:37:25 +0100 Per Jessen <per@computer.org> wrote:
Dave Howorth wrote:
On Sun, 10 Nov 2019 12:11:59 +0100 Per Jessen <per@computer.org> wrote:
Dave Howorth wrote:
I'm a complete noob when it comes to wireless!
I just turned wireless on on my openSUSE PC (Leap 15.0) in order to be able to control a TP-Link HS110 smart plug. But the wireless seems to be flaky on the PC and I have no idea why.
I set it up in YaST - I use Wicked - and it seemed to work, then it stopped, then it worked, then it didn't etc. YaST now says:
RTL8821AE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter (Not connected) MAC : 80:a5:89:34:b8:27 BusID : 0000:03:00.0
Device Name: wlan0 Started automatically at boot IP address assigned using DHCP
but on my router's network management page I can see an IP address for my PC's WLAN interface (it's on a different net to the wired LAN) and part of the time it indicates a connection and part not. When it does the signal strength is -73 dBm.
I'm no expert either, but maybe that is too low? I have three access points -
# iwlist wlan0 scan | grep Signal
Quality=70/70 Signal level=-38 dBm Quality=41/70 Signal level=-69 dBm Quality=58/70 Signal level=-52 dBm
2019-11-09T17:33:55.580226+00:00 acer-suse kernel: [9051585.842867] wlan0: deauthenticated from 9a:9b:cb:9d:ab:52 (Reason: 34=DISASSOC_LOW_ACK)
I think the above is the real problem - I would try moving the laptop to another location, trial&error, see if it improves. It does seem weird that other devices have no problem connecting though.
Thanks Per. I don't own any laptops; never have. If you mean my PC it's a desktop, so quite a bit more awkward to move.
Ah, sorry - I assumed it was a laptop due to the wifi.
Even turning it around to see if I can see if there's a place to attach an external antenna has been too much effort so far :( But maybe I need to do that now.
An external aerial does seem reasonable - reception inside a metal case will surely always be poor?
I think the WLAN module is sitting on something called a MINI PCIE1 connection, similar to that shown in this picture, but not identical: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/tYkAAOSwhcJWGsII/s-l1600.jpg Mine has a black wire coming off the module that goes to a black plastic lump attached outside the back of the PC. It also has a white wire attached to the module that leads to the front of the PC but I can't tell where it goes. Maybe one of those is an antenna? And the other one is bluetooth?
The other devices do seem to swap between connections on 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz depending where they are in the house, so I guess signal levels may be marginal.
I googled "acer RTL8821AE" and I saw a couple of hits such as "keeps dropping copnnection', "wifi constantly dropping". Not sure if that helps.
Dunno. I realized that I have a Raspberry Pi sitting underneath my desk at the moment, so I enabled wi-fi on that and it seems to work without a problem. So I'll give up on trying to get my PC to work I think. Next step is to learn how to secure the wi-fi on the Pi. I only want it to be able to make outgoing connections; nobody should be able to connect to it. And I'd specifically like to prevent ssh sessions using that interface; they should only be possible using the wired interface. I've no idea whether either of those goals is doable. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org