I have another issue 😬 with one of my Ubuntu laptops. The wifi chip somehow has connection issues. It nearly has no signal. I have to be beside the router to get a connection.

I changed the chip to a new Qualcomm Atheros chip already, but there was no change. I tried a few "speed up your WiFi connection" blog posts. But that also changed nothing.

Do you guys have any advice? :-\

@condor @linux maybe u have an idea what to do?

Open the laptop and see if the coaxial wire is connected to the WiFi chip, that's basically the antenna. If it's loose, just pop it back into place.

I can recommend Intel wifi because the Linux drivers are good. I have AX200 in my laptop, and it's fine.

"I changed to a new Qualcomm..."

There's your problem. Basically only Intel wireless network cards have good Linux support.

As @Fast-Nop said, Intel AX200 is a great option. A few friends in school had wifi issues on Linux, they all changed to AX200s and all problems disappeared.

@Condor I checked all the cables. It hasn't changed a thing for me. 🤷

@Fast-Nop @olback I ordered the Intel one. Thanks. I will send feedback after changing.

Luckily there are good guides for increasing WiFi speed https://youtu.be/rNTSBjuK_7g

@electrineer 🦗🦗🦗

also make sure your router is set to 2.4Ghz and not 5Ghz

Redo all networking with systemd/networkd?

@Fast-Nop @olback the new card arrived today and I installed it already. Unfortunately I still get only one bar near the router...

It's hopeless 😭

@HiFiWiFiSciFi what is that good for?

@ZeldaFan69-2 Do other devices (such as your mobile) connect properly with that router over wifi?

@Fast-Nop yes all other laptops, ipads, phones, tvs connect with good quality and distance.

@Fast-Nop I even get nearly four bars on my phone while sitting on the dumbster on the other side of my house.

@ZeldaFan69-2 So it is with the laptop, but not with the wifi module.

1) Are you 100% sure that you clipped the antenna cables on firmly? It can take surprisingly much force until it snaps in.

2) The AX200 module has two antenna connectors and needs to have both of them connected. They're labelled '1' and '2' (main and aux). Are you sure that you connected the right cable to the right connector? Did you check the laptop service manual? The cables might have been connected the wrong way already with the previous wifi module.

3) Is there some sort of plastic tape covering the antenna cable plugs on the wifi module after clipping them on? Just to be sure there won't be contact to anything it shouldn't.

Otherwise, things could point to something like antenna cable damage, maybe a broken cable outside the visible area.

@Fast-Nop I read that some guys fixed it by updating firmware or the OS. Could it be possible?

@ZeldaFan69-2 That depends how the wifi card is interfaced. My laptop has the weird combo of a physical M.2 connector that is internally attached via USB. In that case, the BIOS doesn't really have to do anything.

I have stock Mint with kernel 5.8 (because the Renoir graphics need 5.8+) running on that laptop, and no other drivers are required. Since Mint is using Ubuntu kernels, that would be the same with Ubuntu.

@Fast-Nop i have Ubuntu 20.04 installed with kernel 5.4. I believe. The card is connected with two cable, and i suppose they are plugged in enough...

Maybe switching positions will help. I can give it a try

I switched the cables according to this img (mine were plugged in the other way around) and its acceptable now. I get a signal around 50 all over rhe house. 🤷

Uhhh

@ZeldaFan69-2 Yay, congrats! And as a side effect of upgrading to the Intel module, you also bypassed potential Linux driver problems down the road. :-)

@Fast-Nop yeah, i recognised there was exactly this card before i changed to the Qualcomm Atheros one. 😅

After a while I can say that the better connection was just temporary. Actually it is the same like before now... I start to believe that the antenna cables actually have some damage somewhere non visible. This gets me urgh...

Any update on this ?

@-red I bought an USB WLAN stick. 😅