Network Issues – Fix Ubuntu 16.04 Network Issues

I have been having issues with networking for a very long time. The worst is when I am at home but there are also issues at school sometimes. I'll start from the beginning.

I first started having issues when I moved in with my family. I had Windows 10 and the wifi would sometimes disconnect. I installed ubuntu 16.04 on that laptop and still had issues connecting and with random network drops. At this point, `sudo service network-manager restart' usually works for a short time, but then it starts acting up again an hour or two later. I assumed at this point the issue was with my wireless card and I went out and bought a new laptop.

EDIT: also note that at this point I had no issues when I was on campus or if I used the mobile hotspot on my phone or tablet. It was only the home router that refused to stay connected).

I am now on a dell laptop that is specifically listed as being compatible with Ubuntu (a Dell Latitude E6420). I immediately installed Ubuntu 16.04. At this point the only issue with networking was the occasional network drop and reconnect, usually after coming back from suspend.

I upgraded to Ubuntu Gnome 16.10 and the issues got worse. Now I am back to Ubuntu Gnome 16.04 and nothing is getting better.

I have tried using wicd but wicd doesn't even connect to the network unless network-manager is running, and even then it doesn't make a difference. This seems to be the only solution anybody can come up with. I don't know what commands to use to get more information so let me know and I will tell you what you need.

$ ifconfig
eno1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr e0:db:55:dd:5a:82  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:20 Memory:e6e00000-e6e20000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:9454 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:9454 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1 
          RX bytes:709546 (709.5 KB)  TX bytes:709546 (709.5 KB)

wlp3s0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 84:3a:4b:56:4a:9e  
          inet addr:192.168.0.17  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::5f18:be7:8291:2b8f/64 Scope:Link
          inet6 addr: 2607:fcc8:6a41:3900:36b3:fd71:a6b3:97bf/64 Scope:Global
          inet6 addr: 2607:fcc8:6a41:3900:4545:66d0:48b:b8e2/64 Scope:Global
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:25275 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:17066 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:27895660 (27.8 MB)  TX bytes:2478205 (2.4 MB)

$ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for guinevere: 
  *-network               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 19
       bus info: pci@0000:00:19.0
       logical name: eno1
       version: 04
       serial: e0:db:55:dd:5a:82
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=3.2.6-k firmware=0.13-3 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
       resources: irq:30 memory:e6e00000-e6e1ffff memory:e6e80000-e6e80fff ioport:5080(size=32)
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: wlp3s0
       version: 34
       serial: 84:3a:4b:56:4a:9e
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.8.0-36-generic firmware=18.168.6.1 ip=192.168.0.17 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:29 memory:e6d00000-e6d01fff