Ubuntu – Wifi connection keeps dropping in Ubuntu 15.10 – RTL8821AE

driversnetworkingrealtek-wirelesswireless

I recently purchased a lenovo ideapad300 and installed a dual boot system. the wifi for windows 10 works seamlessly while its problematic in ubuntu

this is the output for lspci -knn | grep Net -A2

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821AE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [10ec:8821]
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:a814]
    Kernel driver in use: rtl8821ae

i've tried reinstlling the driver using the instructions from this link. But still having problems.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2245164&page=2

this is my kernel version if that should help

Linux frostmourne 4.2.0-27-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 22 04:49:08 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Best Answer

In many cases, the issue with "...i'm getting a good connection when im close to the router.. but once i step a few meters away .. the signal drastically drops..." is a sign that the Linux driver is unable to sense and change to the antenna connector that is active, that is, has the wire connected. This is a well-known issue with the rtl8723be. There are a few options.

In the case of the rtl8723be, a revised driver has been written that allows antenna selection. In other words, if you have low or poor signal strength, the driver allows a parameter: ant_sel=2. In most cases, selecting antenna connection #2 provides excellent strength.

I have examined the latest driver for rtl8821ae and I find these manipulable parameters:

parm:           swenc:Set to 1 for software crypto (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           ips:Set to 0 to not use link power save (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           swlps:Set to 1 to use SW control power save (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           msi:Set to 1 to use MSI interrupts mode (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           debug:Set debug level (0-5) (default 0) (int)
parm:           disable_watchdog:Set to 1 to disable the watchdog (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           int_clear:Set to 0 to disable interrupt clear before set (default 1)
 (bool)

There is no ant_sel parameter.

Another option is to open the computer, following, of course, all the precautions listed in the service manual that I am confident that you can find on line. Find the wireless card and change the antenna connector to the opposite post: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Nzk2WDg3Nw==/z/XmYAAOSweW5VRppE/$_1.JPG?set_id=880000500F In this example, which may or may not be exactly like your wireless card, if your wire is on post A, change it to post M.

Replace the cover, battery, etc. and restart the computer. Is the wireless signal strength good? If so, you have confirmed that this is an ant_sel issue.

If that is the case, I suggest you file an issue against the driver here: https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/issues

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