Title: Intel Wireless 5100 AGN very often fails to connect and is also extremely slow at establishing a connection Description of problem: Establishing connection to any wireless network (be it secured or unsecured, strong signal of weak signal) takes much much longer than on Windows on the same machine (the same network). Also, on Windows it never fails to connect while on Fedora 15 it takes dozens of trials before it finally succeeds. I am connecting to either a WPA2 Enterprise (PEAP, MSCHAPv2) or an unsecured network (both with very strong signals). It really is frustrating to see that Windows performs so much better and that I have to wait for 10+ minutes before it finally decides it's the right time to connect. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Linux 2.6.38.8-32.fc15.i686 #1 SMP Mon Jun 13 20:01:50 UTC 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux Gnome Shell : i686, 3.0.2 Release : 1.fc15 iwl5000-firmware : 8.83.5.1_1 Release : 1.fc15 Hardware : HP EliteBook 2730p (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/321957-321957-64295-3740645-3955549-3784558-3784561-3853561.html) CPU : Intel® Core™ 2 Duo LV Processor SL9400 (1.86 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB) Chipset : Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset ICH9M-Enhanced Graphics : Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD Network controller : Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] HD : SSD OCZ Vertex 2 1.8" 90GB How reproducible: Connect to any network. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Try to connect to any network. 2. Wait. 3. Wait. 4. Wait. 5. Try again. Actual results: Fails to connect a lot of times and is also very slow to connect. Expected results: Quick connect. Additional info: None.
Pretty sure iwl5000-firmware is not the right component, assigning to kernel for now...
Can you attach the output of dmesg and/or the contents of /var/log/messages shortly after a connection attempt?
You may also check 2.6.38.8-33, which contains iwlwifi connection stability fix (http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=248960), and some module parameters like 11n_disable=0, swcrypto=1, plpc_check=0 ,bt_coex_active=0 (it's iwlcore parameter).
Created attachment 510174 [details] An excerpt from '/var/log/messages' with logs covering the WiFi connection attempts.
(In reply to comment #2) > Can you attach the output of dmesg and/or the contents of /var/log/messages > shortly after a connection attempt? Here is a short explanation of how things happened (with reference to the attached 'messages.wifi.slow' attachment): 1.) System booted up. 2.) I logged in. 3.) Network manager started with attempts to connect to the 'eduroam' (WPA2 Enterprise) wireless network (at around 22:06:12). 4.) NM timed out three times (this manifested itself in the GUI by asking me to enter the password again). 5.) After the third time-out it finally gave up and (at 22:08:32) tried to connect to another network (called 'Lapwing', unsecured). 6.) The connection to 'Lapwing' succeeded at around 22:08:56. Not too shabby, but 24 seconds are quite a bit more than the couple of seconds it takes Windows to connect to 'Lapwing' OR 'eduroam' on the same machine (at exactly the same location in space, and very close in time). NOTE: Please take a look at 22:08:55. What is the meaning of this?
(In reply to comment #3) > You may also check 2.6.38.8-33, which contains iwlwifi connection stability fix > (http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=248960), and some module > parameters like 11n_disable=0, swcrypto=1, plpc_check=0 ,bt_coex_active=0 (it's > iwlcore parameter). Is there a way to configure yum to use this update? Or should I wait for it to hit upstream?
No if packages are not available in updates-testing repo. You have do download proper package (i686 or x86_64 see "uname -m") and install by "rpm -ivh package".
So this is more like PEAP/MsCHAPv2 problem, not generic one? > NOTE: Please take a look at 22:08:55. What is the meaning of this? Are you using NM v9 ? http://blogs.gnome.org/dcbw/2011/06/14/networkmanager-and-dual-stack-addressing/
Perhaps you should try to downgrade NM to v8 and see if that helps.
Or disable IPv6, I think this could be done in EditConnections-> mark your connection -> Edit -> IPv6 Settings -> Method: Ignore
Created attachment 510554 [details] A new set of log messages (after setting IP6 to ignore).
Created attachment 510555 [details] The actual list of wireless networks at my location.
1.) I think it's hard to tell whether setting the IP6 configuration to 'ignore' sped up the unsecured connection. In any case, right now I had really big trouble connecting to it. In fact, even after tens of tries it didn't connect (see attached 'messages.20110630'). 2.) The IP6 'ignore' thing did not help at all with the WPA2 secured connection. It took a lot of tries before it finally connected. If you look at the messages file, it started connecting at '00:54:41' and finally connected at '01:03:56'. The list of wireless networks can be found in 'wireless.networks'. Oh, and the version of NetworkManager I'm using: Name : NetworkManager Arch : i686 Epoch : 1 Version : 0.8.9997
Did you try kernel and module parameters from comment 3? If that not help, could you also check if issue is still present in current upstream driver, using compat-wireless-next packages from: http://people.redhat.com/sgruszka/compact_wireless.html
(In reply to comment #14) > Did you try kernel and module parameters from comment 3? If that not help, > could you also check if issue is still present in current upstream driver, > using compat-wireless-next packages from: > http://people.redhat.com/sgruszka/compact_wireless.html I have installed the kernel, I will try it out now. Where do I set the iwlcore parameters from comment #3? In '/etc/modprobe.d'? What file should I create? What exactly do I put into it? I did the following: # cat > /etc/modprobe.d/iwlcore.conf <<EOF options iwlcore 11n_disable=0 swcrypto=1 plpc_check=0 bt_coex_active=0 EOF Is it okay?
It should be options iwlagn 11n_disable=0 swcrypto=1 plpc_check=0 bt_coex_active=0 on newer kernel, or options iwlagn 11n_disable=0 swcrypto=1 plpc_check=0 options iwlcore bt_coex_active=0 on older kernel, because bt_coex_active option was moved. You can check modinfo iwlagn modinfo iwlcore to see, where the option is placed on kernel you are using.
(In reply to comment #16) > options iwlagn 11n_disable=0 swcrypto=1 plpc_check=0 bt_coex_active=0 err, it should be 11n_disable=1
Created attachment 512275 [details] Still no luck. These are the messages after the modprobe settings (also attached).
Created attachment 512276 [details] The iwlagn modprobe settings.
Created attachment 512277 [details] The iwlcore modprobe settings.
No luck. It still has trouble connecting. It timed out again a couple of times (see messages). Can you verify the 'iwlagn.conf' and 'iwlcore.conf' settings?
Options seems to be fine, you can validate them for yourself doing something like: > for i in /sys/module/iwlagn/parameters/* ; do echo $i: `cat $i` ; done Logs indicate that there is problem with association: > Jul 11 19:03:40 toncka NetworkManager[794]: <warn> Activation (wlan0/wireless): association took too long. > Jul 11 19:03:40 toncka NetworkManager[794]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none') [50 60 0] > Jul 11 19:03:40 toncka NetworkManager[794]: <warn> Activation (wlan0/wireless): asking for new secrets however I have no idea where the problem possibly could be. Perhaps I would try to configure AP with similar PEAP/MSCHAPv2 setup and try to reproduce locally, but you wrote that there are also problems to associate with unencrypted network, and that definitely works here. On the meantime could you check compat-wireless-next drivers from http://people.redhat.com/sgruszka/compact_wireless.html and see if issue is not fixed by a chance in current upstream driver.
I am using now 2.6.40-4.fc15.i686. Still the same problem. I have another machine (with Centrino Wireless-N 1000) that has been running Fedora 14 and now also Fedora 15, but it worked okay in both cases. It also worked on Windows. I haven't been able to actually try the compat-wireless drivers you're providing. Can I use them for the new kernel? How can I remove them if it turns out that it doesn't work and I am totally without connection?
Yes, current F-15 compat-wireless-next is for kernel 2.6.40-4.fc15. You have to assure you can choose other kernel at grub when is starts. Than in case of any troubles you can boot other kernel (or the same if it does boot) and remove package by "rpm -e compat-wireless-next".
I've installed the compat drivers and rebooted the machine into kernel 2.6.40-4.fc15. Immediately after logging into Gnome Shell I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was connected to the WPA2 PEAP/MSCHAPv2 network. Just to make sure I tried to connect to the other (unsecured) network. And it worked reasonably okayish (took a bit longer than what I see on Windows, but it still connected in a reasonable time). But then when I tried to connect to another unsecured network, the same symptoms appeared. It tried to reconnect for a minute or so, and then it tried to connect to the WPA2 network. It timed-out a couple of times (asked me for passwords)... Anyways, it is not much better... I'll send the '/var/log/messages' soon.
Created attachment 520333 [details] These are the messages after installing the compat-wireless-next 2.6.40-4.fc15. It is a bit better--it at least connects after less retries.
I have installed F16 and the problem is seemingly gone. Also, it seems to affect only me. So I suggest closing this issue.