Small community here I know but maybe someone has experienced this.
I recently jumped back into Linux desktop gaming and built a new machine and while most things work pretty well out of the box, I noticed that the wifi constantly drops out when under constant use, like downloading a game from steam. I’m thinking that it’s a driver issue (Realtek RTL8922AE chipset) since none of the other machines are experiencing anything like this.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Not sure if I can help, I’m quite novice but figure I’d brainstorm some troubleshooting.
Could it be related to power saving features of the chipset or overheating?
Is it only dropping while in use and at set intervals? Or if it’s idle or using little power for basic browsing, does it work for long periods and then suddenly fail as soon as you start a big download? Is it only dropping while downloading from steam or does it do the same if you were to download a volume of files saturating the connection? If you were to stream a few 4k YouTube videos, maybe simultaneously, does that make it drop out?
What speed is the router/AP you are connecting to? Is it wifi 7? Is the signal strong? Have you tried connecting to 2.4Ghz instead of 5Ghz and if so, does the problem persist? Any issues with other devices in the network? Is the router/access point overloaded with too many devices (I personally had this issue in the past, with too many wifi devices slowing my router and dropping connections randomly).
Have you tried connecting to another router? I presume this is a desktop so can’t take it to a public space, so maybe even your phone hotspot if available to use could be used to eliminate that as the issue?
Don’t think it matters, but which DE? This is anecdotal but I have a device on bazzite gnome with another Realtek chipset and no issues. It was previously on Nobara KDE, and if there were multiple wifi devices in close proximity, this laptop’s wifi would slow to a halt and was unusable. The fix was likely related to a newer kernel included with the change to bazzite.
Hope something here helps.
Nothing is overheating as far as I can tell via Heath status monitoring.
And no it’s happening in heavily usage or light usage, it’ll just start losing bandwidth until it’s a zero at which point just disconnecting and reconnecting via the menu bar will get out to work again. Sometimes of you leave it alone it’ll reconnect on it’s own.
It’s not the router, it’s fine and the other devices, including the old computer, is connected fine with no issues should as always.
So from what I can tell from a cursory search is that this new realtek chip does not have a Linux driver so I’m going to guess whatever driver version bazzite is using is probably causing the instability, which if it is the case, would suck.
Have you tried it with Windows? I hate to offer that as a testing point, but maybe a spare hard drive with a Win install can help you determine if it’s hardware or software related. Or maybe you can test the card in a different Windows machine.
I mention this, because your description reminds me of when my Wi-Fi card was in the process of dying. Would connect sometimes, drop out at others, cycling would sometimes fix the issue and sometimes not. If your card is dropping out randomly, you need to see if it’s a wonky driver in Linux or dying hardware. If it works perfectly in Windows (stress test it), suspect a driver issue.
You said you recently built this machine, but is the card new as well?
The chip is part of the new motherboard, I doubt it’s a hardware issue but your right it could be defective and yeah the thought did cross my mind to install Windows 10 and the updated drives but damn that’s a large task when with these new boards have the m.2 slots are all behind the GPU.
Sigh, the perils of gaming on Linux I suppose.
Sigh, the perils of gaming on Linux I suppose.
I think it’s just the perils of owning a computer 😉
I was able to figure my bad Wi-Fi card issue out by doing it in reverse (Windows to Linux), and seeing the issue persist. Replaced the card and everything works again.
Another thing you might try is reseating the Wi-Fi card. It’s probably some sort of m.2 E-key deal if it came with the board, though it may be surrounded by a housing or the VRM heatsink (usually removable, but still a hassle).
Another thing I gotta ask is: you’re using antennas, right? I’ve seen posts from people before who build a new computer but don’t know that you have to use external antennas for desktop PCs. I don’t mean to impugn your intelligence, but it’s one of those things that unfortunately doesn’t go without saying.
If you do find out that the Wi-Fi card is the culprit, RMA that sucker. You should get non-broken hardware if it’s brand new!