Network Connection Curiosities [solved]

[bilyo]

These are not serious problems. I'm just curious about what is going on. My laptop usually sits just 3 feet from the wireless router. When I first boot up, the connection is made without problem and the 5-bar indicator in the panel shows only one bar. When I touch the icon, and information box pops up saying (among other things): Connected to "network name" (Link Level: 0%). Any networking I do goes smoothly and reasonably quickly. When done with that session, I usually just close the lid and let the computer sleep.  When I come back to it later, I open the lid and it reconnects, but now I have a full 5 bars and it says (Link Level: 100%).  That sure looks better, but I see no discernible change in performance.  I have looked up information on "link level", but most of what I find is not very meaningful to me and I find no references to percentages.  Can someone tell me what this means (in simpleton terms)?
The other curiosity is that when I click on the connection icon the "Network Center" opens showing both wired and wireless adapters.  Clicking on the wireless (eth0) used to show me a list of all available connections in the area.  It no longer does this and I'm not sure when this changed.  It doesn't seem to cause a problem.  Again, I'm just curious.
Thanks

[T6]

the first, i never experienced that but i have seen that the icon is not fast or updates quick so it is not accurate

about the second, it sounds like the recent update of wpa_supplicant is doing something to your connection

for others, there is no network on the list and you can't connect to your own network, the solution is delete the network adapter and recreate it, all this can be done in configure your computer/network and internet in delete  adapter and create connection buttons

[bilyo]

I added the 2nd "curiosity" to my post as an afterthought and didn't check other postings first. Sorry.  I see now that there are others having similar, but more serious, related issues.  I have deleted and re-established my connection several times to see if that would solve the issue. No change. If the issues are caused by wpa_supplicant, I wonder if there is a fix underway?

[Yankee]

If the issues are caused by wpa_supplicant, I wonder if there is a fix underway?

I use Open WEP, if WPA is not mandatory you could try Open WEP with just the key.
The modem/router would need to be set to WEP also in the modem/router.

regards,

FF

[T6]

"I use Open WEP, if WPA is not mandatory you could try Open WEP with just the key."

wep passwords can be broken in hours, wpa is alot better, more strong and harder to break

"I have deleted and re-established my connection several times to see if that would solve the issue. No change. If the issues are caused by wpa_supplicant, I wonder if there is a fix underway?"

others are having problems but i haven't seen a report like yours, networks should show up, delete all the adapters and restart machine

it should detect your ethernet card and wifi but shouldn't connect, try to see the list of wireless networks available then

if still you can't see the networks, you can delete the connection and create it again, write the name of the network and write the password when it says unlisted edit manually

[Yankee]

I switched to WPA briefly and the other networks vanished.
The WPA connection was fine otherwise.

Switched back to WEP and they reappeared, but I did have
to delete the connection first and reset and reconfigure it
before it would connect to anything.

FYI

[bilyo]

Here is what usually happens:
1. Remove connections and re-boot. Then, right click on the network icon and select "configure network".
    a. A list of available connections appears, I select the one I want and the "Network Settings" window opens.
    b. All information is correct including encryption (wpa/wpa2). I enter password, proceed through the remaining defaults and connection is made; 5 bars and link level=100%.  All is well.
2. Instead of 1. above, if I left click the network icon the "Network Center" window opens.  However, there usually is no list of available connections even after clicking "refresh" (on unpredictable occasions the list does appear).
3. With the connection made, if I right click on the icon and select "Wireless Networks" from the drop down list, sometimes a complete list appears, but usually only the current connection appears.
    a. If I left click on the current connection:
       (1) The network icon changes from 5 bars to 1 and the link level goes to 0%.
       (2) The "Network Settings" window opens and shows that settings are proper except encryption has reverted to WEP.
    b. The connection still works OK with no noticeable change in performance.
4. If I disconnect the current connection:
    a. Left click the network icon opens "Network Center". However, no list appears. So, no re-connection can be made.
    b. Right click the network icon and select "Wireless Networks". Again, usually only the previous connection appears; sometimes there is a list.
    c. Left clicking the connection name opens the "Wireless Settings" window.
    d. If I either leave the WEP encryption in place or change it to WPA/WPA2 and then click "connect", the connection will fail.
    e. I must go to "Configure Network" in order to re-make the connection.

I hope this provides some clues as to what is going on.
BTW, I don't think I mentioned that I am using Gnome. Don't know if that makes any difference.

[T6]

don't remember what gnome uses to show the signal icon in the taskbar

does your wifi adapter uses native drivers or asks a windows driver when you create the connection?

[Just17]

BTW, I don't think I mentioned that I am using Gnome. Don't know if that makes any difference.

Not Gnome I believe .......  I have somewhat the same happening here while using KDE.

I even tried reverting to an older wpa_supplicant package as others had reported some success with that.

It has made no difference to this install.

Hehehe .....  I even switched off one router because regardless what I did with the set up it insisted on connecting to one router and not the other.
Having switched it off and refreshed the Network Centre window, the router was still listed!

A lot of the time I was getting a wrong IP address when all this was going on.
So I had a connection to a router allegedly but no internet connection 

[bilyo]

It use the standard native driver.  I'm not smart enough to change it to anything else.  Actually, I'm hesitant to mess with it much because, in spite of the funny/strange stuff, it is working.

I noticed that during the configuration process, it provides an opportunity to use a windows driver.  I am dual booting with Win7 so, the win driver would be on the machine somewhere. Would that be a easy/safe/better way to go? What might happen with that arrangement during/after an update that included networking stuff?

With all this discussion, we may have lost my original question regarding link level.  Is that something like a measure of signal strength?

[T6]

find the driver in windows 7 folder is hard to do, you need to know which is the inf, dll and other files used by the adapter

it is simpler to download the driver from the right website and unzip them or install them and see where the temporary files are stored, from there you can copy the files mentioned

about if it is a good idea use windows drivers, some cards have dual support, native on linux or ndiswrapper using windows drivers, it is preferably to use the xp drivers, not the win 7 but should work

it is possible that windows drivers for your card works better, worth to try

[Just17]

Regarding 'Link Level' ......  it is a general indication of the strength of connection between the two wireless devices.
It is not an absolute indication.

Also it might be somewhat behind in indicating the level ....  you see 0% which implies no connection yet you have connection - this is probably a slow update of the level.

I would not worry about it at all.

At best it is only an indication of the level when last measured.

[bilyo]

Thanks for all the help and advice.  I think as long as it's working, I'll leave it alone.  As "they" say: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I guess that what ever is going on will either become better or worse with subsequent updates.  I'll deal with it as needed then.

[T6]

seeing the weird errors some users experienced(me included) it seems that wpa_supplicant will have to get a retouch or something to make everyone happy, it is working well for some but not all

fortunately as you say, you have a working connection so it can wait a bit more

[bilyo]

Follow up to my beginning post and Nov. 7 reply:  Two events occurred this past Friday: through synaptic, I upgraded to PCLOS 2013, and, at the advice of others, I downgraded the firmware on my wireless router to resolve some dropped connection problems. Lo and behold, the Network Center now displays all connections in their full glory. In addition, all the other quirks (Nov 7 reply) have gone away except the stepped bar icon in the panel still shows only one (red) bar when first connected.  If I disconnect and then reconnect, it goes to 4 or 5 bars. I can't say which event resolved the problems. Maybe both.
Thought you would like to know.