[ SOLVED ] Lite and wireless adaptors (usb)

[Şerban S.]

Great!

I'm happy this went on a constructive path.
The Linux Lite 7.0, might help a little too.
Having a new kernel and some new firmware, might even get things far more better, but for now, we're on the suppositions ground.
Anyway, in spite of all adversities, you managed to solve the problem. At least, as it looks so far.

best regards, Șerban.

[Linxer2]

Well, I figured out a workaround for this issue. I will quickly summarize an recap so as to keep this all together.
Initial problem 1: I had concerns that a wireless usb wifi adaptor device would never activate or show in any version of linux. In other distros, finding and installing these drivers is tricky, but in Linux Lite, the 3rd party driver manager that this distro comes with seemed to work some magic on its own. Using that got the device working quickly.
Solution 1: Scan and install drivers from the driver manager lite comes with.

Initial Problem 2: The concerns of the entire post here turned into an issue keeping my iphone based wireless hotspot connected to the network. I had confirmed in advance that this was an existing issue on most if not all distributions of linux, even though the phone itself appeared to be the center of the issue, despite being functional. Wifi hotspot would be found and working, but auto-drop after five minutes and rendered unable to reconnect without a full linux reboot. I had a linux mint with the exact same issue.
Solution 2: I was happy to find that despite lacking any understanding as to why, disabling the IPV6 trafiic mode for the specific hotspot connection has solved the problem, permenantly so. Doing this initially did not work when I performed it in mint, and the results were wonky as I changed and reverted lots of network settings specific to that connection. In both the case with mint and lite, disabling or ignoring the IPV6 protocol prevented the device from disconnecting (all other settings were as default values). I am currently logged in from that hotspot and it has been over an hour with no drop, tested more than once. I know that was not the initial concern of the post, but now this could be a solution if anyone like me is struggling with a random network drop on hotspot connections. What's going on under the code is anybody's guess. The network speed is pretty fast too, despite the bottlenecks of the physical hardware.

[Şerban S.]

Hi!

Well, I can barely figure out a solution. The 2 G support here, is somehow in its last days.
There is a huge marketing war here for the 5G technology. It's a long debate here. The thing is that we have a fast internet here (including the wireless one). Mostly on the 4G. The 3G is still supported.
As an example, my wife works in Germany and she has a 5G Cube subscription. Although the marketing BS goes like "the latest and the greatest" she often experiences bottlenecking and even network dropouts. We do a lot of Zoom meetings so even if I can get connected, if she experiences a narrow bandwidth event, connection drops and we have to start over.
And we stay in touch, everyday.
As I see it, the only workaround available, is a more powerful router. Unfortunately, a powerful router, usually goes beyond the 100 USD range. A really powerful one (some 5000 meters range)  goes above 200 USD.
I found this on the local market:
https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/tp-link-archer-ax21-review/
Now, judging from the specs, it should do the coverage required for an outdoor usage of the devices (say, laptop).
The real problem though, consists in the type of materials included in the building's walls. Any kind of metallic reinforcement, works like a Faraday cage and worsens the signal.
The other factor is humidity (rain, mist), which also spreads the signal further.
Theoretically, a common router sends the signal at about 150 - 300 meters. But experience says otherwise...
If you can test a better router without the need to buy it, that would be great.
At least, you can make an educated guess/choice.
A hardware related forum with a network devices category, might also help finding real user feedback.
I rarely base my buying decisions on manufacturer presentation. It' unreliable. Besides, I never met a seller saying "Go to the other store, I sell s**t stuff here!"
I usually seek user feedback, look for many opinions, PROs and CONs (if any).
Anyway, I'm sure that if we can find a solution, many people will be interested, since there are lots of people here that already use and want to revive old machines (laptops, desktops).
As for me, I'm also very found of my ASUS X200MA netbook and since I can use Linux Lite 6.6 on it, that's a "thumbs up!" for Linux Lite, generally speaking and for this community, in particular.
ASUS X200MA is an 9 years old machine and still works fine, with a 2024 OS release, in spite of its modest specs!

Best regards, Șerban!

[Linxer2]

Thanks.
I am not opposed to the general idea of switching back to an android phone. I do however have issues with them, and the one of all issues I cannot tolerate are the ones where calls cannot be completed to the phone even when nothing is wrong with it, texts that get delayed (incoming) up to 12 hours intermittently, or anything else related to the most basic functions any phone should do.
I have heard the saying once, and it rings too true for me, "iphones suck at basically everything, except, as just a phone, they work really well." Never knew why, but I can agree with this from experience.
I've had other terrible luck from just picking a good android phone.
One I had used a processor from the EU (I live in the states), which meant the highest possible network band was 2G (in america, 4G in EU), which is already discontinued out here.
Another phone I got which I still use as a media-only phone basically messed up my ability to get calls and texts just because I tried to degoogle it. Must have been a carrier thing embedded or something.
I have one semi-okay phone I'd use if my iphone were to go away, but it is unreliable since the speaker output just vanishes at random for no reason (where even a reboot would not bring it back, but waiting long enough will).

Don't get me wrong, if I could find the phone that just works, is android, and at least has hotspot capability, I'd jump on it, but I seem to have horrible luck finding one. I know for a fact that super-market store sold phones are trash, so those are out too.

It has gotten me a bit more interested in the basic issue though.
The summary of the problem is that iphone hotspot connections to linux (versus android) are unreliable. I will do some testing and generate some output in the terminal monday and see what I can come up with. I can do that much since I can at least establish a working network connection for a few minutes at a time.

[Şerban S.]

Hi, again!

I've been thinking on some of the here pointed out ideas:

[...] the desired connection I need is not with a wifi router, it is with a wireless hotspot. [...] I am using mobile data on a phone  [...]

I get it!
Nevertheless, I never had a great relationship with the satellite data transfer. The fees for using phone network data support, is per MB and this skyrockets the bills...
I guess you can imagine that if you consider that each move you make on an IT device is translated into some bits/bytes (an emoticon, for one!), it's easy for me to figure out how come that the said "free GBs" fly out on the window for so many.
As for the "unlimited traffic" claimed by more and more networks, it's just marketing hype. Actually, the mostb common limit is 50 GB/subscription. After that, the extra-cost gets into play and you find yourself paying lots of $$$$$$$.
As a showcase: My current ISP bill goes almost constantly at about 24 - 25 euros/month, for: 4 SIMS (Phones) and Internet Fiberlink 500 (which according to the four test-sites, is very close to the claims).
I used sometimes the network data but my 5 GB limit drained out quite fast so I put an end to this. I keep it only as a backup solution for really special situations.
Coverage is also good, at a range of about 5 miles (some 7,5 8 km) outside the boundaries of the towns/cities.

[...] I don't use public wifi [...]

Same here! Mostly, because of the security issues. Unencripted data, leaves a lot of space for "dark manoeuvres" and there are lots of people that are happy and very willing to exploit such opportunities.

I think the problem is still with the iphone itself. This happens less often if not at all if the hotspot comes from an android phone...

I'd go for this solution! An Android phone, with a decent specs list (8 cores, 128 GB storage and 6 GB RAM) goes at about 190 - 250 USD (new) and some 150 - 200 on the SH market.
Take a look here:

https://flip.ro/

Prices are in lei, but you can get a quotation for the current level on any currency site.
As for now, 1 euro = 4,97 lei; 1 USD = 4,60 lei.

As a showcase:
https://flip.ro/magazin/xiaomi/telefon-mobil-xiaomi-redmi-note-12-pro-5g-128gb-midnight-black/75268067/?shape=Ca%20nou
Price is 1000 lei, that is 217 USD (202 euro).
Last year, I bought a new Samsung A03, with 133 euro (141 USD). Main specs: 8 cores, 64 GB storage, 4 GB RAM, dual SIM.

I hope you'll find a solution. I'd go for testing on a telative/friend's Android phone and then choose the most convenient list of specs (price/specs).

Best regards!

[Linxer2]

That all makes sense, but the desired connection I need is not with a wifi router, it is with a wireless hotspot. Most devices refer to its input/output as "wifi," though it isn't always the case. For this one, I am using mobile data on a phone and enabling a wireless extension of that data as a hotspot. USB tethering is unlikely mostly because I can never get it to work, on windows or linux for that matter. The network adapter picks up the hotspot, links to it, and allows me to use it for some time, (6 minutes), but then pretends after that it can never find this signal again, even if I were to totally reboot the entire phone (the hotspot). Rebooting linux remedies the issue, but again, only for 6 minutes.

I can't take a wifi router to work, and I don't use public wifi (I have my own reasons for that).
I think the problem is still with the iphone itself. This happens less often if not at all if the hotspot comes from an android phone...

[Şerban S.]

Hi!

I'm glad you made it so far!
As for the issue, maybe you should read some articles about connection sharing over WiFi.
Theory, sounds gorgeous but practice sucks...

[...]
the connection works great for about six minutes, then that connection drops.
[...]

I have a very good internet connection. That is: around 390 MB/s both ways.
Yet, there is a catch. Those values, go for a WIRED CONNECTION.
Although the router is optical, the bandwidth on a WiFi connection, drops to at most 9MB/s and fluctuates from 4,5 to almost 10 MB/s.
Why is that so?
Generally speaking, all WiFi connections are way slower than a wired one. Further more, you need to get the bigger picture: Each device that uses the connection, divides the bandwidth.
So, assuming you have 3 devices, your bandwidth per device is 9 MB/s / 3, which is some 3,33 MB/s.
At this rate, it is unlikely that you can make any use of the connection and is the most likely reason for the failure.
You have to understand that your bandwidth as a user, is limited by your ISP, to this value, unless you pay a subscription for a fixed IP, which might increase your guaranteed bandwidth to some 20 MB/s.
For more, you need to buy a business plan, which goes very high in terms of pricing.
Unfortunately, the figures they present on flyers, refer to wired connections and nobody will guarantee you a certain amount of WiFi bandwidth (I assume that you're at a common level of financing, like me for one, not the "Elon Musk kind...").
Far more, the figures represent Mega Baud / sec (Mbps) which are different from MB - Mega Bytes.
Comercially, my type of subscription is called "Fiberlink 500", yet, if you compute, (500000/1024 = 488 MB). Given the fact that I have 2 phones and the desktop on the same WiFi connection, it is unlikely that the desktop can handle Zoom (or any other similar App), for one. Even on the wired connection, when weather goes sideways, I experience temporary connection breakdown.
So, if that helps, I suggest you use some Internet SpeedTest (There are enough available.)
You can use it to test your phone's speed and the laptop's speed alike.
Check if it matches (or maybe exceeds) the above values. (5 - 10 MB/s)

Best regards, Șerban!

[Linxer2]

More Updates:

Wow, of all the things to have random success with, I got lucky here. As I continued to prepare the device, I made updates with ethernet, and turns out Lite has a third party driver manager and updater (I'm used to mint and never see that anywhere).

So that was nice. It detected and activated the wireless device with ease. In a sense you could say this is now solved, but there is still one lingering problem. I think the existing network issue I'm about to describe is not device specific. I say this because I have 2 other linux laptops that all have the same issue even with different network cards. I'll ask for help once more if anyone is willing to give an answer.

It might be a common issue. On mint, ubuntu, or lite, no matter the device (wireless), if anything connects to a hotspot as wifi, the connection works great for about six minutes, then that connection drops. It will then be unable to reconnect (even if I reset the hotspot) until a full system reboot from the laptop is made. This has also happened before to my home wifi network, but the frequency is extremely rare by comparison. With my hotspot phone it is guaranteed to happen, and I could never really figure out why. The hotspot device in question is an iphone, and other android or windows devices that connect to it do not ever have this issue. There may be a specific forum to this bit, but it will take me a while to search.

The speed of the laptop in total is not bad, totally within what I expected it to do. (one reason I don't want to invest in money on it is simply because I cannot secure it too well where I work, and if I bring it, I add about 1% risk it being stolen).

Also, while I'm here, here is that code output. Might not be useful now, but maybe it could help with the hotspot issue. The usb adapter device specs is as I mentioned in my previous message.

System:    Host: linuxlite-AOD257 Kernel: 4.4.0-210-generic i686 (32 bit)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Ubuntu 16.04 xenial
Machine:   System: Acer product: AOD257 v: V1.14
           Mobo: Acer model: JE06_PT Bios: INSYDE v: V1.14 date: 09/22/2011
CPU:       Single core Intel Atom N455 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
           clock speeds: max: 1666 MHz 1: 1666 MHz 2: 1666 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Atom Processor D4xx/D5xx/N4xx/N5xx Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           tty size: 80x24 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-210-generic
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (2.2% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500BPVT size: 250.1GB
           Optical: No optical drives detected.


_________

Summary of Remaining issues: Wifi is now possible, but desired connection to hotspot device randomly drops every six minutes and cannot be reestablished without a linux reboot (a common issue between the hotspot device and ANY other laptop and ANY other linux distro).

[Linxer2]

Progress and small updates:

Well it turns out that I actually had a spare adapter just lying around and forgot about, so my plan is to see if I can plug in my old TrendNet USB AC1200 Dual Band Wifi adapter stick [Model = TEW-805UB] It is usb 3 but this unit should support 2.0 as well. With most wifi sticks this is where I run into the difficulty. The good news is that I kind of know what I'm working with. No, these things do not just work out of the box when plugging them into linux, be it mint, lite, ubuntu, or anything else, in my experience at least. Also I think someone asked for the specific device. I did mention it is an Acer Aspire One Netbook, D257-13404.

As suggested I will also run the sudo inxi -c 0 -ACdGMNSz command, but I will need about a week of time to even try since I've got some parts I need to work with first. I'm not going to be upgrading the physical components though. This Acer already works just well enough on system specs even as it is. I don't need it to be fast. I just need it to work with a wireless hotspot connection when I'm out of the house. That said, not sure if the ethernet adapter you mentioned would be a good idea, but I will look into it more since I wasn't even aware those were a thing. The netbook would have to connect to a hotspot from my smart phone (and since it is apple, tethering might be more challenging). Of course, this is for when I want to use it out of the house.

In about a week or less, I will copy and paste the output of the code as Şerban S suggested, as this should make some initial steps easier. I will try this with the USB stick plugged in, just in case it detects that device even if it isn't visible to the user. Clearly I know I would have to install some driver, just finding out where is the next big step.

[Şerban S.]

Hi!

I've been looking at the specs.
It's really a very old machine and since the amount of RAM is 1 GB, it's unlikely that you'll be able to make it run nowadays.
There is yet a hope. It's a HT CPU so it might help a little. If it does support a SSD, than this is the approach.
Now if you can do this shift from HDD to SSD, than the next step is to use the USB to solve the networking problem.
There are some devices that you may use in order to get connected. Since I'm less found to wireless, I recommend to use a device that offers you wired LAN (Ethernet to USB Adapter.)
I'm from România, so it's difficult for me to point you towards a specific store but I had trouble installing WiFi drivers on an ASUS M415U laptop (my wife's laptop).
So, I used a device that works on a USB C and provides 4 USB 3.x ports and a RJ45 (Ethernet).
Now, given the fact that this solved the WiFi drivers (proprietary!) problem, I guess this approach might solve yours too.
I also have a dongle that is useful for this exact type of annoyances.

Here is the output of "lsusb":

Code: [Select]

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0fe6:9700 ICS Advent DM9601 Fast Ethernet Adapter.Manufacturer is Konig.
All you need to do is hook it into any available USB port and jack in the LAN cable. You should be able to connect to your router. Linux Lite will tell you that you are connected to a LAN.
My main problem is that the machine is so old that I couldn't find a decent specs list so I have no idea on what USB it offers.
That's what I could find:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Aspire-One-D257.58255.0.html
Further more, it's very unclear if the architecture is 32 or 64 bit since it looks that there are also 32 bit CPUs with the same code name.
To go further, I recommend you to issue the following in the Terminal:

Code: [Select]

sudo inxi -c 0 -ACdGMNSz
Post please the output in this thread and maybe we will be able to find some workaround.
I also recommend you to search for a 2 GB RAM chip. Having only 1 GB of RAM, makes the machine almost useless nowadays.
I had some years ago a netbook ASUS X51LR, single core and I could find a 2 GB RAM.
So, if you really want to revive this machine, then this is the brief list of changes:
1. Switch to SSD, if possible. The smallest one might have 60 GB (20 GB Root, 20 GB /home and 20 GB for personal data.);
2. Get a 2 GB biscuit;
3. Get a LAN to USB dongle (any match with the above type).
4. Get the inxi report and post it here.

Good luck!

[Jean-Marc B]

Sorry, I'm not able to help, but I'm curious : I'd be glad to know what you'll use the so calle "relic" for ? I've got at least 2 older notebooks lying somewhere and finding them some use would be fun and better than letting them gather dust. I just need some inspiration you may provide.

Thanks.

[kramyugtaht]

From what I understand some USB Wifi adapters will work out of the box/plug and play because the drivers are now part of the kernel, so the key seems to be what kernel version your particular distro (and that version) is using and I guess whether you can run it with a newer kernel. When I was looking into this recently the models recommended in certain articles tend to be more expensive* but they're only a handful, and I don't know that any given brand will be completely Linux friendly - and again there's the version issue. I typically search the product reviews if there are many on the site that sells them and even found the CLI commands for compiling once for an older MX Linux version, though I don't think that's needed anymore with the newer kernel.

I don't know if there is an easy reference for which version the 32 bit LL 3.8 used or can use, that would be the question in my mind.

* BTW I'm waiting for a nano adapter to be shipped for under $1 (including shipping in the domestic US) - it's an older N model but if it turns out to be linux compatible I'll be sure to make some noise about it and do the research to see what might be needed to get it going. Don't know their inventory level but it's not a one off either.

[Linxer2]

Linux Lite 3.x has been unsupported since April 2021 and should not be used.
On a more general point, wifi adaptors from Panda have been recommended on this forum as being Linux compatible.

Thank you. I will see how far I get and go with a Panda adapter if I run into too much trouble.
I had no choice in using 3x series of lite for this particular laptop due to certain limitations. I read somewhere that any version of 4 and up would not support something I needed (can't remember exactly what it said). 64 Bit will not work on that build, but I think what I read was about wifi capabilities.

Things are going well so far. Looks like it's time for me to carefully go through the steps of getting the device recognized when plugged in, and installing a driver for it to work (probably via ethernet). Wish me luck. I'll post an update Monday night.

[stevef]

Linux Lite 3.x has been unsupported since April 2021 and should not be used.
On a more general point, wifi adaptors from Panda have been recommended on this forum as being Linux compatible.

[Linxer2]

Greetings all.
I have been gradually repurposing an ancient relic with a fresh offline install of Linux Lite. I have realized that I am one device short to give it wifi capability. Acer Aspire one notebook, no usb 3.0, and internal network card has long since been dead.

This is kind of an easy forum cause I'm only looking for suggestions (steps may vary). One thing I know out of the box is that rigging a usb wifi adapter to work on linux is a nightmare. I have yet to decide on a device from the store, and wonder which kind if adapter stick plays nice with linux. If anything, I would like for this to be more of a planner to make this less of a headache before beginning. I attempted to get a wifi stick to work once in the past on a different system and despite many terminal instructions was never able to, so I can sense what I'm in for.

I know the steps may change depending on which device (adapter) is used, but that's why I wanted to ask here. Anyone recommend something universal on what adapter i should order?
If it's all the same in the end, is there any specific forum or instruction page that perfectly illustrates step-by-step how to properly install any wifi adapter? {Please assume that usb 3.0 is not possible and that the wifi adapter in question does not have linux-specific installation media/disk}.

Note: it is possible to hook directly into Ethernet for any updates, just not permanently. I have not yet connected this 'fresh' install of Linux Lite to the internet. If I need to update anything before installing the stick using Ethernet, please let me know.

Other relevant Info:

ACER modle: Aspire One D257 - 13404
Lite version: 3.8 (32 bit)

> The internal network card adapter inside the unit is 100% fried, so instructions on internal network cards should not be included as valid solutions on this post.