Issue with WiFi randomly causing my entire PC to slow down

khoraski · 05-06-2016, 12:00 PM

I've been having this strange issue since the day I switched to Debian like a year ago, and I've just dealt with it.

Basically, every once in awhile, my entire system will begin to "skip". Like, if I'm looking at a spinning circle, the spinning circle will begin to spin a bit, then freeze, spin a bit, then freeze, spin a bit, then freeze. If I'm watching a video, I will hear some audio, then it'd freeze, some audio, then it'd freeze, etc.

When this happens, I always lose internet connection. I figured out, however, that if I restart my internet by clicking the internet icon then turning Wireless off then on again, the problem goes away.

However, sometimes when I turn Wireless off, it disappears from my panel and I can no longer turn it back on, and I have to reboot my entire computer to get it to come back.

This is a very consistent issue and happens multiple times a day.

I'm guessing this has something to do with my WiFi drivers? I don't know how I would check that or even fix them.

I'm running Debian 8.2 x64 using Cinnamon if this is of any help.

Anyone have any ideas?

273 · 05-06-2016, 12:23 PM

I'm sorry, this is a little confusing, do you mean that:
Now and again every application and your Window Manager become unresponsive until you restart your network connection.
Or:
All network traffic stalls?

The former is weird and I'd guess may not even be network related.
The latter could be due to your network device, it's connection or the drivers used for it.

So, assuming you mean that your network is freezing randomly are you using a USB or built-in wireless card and what do lsusb or lspci list?

khoraski · 05-06-2016, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 273

I'm sorry, this is a little confusing, do you mean that:
Now and again every application and your Window Manager become unresponsive until you restart your network connection.
Or:
All network traffic stalls?

Both.
Well, sort of.

The programs in my window manager don't become unresponsive, they just begin to skip.
Usually my internet completely cuts out, but sometimes I can still load pages.

Quote:

The former is weird and I'd guess may not even be network related.
The latter could be due to your network device, it's connection or the drivers used for it.

It always happens until I restart my WiFi, though. If it's not related to my network device, why would it be affected by me restarting it?

Quote:

So, assuming you mean that your network is freezing randomly are you using a USB or built-in wireless card and what do lsusb or lspci list?

I'm using the built-in card.

lsusb:

Code:

Bus 003 Device 002: ID 8087:8001 Intel Corp. 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f2:b446 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0930:0225 Toshiba Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 026: ID 062a:4101 Creative Labs 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

lspci:

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Host Bridge -OPI (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Integrated Graphics (rev 09)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Broadwell-U Audio Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB xHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP MEI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev e3)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #3 (rev e3)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #4 (rev e3)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #6 (rev e3)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP USB EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP LPC Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Wildcat Point-LP SMBus Controller (rev 03)
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)
08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 07)
09:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)

Shadow_7 · 05-06-2016, 08:40 PM

Check for newer firmware for your wifi device. The one that ships with debian is often OLD which doesn't gel well with NEW hardware. Relative to debians release date. Otherwise periodically stop your wifi, bring down the network, unload and reload the wifi module, bring up the network and carry on. For me I git the kernel.org firmware and update and build the rtlwifi_new sources from github to keep my wifi optimal. But tbh, I'd rather ethernet since it's less strain on an otherwise low spec'd machine. Most of which will be moot once the new-ness I need is the oldness that spans most distros. Linux... better with age.

jefro · 05-06-2016, 09:21 PM

Set a terminal up with command top running maybe for clues. Some distro's have a performance monitor to view loads too but they sometimes take up a lot of resources to run.

Never hurts to run a radar or other program to see what close by wifi is on what channels. Sometimes you may even not be able to see the interference. Radar and some other devices could cause issues.

Could see if some friend has a usb wifi that you might borrow to test. I've seen them as low as $5.

Look at router logs for clues.