[SOLVED] Netgear Wireless WNA3100M N300 USB Adaptor cuts out.

linustalman · 03-31-2017, 02:55 PM

Hi.

My 'Netgear Wireless WNA3100M N300 USB Adaptor' seems to cut out or sleep even though the Network Manager shows it's connected. I must disable networking and enable again and all is good -- usually only for a short time though. It's very tedious. I have similar issues with other dongles.

I have the firmware-realtek package installed.

Is there a fix of tweaks to remedy this?

Thanks.

ferrari · 04-01-2017, 06:20 PM

The chipset details and driver might be relevant here. You can use the 'usb-devices' command for that. For a NetGear device, you can filter more specifically using something like

Code:

usb-devices|awk '/0846/' RS="\n\n"

In advance of this info, a quick search of the WNA3100M model shows that it is using a Realtek chipset (8046:9021) supported by the rtl8192cu driver. Disregard this if I'm wrong here. A lot may come down to the driver version as reported by

Code:

modinfo rtl8192cu

This thread may be relevant...
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2346138
After trying to disable the driver's power management, and the unsuccessful suggestion to disable power saving in Network Manager, the OP found that upgrading the driver did the trick (refer post #12).

linustalman · 04-02-2017, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

The chipset details and driver might be relevant here. You can use the 'usb-devices' command for that. For a NetGear device, you can filter more specifically using something like

Code:

usb-devices|awk '/0846/' RS="\n\n"

In advance of this info, a quick search of the WNA3100M model shows that it is using a Realtek chipset (8046:9021) supported by the rtl8192cu driver. Disregard this if I'm wrong here. A lot may come down to the driver version as reported by

Code:

modinfo rtl8192cu

This thread may be relevant...
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2346138
After trying to disable the driver's power management, and the unsuccessful suggestion to disable power saving in Network Manager, the OP found that upgrading the driver did the trick (refer post #12).

Hi ferrari.

Code:

usb-devices|awk '/0846/' RS="\n\n"

Code:

T:  Bus=02 Lev=02 Prnt=02 Port=04 Cnt=01 Dev#=  3 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=0846 ProdID=9021 Rev=02.00
S:  Manufacturer=Realtek
S:  Product=NETGEAR WNA3100M
S:  SerialNumber=00eXXXXXX001
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=500mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 4 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=ff Prot=ff Driver=rtl8192cu

I put a few X's in the serial number in case that's sensitive info.

I will check out that Ubuntu thread.

Funny thing is -- this morn the wireless dongle is very fast and stable.

ferrari · 04-02-2017, 04:20 AM

Code:

Vendor=0846 ProdID=9021
Driver=rtl8192cu

Okay, that confirms the chipset and driver in use as expected.

linustalman · 05-27-2017, 01:58 PM

I've gone back to using this dongle after having tried my other wifi adapters for the last number of weeks. This N300 now runs superbly. :-)

ardvark71 · 05-27-2017, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linustalman

I've gone back to using this dongle after having tried my other wifi adapters for the last number of weeks. This N300 now runs superbly. :-)

Hi...

If you would, please mark this thread as "SOLVED," if you consider this issue resolved.

Regards...

linustalman · 05-28-2017, 07:09 AM

Hi guys.

Having been using the N300 for 2 full days with no issues, excellent speeds and signal strength -- today the old issue of cutting out has returned. The signal is also not great.

Yesterday I ran updates and my kernel went from 4.9.0-0.bpo.2-amd64 to 4.9.0-0.bpo.3-amd64 -- I presume this is the reason.

linustalman · 05-29-2017, 06:01 AM

I installed the package linux-headers-4.9.0-0.bpo.3-all-amd64 and rebooted and my wireless connection is great again. I recall having to install header files for a different dongle. I'm not sure how this helps exactly but maybe that's the solution.

ferrari · 05-29-2017, 04:21 PM

The linux-headers package contains C declarations, macro definitions etc. It's used for compiling kernel modules, so won't have any effect here.

linustalman · 05-30-2017, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

The linux-headers package contains C declarations, macro definitions etc. It's used for compiling kernel modules, so won't have any effect here.

I wonder why my wifi was perfect after I installed that package though? I have done other things a few weeks ago (have lost track of all the steps\procedures) to get other dongles to work -- maybe there's something else in the background that kicked in with the new linux-headers?

ferrari · 05-30-2017, 01:28 PM

Only if you were using them to compile against.

linustalman · 06-24-2017, 01:02 PM

As of now, my Netgear N300 works perfectly. I intend to do a fresh install with Debian 9 x64 soon but I want to have my wireless driver settings the same. How can I confirm the exact settings required to repeat in Debian 9? I've done various things to get the Netgear N300 working just right but am not certain of the exact steps to take again.

linustalman · 06-24-2017, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

Only if you were using them to compile against.

Are the deb-src lines in Debian sources.list needed to add drivers from the likes of github?

linustalman · 07-10-2017, 05:20 AM

I'm now on Debian 9 and don't want to jump through hoops to get the Netgear adapter working again. It picks up my SSID but when I click connect it tries to connect but never does. I installed the realtek drivers and will perhaps leave it at that.

linustalman · 08-30-2018, 08:53 AM

Hi guys. I know that this is a very late post to this thread but the only wifi dongle I currently have that works with Debian 9 is the TP-Link TL-WN725N Nano USB Adapter (only needs the firmware-realtek package). If that stops functioning, I'm screwed as my computer is upstairs and my wifi router is downstairs - too far and not practical to run an ethernet cable.

I want to retry getting my Netgear Wireless WNA3100M N300 USB Adaptor working again.

Is this safe?
https://code.google.com/archive/p/ea...ller/downloads

---

At present, it detects my wifi - I click on my SSID and it tries to connect but fails.

---

Just to confirm - a command like this is only required if I get drivers from e.g. github?

Code:

apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,')

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I did this (not sure if I'm going in the right direction) and rebooted but no change:

Code:

sudo modprobe rtl8192cu

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Should I blacklist any drivers in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf or add new driver in /etc/modules?

---

Code:

sudo lsusb

Code:

...
Bus 003 Device 006: ID 0846:9021 NetGear, Inc. WNA3100M(v1) Wireless-N 300 [Realtek RTL8192CU]
...