I have just replaced my old Wireless Access Point which only supported 2.4GHz with a dual-band one (TP-Link Archer C6) which also features TxBF, MU-MIMO (Transmit Beamforming, Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output). Previously, I had no problem connecting to the Wifi. However, my 19.10 laptop will now only connect to the 5GHz network - the 2.4GHz network is detected but will not connect with TxBF, MU-MIMO enabled.
I have another laptop running 18.04 LTS, which can switch between both networks without issue. The 19.10 laptop has an Atheros AR9462 card, while the 18.04 laptop has an Intel 8265NGW card. I have tried swapping the cards, and the 19.10 laptop still won't connect. I have tried booting both laptops with live 19.10 and 18.04 systems from USB. In both cases, 19.10 will only connect to the 5GHz network, while 18.04 will connect to either.
I also have a Realtek RTL8188CUS USB 2.4GHz dongle, this will connect to the 2.4GHz network on 19.10.
I can disable TxBF, MU-MIMO in the access point's settings and use it fine, however I would like to understand why this doesn't work on 19.10.
Wireless card details:
*-network description: Wireless interface product: AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Qualcomm Atheros physical id: 0 bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0 logical name: wlp1s0 version: 01 serial: 30:10:b3:37:a8:9b width: 64 bits clock: 33MHz capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical wireless configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=5.3.0-24-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.64 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11 resources: irq:16 memory:d1000000-d107ffff memory:d1080000-d108ffffdmesg output when connecting to 2.4GHz:
[ 2647.107528] wlp1s0: authenticate with 74:da:88:e1:74:9e
[ 2647.120808] wlp1s0: send auth to 74:da:88:e1:74:9e (try 1/3)
[ 2647.125483] wlp1s0: authenticated
[ 2647.130299] wlp1s0: associate with 74:da:88:e1:74:9e (try 1/3)
[ 2647.232374] wlp1s0: associate with 74:da:88:e1:74:9e (try 2/3)
[ 2647.340427] wlp1s0: associate with 74:da:88:e1:74:9e (try 3/3)
[ 2647.444415] wlp1s0: association with 74:da:88:e1:74:9e timed out4 Answers
In my case disabling and enabling TxBF, MU-MIMO didn't change much. However, switching from wpa_supplicant to iwd fixed the problem.
This approach was originally proposed here:
4New info. as of 25 Aug. 2021:
As of the latest automatic updates on Ubuntu 20.04 today, 24 Aug. 2021, my answer below broke my wifi completely and I had to undo it and go back to using wpa_supplicant.service instead of iwd.service. See my new Q&A here: Ubuntu 20.04 WiFi “No Networks” after latest automatic update today. Your results may vary. Try what I present below anyway, and respond whether it works in the comments, and what system you're using. If it temporarily breaks your system too, it's always really easy to undo, so just try out my answer below anyway and report back.
Original answer from 30 Aug. 2020:
Holy smokes! How infuriating! I just lost 3 hrs today trying to install and set up my brand new TP-Link Omada AC1200 Gigabit EAP225-Outdoor wireless Access Point (AP) (works awesome, by the way!--I get 10~20Mbps download and upload internet at the park 100 yards away now!) all because my stinking Ubuntu 20.04 machine wouldn't connect to the 2.4GHz hotspot during setup.
A google search for "ubuntu cannot authenticate on 2.4ghz" led me to this question as the #1 hit, and sure enough, this answer by @Jacajack solves my problem! I think this solution deserves a more thorough response, however, so that's what I'm adding here.
First off, let me say this:
- My Ubuntu 18.04 machine worked perfectly on both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz hotspots.
- My Android phone worked perfectly on both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz hotspots.
- My Ubuntu 20.04 machine worked perfectly on the 5Ghz hotspot, but would repeatedly, again and again and again and again, ask for my hotspot connection password every 30 seconds or so when trying to connect to the 2.4Ghz hotspot, and it would NEVER successfully connect to it!
I thought it was my motherboard or wifi card going bad, since I can connect to my other networks just fine, but it turns out it's just an Ubuntu 19 / Ubuntu 20 software problem.
So, this is the solution for:
How to connect Ubuntu 19.10 / Ubuntu 20.04 to a 2.4GHz wifi hotspot when it says it "cannot authenticate" again and again:
(Tested on Ubuntu 20.04 Aug. 30 2020). UPDATE 24 AUG 2021: the latest automatic updates on Ubuntu 20.04 today just broke my wireless from working! I had to UNDO the instructions below and go back from iwd.service to wpa_supplicant.service, as I describe in my Q&A here: Ubuntu 20.04 WiFi "No Networks" after latest automatic update today So, consider that as you try the instructions below. For the latest version of Ubuntu 20.04, with updates on or after 24 Aug. 2021, iwd.service may no longer work at all.
(Back to my original instructions):
These instructions are copied almost verbatim from @cadu_sg here, from 27 June 2020, so he/she deserves the real credit!
The solution, essentially, is to disable wpa_supplicant and replace it with iwd. I don't have the slightest clue what this means, but it works perfectly for me!
Install iwd
sudo apt update sudo apt install iwdCreate this file inside your NetworkManager configuration files directory
sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi_backend.confCopy and paste into this file the following content, then save the file:
[device] wifi.backend=iwdStop and disable the wpa_supplicant service (note that disabling it is persistent after reboots)
systemctl stop wpa_supplicant.service systemctl disable wpa_supplicant.serviceEnable and start iwd service (note that enabling it is persistent after reboots)
sudo systemctl enable iwd.service sudo systemctl start iwd.serviceCAUTION: If you see the below error after running
sudo systemctl start iwd.service, stop here, undo the steps you've done thus far, and go back to usingwpa_supplicant.serviceinstead! Read my other answer here: Ubuntu 20.04 WiFi "No Networks" after latest automatic update today.Job for iwd.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status iwd.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.Restart NetworkManager service (this means you don't have to restart your computer for this to take effect--it just works immediately!)
systemctl restart network-manager.service
Now, connect to the 2.4GHz wifi access point and it works perfectly! You type your password once, and it works just like it should! It continues working after reboots as well.
Thanks to all who contributed to this!
If anyone wants to explain what the heck I just did and what an iwd is and what wpa_supplicant is and why iwd works better, please do.
Note: my machine happens to be a high-end Dell Latitude 7490, but I don't think that matters. The access point is a TP-Link EAP225-Outdoor, which supports MU-MIMO, but I'm not entirely sure that matters either. My operating system is Ubuntu 20.04, which definitely does seem to matter. The entire problem seems to be in Ubuntu 20.04, not in my laptop hardware, and not in the EAP225-Outdoor access point.
2I also stumbled upon this problem with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and then got another problem with no visible network in wifi so the steps I made:
run
journalctl -n 1000 -u NetworkManager -u wpa_supplicantFound this:
<error> [1633498154.0549] iwd-manager[0x559330ce2d20]: failed to acquire IWD Object Manager: Wi-Fi will not be available (Error calling StartService>Then I run
nmcli deviceGot this:
DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
enp2s0 ethernet connected Wired connection 1
wlan0 wifi unavailable --
lo loopback unmanaged -- - Googled a bit and found this issue
- Decided to try this out so I added the PPA to my system
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:slyon/iwd+nm
sudo apt-get update- Added deb to sources.list by opening it with nano
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.listand pasting lines below at the end of the file
deb YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE main
deb-src YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE main - Then according to I run
sudo apt install iwd
sudo gedit /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/iwd.confAdded lines below to the file
[device]
wifi.backend=iwdand run
sudo systemctl mask wpa_supplicant
sudo rebootAfter the reboot my wi-fi networks were now visible and I could even connect to my TP-link Archer C6 2.4ghz network without the problem
0The solution was to disable the TxBF, MU-MIMO setting on the access point, reboot it, the re-enable it and reboot again.
