Wifi doesn't work on boot, but (usually) connects fine after forgetting network

I’m relatively new to Linux so this could be a very simple fix, lmk if you need more system information I’ll get it ASAP. I switched to Manjaro from Ubuntu, where WiFi would randomly drop, now on Manjaro the issue is a lot more consistent. The WiFi will fail to connect, but (usually) connect fine after hitting forget network and re-entering the password.

System info:

  Kernel: 6.9.3-3-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.9-x86_64
    root=UUID=5b31327d-ffdf-4a5b-ac20-c6a7697b1443 rw quiet splash apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: GNOME v: 46.2 tk: GTK v: 3.24.42 wm: gnome-shell
    tools: gsd-screensaver-proxy dm: GDM v: 46.2 Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: TUF X470-PLUS GAMING v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5007 date: 06/17/2019
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ gen: 2
    level: v3 note: check built: 2018-21 process: GF 12nm family: 0x17 (23)
    model-id: 8 stepping: 2 microcode: 0x800820D
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 768 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x64 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB
    desc: 2x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2241 high: 3923 min/max: 2200/3700 boost: enabled
    scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 2200 2: 3923
    3: 1868 4: 2065 5: 2195 6: 1884 7: 1935 8: 2200 9: 2200 10: 2200 11: 2200
    12: 2200 13: 2200 14: 2200 15: 2200 16: 2196 bogomips: 118222
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; STIBP:
    disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] vendor: ZOTAC driver: nouveau
    v: kernel non-free: 545.xx+ status: current (as of 2024-06; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-2021 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports:
    active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 09:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1b83 class-ID: 0300 temp: 32.0 C
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.0
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: gpu: nouveau display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: Asus PB278 serial: <filter> built: 2013
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23")
    diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau platforms: device: 0 drv: nouveau
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nouveau surfaceless: drv: nouveau wayland:
    drv: nouveau x11: drv: nouveau
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.3 vendor: mesa v: 24.0.9-manjaro1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NV134 device-ID: 10de:1b83
    memory: 5.84 GiB unified: no display-ID: :0.0
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104 High Definition Audio vendor: ZOTAC
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 09:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10f0
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0b:00.3
    chip-ID: 1022:1457 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.9.3-3-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.7 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: TP-Link 802.11ac NIC driver: rtw_8822bu type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-2:2 chip-ID: 2357:0138
    class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  IF: wlp1s0f0u2 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.02 TiB used: 20.44 GiB (2.0%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS120G2G0A-00JH30 size: 111.8 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0000
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 1A02 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 915.53 GiB (98.32%) used: 20.44 GiB (2.2%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 296 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.2 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 32.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: nouveau fan: 934
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.26 GiB used: 2.43 GiB (7.8%)
  Processes: 380 Power: uptime: 24m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.48 GiB services: gsd-power,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1165 libs: 327 tools: gnome-software,pamac
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 0 Compilers: N/A Shell: Zsh v: 5.9
    running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.35

I’ve done a bit of research but could only find slightly similar issues on Arch forums, which prompted me to make sure I only had one network manager. I don’t think that should be an issue with Manjaro, especially because this is a very new installation, but I can check again if needed.

Any help solving this would be greatly appreciated <3

Each time I read issues about wifi strange behaviour, connection drops, speed loss, etc, I recommend first try disabling power saving and Mac randomization, specially with Realtek chipsets.

1 Like

This seems to work, thank you very much. If you don’t mind explaining, what exactly do these changes do?

1 Like

Glad to read it’s working. :+1:

Making the long story short, powersave file disables the wifi card power saving (to avoid connection drops) and mac randomization is a privacy feature, the connection changes randomly the card mac address to prevent your computer from being identified. Some routers don’t like it and you lose the connection.

I have a Realtek RTL8192EE wifi card and without disabling both settings the wifi is so unreliable.

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