Very low wireless signal strenght

[vladimir1986]

Hey there.

I am writing because of the weirdest problem I ever found: After a fresh install I can´t use wifi because the signal is terribly low!

I know it is not firmware, because it sees some SSID, but usually with very low strength, even if they are close by, and it can't even reach the router from my room.

This computer have two other os: Arch and FreeBSD. They all see and can use my network without issue. It is only Gentoo which gives me trouble.

Comparing both arch and Gentoo, I am using the same iwmwifi driver (iwm in FreeBSD, I think), Linux-firmware, which I guess have the same firmware. In Gentoo, it doesn´t matter how I manage the Wifi. WiCD, Network Manager, or wpa-tools: The result is that unless I am nearly touching the damn router, there is no signal.

Any idea of why? I never saw anything like that!

[mike155]

Does the kernel load the regulatory db? Or is there an error message like the one below in the output of 'dmesg'?

[vladimir1986]

Thanks for the reply!

Plot thickens. I actually noticed is not low strenght: Being in the same room as the router atm and didn't find my SSID.

(so sorry, assumed it was just low strenght because some of my neighbour' s SSID where found with lower strenght rating than usual)

I compiled all the drivers as modules. Here is my Dmesg:

[ 2.753159] cfg80211: Loading compiled-in X.509 certificates for regulatory database
[ 2.813825] Loading firmware: regulatory.db
[ 2.816109] Loading firmware: regulatory.db.p7s


And here is the output of "iw reg get"

global
country 00: DFS-UNSET
(755 - 928 @ 2), (N/A, 20), (N/A), PASSIVE-SCAN
(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
(2457 - 2482 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
(2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5490 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), PASSIVE-SCAN
(57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 0), (N/A)

phy#0 (self-managed)
country GB: DFS-UNSET
(2402 - 2437 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(2422 - 2462 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(2447 - 2482 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(5170 - 5190 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5190 - 5210 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5210 - 5230 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5230 - 5250 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5250 - 5270 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5270 - 5290 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5290 - 5310 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5310 - 5330 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5490 - 5510 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5510 - 5530 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5530 - 5550 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5550 - 5570 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5570 - 5590 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5590 - 5610 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5610 - 5630 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5630 - 5650 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5650 - 5670 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5670 - 5690 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5690 - 5710 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5710 - 5730 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5735 - 5755 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
(5755 - 5775 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
(5775 - 5795 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
(5795 - 5815 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
(5815 - 5835 @ 20), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ

[vladimir1986]

I managed to connect to the home network by the end, but not really solved the issue.

I went into the admin browser tool for my router to check that I had both 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ activated (which I did).

Then I saw I could create a "Guest Network" and decided to gave it a try...

Gentoo can see my new Guest Network, but not the main one. At least I have some means of connecting...

I am going trough a break up with my girlfriend, and in two days I' ll need to move, so I fear I will never find what happened. I will see how the new place behaves tho (Wifi and Ethernet access is offered on each room)