rtlwifi_fix

The problem

On certain Wi-Fi modules (mostly included in notebooks and laptops), the Wi-Fi does not work immediately, the connection gets lost after some time or the connection rate drops from time to time. Those Wi-Fi drivers are made by Realtek and they make some problems under Linux distributions.

The Wi-Fi device

To find your Wi-Fi device, under Linux, just execute the following:

lspci | grep Wireless

The solution

Thanks to GitHub and friendly developers, there are updated drivers. Personally, I recommend this driver:

https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new

According to the developer, the kernel_version branch is newer.

The dependencies

• latest or at least modern Linux kernel, e.g. version 4.13, 4.14 or later
• linux-headers-generic, build-essential (make) and git

The kernel update

For Linux kernel updates, you may use the shell and pull the latest kernel packages (pre-compiled). Furthermore, there is the option to use a GUI to install the kernel. I recommend Ukuu:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:teejee2008/ppa --yes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ukuu --yes

The driver update

For my purpose, I use a Ubuntu Linux system or Linux Mint system with apt and sudo. rtlXXXXxx is your Realtek Wi-Fi adapter model to install with the correct name and without ".

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git --yes

git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new.git 
--branch kernel_version \
&& pushd rtlwifi_new \
&& make clean
&& sudo make install \
&& sudo modprobe -r "rtlXXXXxx" \
&& sudo modprobe "rtlXXXXxx" \
&& popd

The example

I show you the installation instructions for one device, Realtek RTL8821ae:

pushd /opt/ \
&& sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git --yes \
&& sudo git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new.git --branch kernel_version \
&& sudo chmod -R 777 rtlwifi_new \
&& pushd rtlwifi_new \
&& make clean && sudo make install \
&& sudo modprobe -r rtl8821ae && sudo modprobe rtl8821ae \
&& popd \
&& popd