Wifi problems with rtl8723be in Ubuntu 14.04

I was having these problem with rtl8723be on linux mint 17, and mint17.1. The same procedure should work on ubuntu 14.04 and derivates.

I had to install new module for realtek wifi cards where they solved the constant disconnects:

• install required packages

  sudo apt-get install build-essential git
  

• git clone new realtek wifi modules

  git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/
  

• enter the directory

  cd rtlwifi_new
  

• build it

  make
  

• install

  sudo make install
  

Now you can reboot or unload/load modules

• unload modules

  sudo modprobe -r rtl8723be
  

• load new module

  sudo modprobe rtl8723be
  

• if it still doesn't work, try the solution from this post

  echo "options rtl8723be fwlps=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf
  

Note: After each kernel update, you need to rebuild the modules. That is,

After every kernel update:

cd rtlwifi_new

Clean previous builds

make clean

Update git repository

git pull

Compile

make clean && make

Install

sudo make install

reboot or unload/load modules

EDIT: It seems as of kernel 4.17 kernel APIs have changed: Note: If your kernel is 4.17 or newer, AND your card is not an RTL8723DE, then you should NOT be using the external driver. The built-in one is the same. source: https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/

My friend's HP laptop wouldn't display the available Wi-Fi networks.

So I followed the steps from Miodrag Prelec's answer till echo "options rtl8723be fwlps=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf

Then, I did

sudo modprobe -r rtl8723be

Then either of:

sudo modprobe rtl8723be ant_sel=1
sudo modprobe rtl8723be ant_sel=2

(whichever works)

After doing this it would list the Wi-Fi signals in the menu.

So I added these lines to /etc/rc.local (above exit 0) so that it would run each time my laptop boots up.

sleep 10
sudo modprobe -r rtl8723be
sudo modprobe rtl8723be ant_sel=1

Note: change ant_sel=1 to ant_sel=2 if required.

source