wifi connection keeps dropping in Ubuntu 15.10 - RTL8821AE

In many cases, the issue with "...i'm getting a good connection when im close to the router.. but once i step a few meters away .. the signal drastically drops..." is a sign that the Linux driver is unable to sense and change to the antenna connector that is active, that is, has the wire connected. This is a well-known issue with the rtl8723be. There are a few options.

In the case of the rtl8723be, a revised driver has been written that allows antenna selection. In other words, if you have low or poor signal strength, the driver allows a parameter: ant_sel=2. In most cases, selecting antenna connection #2 provides excellent strength.

I have examined the latest driver for rtl8821ae and I find these manipulable parameters:

parm:           swenc:Set to 1 for software crypto (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           ips:Set to 0 to not use link power save (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           swlps:Set to 1 to use SW control power save (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           msi:Set to 1 to use MSI interrupts mode (default 1)
 (bool)
parm:           debug:Set debug level (0-5) (default 0) (int)
parm:           disable_watchdog:Set to 1 to disable the watchdog (default 0)
 (bool)
parm:           int_clear:Set to 0 to disable interrupt clear before set (default 1)
 (bool)

There is no ant_sel parameter.

Another option is to open the computer, following, of course, all the precautions listed in the service manual that I am confident that you can find on line. Find the wireless card and change the antenna connector to the opposite post: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Nzk2WDg3Nw==/z/XmYAAOSweW5VRppE/$_1.JPG?set_id=880000500F In this example, which may or may not be exactly like your wireless card, if your wire is on post A, change it to post M.

Replace the cover, battery, etc. and restart the computer. Is the wireless signal strength good? If so, you have confirmed that this is an ant_sel issue.

If that is the case, I suggest you file an issue against the driver here: https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/issues

I had the same problem with rtl8821ae on my asus laptop on Ubuntu 15.10. I tried a variety of things. This is what finally "worked" for me: - created a file /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf - after much trial and error added msi=0 to that file

$ pwd
/etc/modprobe.d
$ ls rtl8821.conf
rtl8821.conf
$ cat rtl8821.conf
options rtl8821ae  debug=0 disable_watchdog=N fwlps=N swlps=Y swenc=Y ips=N msi=0

• I have not tried all of the other combinations of disable_watchdog/fwlps/swlps/swenc/ips so I don't know if there is a better set of parameters to set

• This works ok on 2.4G. It does not work in 5G, the drop-outs are too severe for it to be useful.

• on 2.4G, speedtest.net says I'm getting 24Mbs, other laptops and my phone are getting 100+Mbs, so there is still something wrong with the settings... but it's usable at least
• the msi=0 was from this site https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/issues/64

After searching a lot, the following options worked for me on ubuntu 16. Its worth a try-

In rtl8821ae.conf:

options rtl8821ae disable_watchdog=0 swlps=1 swenc=1 ips=0 fwlps=0 msi=1 debug=0 int_clear=0