Ubuntu
network-manager package

doesn't scan for available wifi networks often enough + no way to manually force a scan

Bug #1491612 reported by teo1978 on 2015-09-02

60

This bug affects 13 people

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	One Hundred Papercuts	Confirmed	High	Unassigned
	network-manager (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	High	Unassigned

Bug Description

Steps to reproduce:

- turn on a wifi router nearby
- click on the network applet icon

Expected behavior:
As soon as the new network becomes available, it should become visible in the list within few seconds (and if it is a network you have already configured and set to automatically connect to, it should connect)

Observed behavior:
You won't see the network show up in the list, or perhaps it will, after a few minutes. Way too much time.

Additionally, there should be an item in the menu such as "scan for networks now" to force scanning for available networks. But there's no such thing even.

So the only workaround is to physically disable and reenable wifi on hardware, if your computer has a button for that. That will trigger re-scanning for available networks.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
Package: network-manager 0.9.10.0-4ubuntu15.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-26.28-generic 3.19.8-ckt4
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-26-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1.3
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Sep 2 23:48:42 2015
IfupdownConfig:
# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-10-11 (691 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
IpRoute:
default via 192.168.1.1 dev wlan0 proto static metric 1024
169.254.0.0/16 dev wlan0 scope link metric 1000
192.168.1.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.167
NetworkManager.state:
[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true
WimaxEnabled=true
SourcePackage: network-manager
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to vivid on 2015-08-15 (18 days ago)
mtime.conffile..etc.NetworkManager.NetworkManager.conf: 2015-02-20T16:52:59.722501
nmcli-dev:
DEVICE TYPE STATE DBUS-PATH CONNECTION CON-UUID CON-PATH
wlan0 wifi connected /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/2 Sixty-Seven 2dfa6e3a-076f-48f9-a40c-d182c47e4178 /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/0
43:29:1A:07:53:91 bt disconnected /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/3 -- -- --
eth0 ethernet unavailable /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/1 -- -- --
lo loopback unmanaged /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0 -- -- --
nmcli-nm: Error: command ['nmcli', '-f', 'all', 'nm'] failed with exit code 2: Error: Object 'nm' is unknown, try 'nmcli help'.

Tags:

Revision history for this message

teo1978 (teo8976) wrote on 2015-09-02:

#1

CRDA.txt Edit (238 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Dependencies.txt Edit (9.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IpAddr.txt Edit (810 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IwConfig.txt Edit (513 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
JournalErrors.txt Edit (301.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.eth0.txt Edit (894 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.lo.txt Edit (247 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.wlan0.txt Edit (897 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetworkManager.conf.txt Edit (129 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
PciNetwork.txt Edit (1.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcEnviron.txt Edit (316 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
RfKill.txt Edit (244 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
WifiSyslog.txt Edit (107.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
modified.conffile..etc.NetworkManager.NetworkManager.conf.txt Edit (130 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
nmcli-con.txt Edit (20.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Revision history for this message

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2015-09-12:

#2

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in network-manager (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e) on 2015-09-18

Changed in network-manager (Ubuntu):
importance:	Undecided → High
Changed in hundredpapercuts:
status:	New → Confirmed
importance:	Undecided → High

Revision history for this message

Andy Neitzke (neitzke) wrote on 2015-10-05:

#3

I have this bug too, on Ubuntu 15.04, running on a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 12.

A workaround that works for me is to run "sudo iwlist scan". After the scan completes, the list of networks is updated in the network applet. But of course I agree that having to do this is irritating.

Revision history for this message

Brad Kowalczyk (brad-ibiscode) wrote on 2015-11-11:

#4

This one has annoyed me for quite a while now (well before 15.x). Having to disable/enable wifi to get network manager applet to see the wifi ssid (or wait quit a while) is a bit of a pain and shouldn't be necessary for a modern OS. Also, the fact that there is no way anywhere, either in network-manager applet or in network manager itself (network settings), to force a refresh really sucks.

My network manager applet disappeared for a while (until I worked out how to fix that) so to get my lappy to see my wifi I had open Network Settings, click "Connect to a hidden network", then select the ssid from the drop down list of known networks. Not exactly convenient!

So a "scan now" button would be great, along with more frequent automatic wifi scanning.

Revision history for this message

RussianNeuroMancer (russianneuromancer) wrote on 2016-08-15:

#5

I think do frequent automatic rescan could hurt battery life, so menu item for manual rescan would be better idea.

Revision history for this message

teo1978 (teo8976) wrote on 2016-08-21:

#6

> I think do frequent automatic rescan could hurt battery life,
> so menu item for manual rescan would be better idea.

They don't need to be *very* frequent. Yes, the menu item for manual rescan is an absolute MUST (see below though), but it also has to rescan automatically from time to time.

Also note that the system knows when it's attached to power, and hence can scan more frequently in that case (assuming battery consumption really is affected).

Actually, when you manually unfold the network menu, *that* should already trigger a rescan (if the fact that it is scanning was indicated by an animation/icon, which it should, then there would be no need for a specific menu item), and also automatic rescan should be more frequent when the menu is unfolded. You aren't going to keep that menu open all the time anyway.

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