Leap 42.3, Fresh install cannot connect to Public WiFi that is in a Captive Portal

English Network/Internet
#21

Unless the hardware is fundamentally incompatible (eg supporting B, A, G, N Wifi standards) working hardware should be working hardware, at least in my experience I haven’t seen client hardware work only with one AP and not another (again, must support same standards).

And,
I’ve found signal strength in all cases WiFi, carrier, etc) to be of secondary importance… all you need is “just enough” signal. That said, if the cause of signal strength weakness is congestion and contention, that could be a different story.

If there is a Realtek issue… I admit it’s been maybe 6 years since I’ve touched a realtek (practically all machine’s I’ve had to troubleshoot have had broadcom chips but that doesn’t mean I haven’t used machines with Realtek wireless… they’ve “just worked”).

In fact, my SOP for verifying the hardware works is to go fine an anonymous WiFi AP (or set one up).
You’ll know fast whether your hardware is set up properly or not starting with the simplest connection possible before you try to connect to authenticated APs.

TSU

#22

Well that’s what we’re trying to establish, and I why I requested the scan output. I’m not satisfied that there is enough signal for such an environment. For whatever reason, the OP has not been able to demonstrate association completing with this particular AP. Convoluted discussion about captive portal et al are irrelevant until it can be demonstrated that there is a working wifi connection.

#23

I think the issue is (at least partially) resolved. Based on deano’s evaluation of signal strength, I looked at solutions to prior Realtek 8723 issues with missing antenna connections.
The signal strength that was available to the device turned out to be the critical factor.
Listening on a physical stub (unconnected antenna port) was just effective at one location to authenticate and get an IP address but not sufficient enough to operate.
At the other location, the signal strength was too low to even authenticate.

I applied a software modification to the driver module loaded by the kernel by changing the parameters at load time. The change was applied in the user local file (99-local.conf) in /etc/modprobe.d


# From modinfo rtl8723be
# swenc:Set to 1 for software crypto (default 0)
# ips:Set to 0 to not use link power save (default 1)
# swlps:Set to 1 to use SW control power save (default 0) (bool)
# fwlps:Set to 1 to use FW control power save (default 1) (bool)
# msi:Set to 1 to use MSI interrupts mode (default 0) (bool)
# debug:Set debug level (0-5) (default 0) (int)
# disable_watchdog:Set to 1 to disable the watchdog (default 0) (bool)
# ant_sel:Set to 1 or 2 to force antenna number (default 0) (int)

options rtl8723be swenc=N ips=N swlps=N fwlps=N disable_watchdog=Y ant_sel=1

I tested both antenna one and antenna two. While the default is specified as zero, the performance was as with antenna two. Antenna one is apparently the antenna that is connected and yields the best results.
The number of visible SSIDs increased significantly.


Home Results
    SSID: TheOtherOne
    SSID: \x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
    SSID: CenturyLink1779
    SSID: Gambit
    SSID: skynet20
    SSID: skynet
    SSID: HP-Print-FE-Officejet 6700
    SSID: NETGEAR98
    SSID: NETGEAR04
    SSID: FFE89D
Ground Control Results
    SSID: TP-LINK_Extender_2.4GHz
    SSID: @Ground Control Free WiFi
    SSID: ACKITS
    SSID: NETGEAR10
    SSID: BannerGuest
    SSID: muswAweneq6z
    SSID: CenturyLink0607
    SSID: 
    SSID: BannerGuest
    SSID: Share More Smiles
    SSID: LittleSunbeams
    SSID: \x00
    SSID: \x00
    SSID: WiFi Hotspot 3559
    SSID: HP-Print-74-Officejet Pro 8600
    SSID: \x00
    SSID: \x00
    SSID: NETGEAR79
    SSID: \x00
    SSID: BannerGuest
    SSID: muswAweneq6z
    SSID: muswAweneq6z
Wildflower Results
    SSID: modwifi
    SSID: wildflower-g
    SSID: subway32269
    SSID: FREDDYS
    SSID: \x00\x00\x00\x00
    SSID: MacayoGuest
    SSID: MacayoIOT
    SSID: FreddysGuest

Signal strength was greatly improved


At home
BSS 72:26:b8:da:d0:6b(on wlan0) -- associated
    TSF: 696959573708 usec (8d, 01:35:59)
    freq: 2437
    beacon interval: 100 TUs
    capability: ESS Privacy ShortSlotTime (0x0411)
    signal: -12.00 dBm
    last seen: 104 ms ago
    Information elements from Probe Response frame:
    SSID: TheOtherOne
    Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 
    DS Parameter set: channel 6
    ERP: <no flags>
    ERP D4.0: <no flags>
    RSN:     * Version: 1
         * Group cipher: TKIP
         * Pairwise ciphers: CCMP TKIP
         * Authentication suites: PSK
         * Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x000c)
    Extended supported rates: 6.0 9.0 12.0 48.0 
    HT capabilities:
        Capabilities: 0x18fc
            HT20
            SM Power Save disabled
            RX Greenfield
            RX HT20 SGI
            RX HT40 SGI
            TX STBC
            No RX STBC
            Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
            DSSS/CCK HT40
        Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
        Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 8 usec (0x06)
        HT RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
        HT TX MCS rate indexes are undefined
    HT operation:
         * primary channel: 6
         * secondary channel offset: no secondary
         * STA channel width: 20 MHz
         * RIFS: 0
         * HT protection: nonmember
         * non-GF present: 1
         * OBSS non-GF present: 1
         * dual beacon: 0
         * dual CTS protection: 0
         * STBC beacon: 0
         * L-SIG TXOP Prot: 0
         * PCO active: 0
         * PCO phase: 0
    Overlapping BSS scan params:
         * passive dwell: 20 TUs
         * active dwell: 10 TUs
         * channel width trigger scan interval: 300 s
         * scan passive total per channel: 200 TUs
         * scan active total per channel: 20 TUs
         * BSS width channel transition delay factor: 5
         * OBSS Scan Activity Threshold: 0.25 %
    Extended capabilities: HT Information Exchange Supported
    WPA:     * Version: 1
         * Group cipher: TKIP
         * Pairwise ciphers: CCMP TKIP
         * Authentication suites: PSK
         * Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x000c)
    WMM:     * Parameter version 1
         * u-APSD
         * BE: CW 15-1023, AIFSN 3
         * BK: CW 15-1023, AIFSN 7
         * VI: CW 7-15, AIFSN 2, TXOP 3008 usec
         * VO: CW 3-7, AIFSN 2, TXOP 1504 usec



At Ground Control
BSS 06:02:6f:12:34:56(on wlan0)
    TSF: 30075721549 usec (0d, 08:21:15)
    freq: 2412
    beacon interval: 100 TUs
    capability: ESS ShortPreamble ShortSlotTime RadioMeasure (0x1421)
    signal: -36.00 dBm
    last seen: 688 ms ago
    Information elements from Probe Response frame:
    SSID: @Ground Control Free WiFi
    Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 6.0 9.0 12.0 18.0 
    DS Parameter set: channel 1
    Country: US    Environment: Indoor/Outdoor
        Channels [1 - 11] @ 30 dBm
    ERP: Use_Protection
    Extended supported rates: 24.0 36.0 48.0 54.0 
    BSS Load:
         * station count: 4
         * channel utilisation: 53/255
         * available admission capacity: 0 *32us]
    HT capabilities:
        Capabilities: 0x9ad
            RX LDPC
            HT20
            SM Power Save disabled
            RX HT20 SGI
            TX STBC
            RX STBC 1-stream
            Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
            No DSSS/CCK HT40
        Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
        Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
        HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
    HT operation:
         * primary channel: 1
         * secondary channel offset: no secondary
         * STA channel width: 20 MHz
         * RIFS: 0
         * HT protection: nonmember
         * non-GF present: 1
         * OBSS non-GF present: 0
         * dual beacon: 0
         * dual CTS protection: 0
         * STBC beacon: 0
         * L-SIG TXOP Prot: 0
         * PCO active: 0
         * PCO phase: 0
     Extended capabilities: Extended Channel Switching, Proxy ARP Service,  TFS, WNM-Sleep Mode, TIM Broadcast, BSS Transition, DMS, 6
    VHT capabilities:
        VHT Capabilities (0x338959b2):
            Max MPDU length: 11454
            Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
            RX LDPC
            short GI (80 MHz)
            TX STBC
            SU Beamformer
            SU Beamformee
            MU Beamformer
            RX antenna pattern consistency
            TX antenna pattern consistency
        VHT RX MCS set:
            1 streams: MCS 0-9
            2 streams: MCS 0-9
            3 streams: not supported
            4 streams: not supported
            5 streams: not supported
            6 streams: not supported
            7 streams: not supported
            8 streams: not supported
        VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
        VHT TX MCS set:
            1 streams: MCS 0-9
            2 streams: MCS 0-9
            3 streams: not supported
            4 streams: not supported
            5 streams: not supported
            6 streams: not supported
            7 streams: not supported
            8 streams: not supported
        VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
    VHT operation:
         * channel width: 0 (20 or 40 MHz)
         * center freq segment 1: 0
         * center freq segment 2: 0
         * VHT basic MCS set: 0xfffc
    WMM:     * Parameter version 1
         * u-APSD
         * BE: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2528 usec
         * BK: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2528 usec
         * VI: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 4096 usec
         * VO: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2080 usec



At Wildflower
BSS 00:25:84:0f:14:a0(on wlan0)
    TSF: 30707078581968 usec (355d, 09:44:38)
    freq: 2452
    beacon interval: 100 TUs
    capability: ESS ShortPreamble ShortSlotTime (0x0421)
    signal: -38.00 dBm
    last seen: 216 ms ago
    Information elements from Probe Response frame:
    SSID: wildflower-g
    Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 6.0 9.0 11.0* 12.0 18.0 
    DS Parameter set: channel 9
    ERP: <no flags>
    Extended supported rates: 24.0 36.0 48.0 54.0 
    WMM:     * Parameter version 1
         * u-APSD
         * BE: CW 31-1023, AIFSN 3
         * BK: CW 31-1023, AIFSN 7
         * VI: CW 15-31, AIFSN 2, TXOP 6016 usec
         * VO: CW 7-15, AIFSN 2, TXOP 3264 usec

-Continued in next post-

#24

If there is interest in the dmesg logs from these sessions, I can post them in the Paste Site.

I would appreciate any critique of my solution that might occur to other readers and I especially appreciate the time given to help resolve this issue.

BTW, Network Manager works better with these sites than I expected. No convoluted operations are required.
There is notification given of activation of an AP and if you wait a few seconds, a further notification is given that the user “may have to logon to gain access”. In that notification is a button that opens the browser when clicked. This brings up the proper signon screen.
If you do not wait for the signon notification and open the browser yourself, you are still presented with the signon screen.

I guess the question that concerns me at this point is -
How does this information get into some sort of “organizational memory” so that is doesn’t get lost.

You must admit that a user installing openSuSE would be puzzled by this marginal behavior of both software and hardware. Supposedly the Realtek folks are working on a driver for Linux that will operate as the Windows driver does and just select the operational antenna. In my reading, there was some commentary that the current code does not meet some requirement of the kernel maintenance folks.

Again, thanks for the help.

#25

As I suspected would be the case :slight_smile:

Signal strength was greatly improved

At home
BSS 72:26:b8:da:d0:6b(on wlan0) – associated
TSF: 696959573708 usec (8d, 01:35:59)
freq: 2437
beacon interval: 100 TUs
capability: ESS Privacy ShortSlotTime (0x0411)
signal: -12.00 dBm
last seen: 104 ms ago
Information elements from Probe Response frame:
SSID: TheOtherOne
Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0
DS Parameter set: channel 6
ERP:
ERP D4.0:
RSN: * Version: 1
* Group cipher: TKIP
* Pairwise ciphers: CCMP TKIP
* Authentication suites: PSK
* Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x000c)
Extended supported rates: 6.0 9.0 12.0 48.0
HT capabilities:
Capabilities: 0x18fc
HT20
SM Power Save disabled
RX Greenfield
RX HT20 SGI
RX HT40 SGI
TX STBC
No RX STBC
Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 8 usec (0x06)
HT RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
HT TX MCS rate indexes are undefined
HT operation:
* primary channel: 6
* secondary channel offset: no secondary
* STA channel width: 20 MHz
* RIFS: 0
* HT protection: nonmember
* non-GF present: 1
* OBSS non-GF present: 1
* dual beacon: 0
* dual CTS protection: 0
* STBC beacon: 0
* L-SIG TXOP Prot: 0
* PCO active: 0
* PCO phase: 0
Overlapping BSS scan params:
* passive dwell: 20 TUs
* active dwell: 10 TUs
* channel width trigger scan interval: 300 s
* scan passive total per channel: 200 TUs
* scan active total per channel: 20 TUs
* BSS width channel transition delay factor: 5
* OBSS Scan Activity Threshold: 0.25 %
Extended capabilities: HT Information Exchange Supported
WPA: * Version: 1
* Group cipher: TKIP
* Pairwise ciphers: CCMP TKIP
* Authentication suites: PSK
* Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x000c)
WMM: * Parameter version 1
* u-APSD
* BE: CW 15-1023, AIFSN 3
* BK: CW 15-1023, AIFSN 7
* VI: CW 7-15, AIFSN 2, TXOP 3008 usec
* VO: CW 3-7, AIFSN 2, TXOP 1504 usec

At Ground Control
BSS 06:02:6f:12:34:56(on wlan0)
TSF: 30075721549 usec (0d, 08:21:15)
freq: 2412
beacon interval: 100 TUs
capability: ESS ShortPreamble ShortSlotTime RadioMeasure (0x1421)
signal: -36.00 dBm
last seen: 688 ms ago
Information elements from Probe Response frame:
SSID: @Ground Control Free WiFi
Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 6.0 9.0 12.0 18.0
DS Parameter set: channel 1
Country: US Environment: Indoor/Outdoor
Channels [1 - 11] @ 30 dBm
ERP: Use_Protection
Extended supported rates: 24.0 36.0 48.0 54.0
BSS Load:
* station count: 4
* channel utilisation: 53/255
* available admission capacity: 0 *32us]
HT capabilities:
Capabilities: 0x9ad
RX LDPC
HT20
SM Power Save disabled
RX HT20 SGI
TX STBC
RX STBC 1-stream
Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
No DSSS/CCK HT40
Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
HT operation:
* primary channel: 1
* secondary channel offset: no secondary
* STA channel width: 20 MHz
* RIFS: 0
* HT protection: nonmember
* non-GF present: 1
* OBSS non-GF present: 0
* dual beacon: 0
* dual CTS protection: 0
* STBC beacon: 0
* L-SIG TXOP Prot: 0
* PCO active: 0
* PCO phase: 0
Extended capabilities: Extended Channel Switching, Proxy ARP Service, TFS, WNM-Sleep Mode, TIM Broadcast, BSS Transition, DMS, 6
VHT capabilities:
VHT Capabilities (0x338959b2):
Max MPDU length: 11454
Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
RX LDPC
short GI (80 MHz)
TX STBC
SU Beamformer
SU Beamformee
MU Beamformer
RX antenna pattern consistency
TX antenna pattern consistency
VHT RX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: MCS 0-9
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
VHT TX MCS set:
1 streams: MCS 0-9
2 streams: MCS 0-9
3 streams: not supported
4 streams: not supported
5 streams: not supported
6 streams: not supported
7 streams: not supported
8 streams: not supported
VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
VHT operation:
* channel width: 0 (20 or 40 MHz)
* center freq segment 1: 0
* center freq segment 2: 0
* VHT basic MCS set: 0xfffc
WMM: * Parameter version 1
* u-APSD
* BE: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2528 usec
* BK: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2528 usec
* VI: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 4096 usec
* VO: CW 0-0, AIFSN 0, TXOP 2080 usec

Yes, much better!

So, you can now connect without issue?

#26

No, probably not necessary now. It is a known issue with that particular device - lots of threads on the same topic if you care to search.

BTW, Network Manager works better with these sites than I expected. No convoluted operations are required.
There is notification given of activation of an AP and if you wait a few seconds, a further notification is given that the user “may have to logon to gain access”. In that notification is a button that opens the browser when clicked. This brings up the proper signon screen.
If you do not wait for the signon notification and open the browser yourself, you are still presented with the signon screen.

As I suspected would be the case. It was a connectivity issue, not related to Captive Portal… and it’s why I wanted to take a particularly close look at your hardware chipset/driver details and the RSL values you were getting. Unfortunately, Linux users have suffered with some implementations of this Realtek hardware in laptops with various internal antenna arrangements.

I guess the question that concerns me at this point is -
How does this information get into some sort of “organizational memory” so that is doesn’t get lost.

You could post a “How To” to our Unreviewed-How-To-and-FAQ forum (with descriptive title) detailing the hardware, low signal symptoms, difficulty connecting or maintaining a connection, and the steps required to configure the antenna number (where applicable). Sometimes, linking to other threads or wiki pages can be useful too.

You must admit that a user installing openSuSE would be puzzled by this marginal behavior of both software and hardware. Supposedly the Realtek folks are working on a driver for Linux that will operate as the Windows driver does and just select the operational antenna. In my reading, there was some commentary that the current code does not meet some requirement of the kernel maintenance folks.

Again, thanks for the help.

Yes, but I guess it would affect very few users. We’ve had other issues with other wireless chipsets/drivers. One gets to know the quirks after a while. Glad to have been of help here.

#27

Can’t wait until the next time I find myself using a machine with a Realtek chip to test this all out! :slight_smile:

TSU

#28

It only applies to a small subset of laptops (eg some HP models) using wifi hardware supported by the rtl8723be driver and with only one physical antenna fitted AFAIU. Larry Finger apparently worked with Realtek to get code support for the antenna selection option, and there has apparently been further efforts to automate the detection process (but I really don’t know where that is at).