My Linux Mint computer used to connect to my previous wireless network without any trouble, but after switching providers it began disconnecting a few minutes after startup. Toggling Wi‑Fi would temporarily let it reconnect, but now it repeatedly asks for the password and never completes the connection. I have verified the password and forgotten and re-added the network several times.
The same computer connects to my phone's hotspot immediately and stays connected, so the wireless hardware seems to work. The main difference is that the new router appears to combine its 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks. Eventually I discovered that the computer's Wi‑Fi card cannot connect properly to the router's 5 GHz band. Setting the connection to use only 2.4 GHz fixed the problem, although I would still like to understand why 5 GHz does not work.
2 Answers
This sounds like a compatibility problem with the router’s band steering. Many modern routers combine 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz under one network name and move devices between them automatically, but some wireless cards and drivers do not handle that well. Try splitting the bands into separate network names in the router settings, then test each one individually. Also, providing the computer’s Wi‑Fi adapter model, driver details, and router model would make the issue easier to diagnose.
Check the router’s advanced 5 GHz settings too. Features such as 160 MHz channel width, certain DFS channels, or newer Wi‑Fi modes can cause compatibility issues with older adapters. Disabling 160 MHz, choosing a common channel, or using a separate 5 GHz network may restore connectivity. The 2.4 GHz band is usually slower and more crowded, but it is perfectly usable as a workaround.
That is worth checking if the adapter should support 5 GHz. In this case, forcing the computer to use 2.4 GHz solved the connection loop, so the problem appears limited to compatibility with that router’s 5 GHz configuration.
The band information was the key. My adapter would not connect to the 5 GHz network, so I configured Linux Mint to use only 2.4 GHz. It has stayed connected since then.