I built a PC with new components about eight months ago and installed Linux Mint after a failed Windows 10 installation. It worked wirelessly with my previous internet provider, but after switching routers I started having connection problems. Initially, the computer connected at startup but disconnected after about five minutes. Turning Wi-Fi off and on would let it reconnect temporarily, but eventually it began repeatedly asking for the password without ever connecting, even though the password is correct and has not changed. Forgetting the network and entering the password again did not help. My phone's hotspot connects immediately and stays connected, so the wireless hardware seems to work. The router appears to use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, possibly with band steering. Could an incompatibility with the 5GHz network be causing the repeated password prompts?
2 Answers
You may also want to check the router’s 5GHz channel width. Some devices fail to connect when 160MHz mode is enabled, even though they work with a phone hotspot. Disabling 160MHz or choosing a more widely supported channel width can restore compatibility. If that does not help, limiting the PC to 2.4GHz is a practical workaround.
It would help to provide the PC’s wireless hardware details, Linux Mint version, router model, and any connection errors. One possibility is that the router combines its 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks and uses band steering. Some wireless cards and drivers do not handle that reliably. Try splitting the bands into separate network names, or configure the computer to use only 2.4GHz as a test.
That turned out to be the issue. The wireless card would not connect properly to the router’s 5GHz band, so I configured the connection to use only 2.4GHz. It has stayed connected ever since. The speed is fine for now, although it would be nice to use 5GHz eventually.
In my case, switching the computer to 2.4GHz-only fixed it. The card appears unable to connect to this router’s 5GHz network, while the phone hotspot continues to work normally.